right and left
Barbara O’Brien’s posts “Who’s Right?” and “Who’s Left” (h/t: Barefoot Bum) are interesting, at least for her take on the dangers of basing decisions on over-simplified ideologies:
…a whole generation of people too young to remember much before the Carter Administration has been conditioned to accept, unquestioningly, the propaganda of the Right. “Free markets” are intrinsically good. “Deregulation” is always right. Any sort of government regulation is bad. “Big government” is bad. “Limited government” is good. And they mindlessly regurgitate these ideas without understanding their historical context or even thinking them through.[…]
History tells us that complete deregulation more often results in the exploitation of resources and nasty boom-and-bust cycles, but telling that to some people is like telling a four-year-old there is no Santa Claus.
Her “A (Pretty) Short History of Wingnutism” is also a good read.