Liberty = Equality

I could stop right here; the post's title already reveals why liberty is a left wing ideal, and why right wing ideology, politics and capitalism are essentially diametrically opposed to liberty.

In the contest between Democrats and Republicans over who gets to represent what values, the Republican party and conservatives have appropriated the idea that their politics are the politics of freedom. They are the ones who subscribe to the notion of small government and they blame the left for taking away individual freedoms by fighting for equality. The discussion is thus framed as a competition between equality and freedom; the government intervention needed to increase equality under capitalism, like taxation, social safety nets and special subsidies for society's weakest and underrepresented members, is painted as unjust and limiting individual freedoms. This is of course completely backwards, because the title is right: equality is freedom.

What does it mean to be free? Although there are several aspects and dimensions to freedom, I believe it's pretty basic to say that freedom can only exist when one person doesn't rule over another person. Also, freedom can only exist when we don't have to worry about getting the things we need for survival. A large part of freedom resides in our ability, or inability to enjoy leisure, which is not possible if we spend all or most of our time to get the food, shelter, water and healthcare we need. The national motto of the French revolution contained but three words: "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity," and those words weren't chosen randomly... Right wing ideology does subscribe to equality, but only at birth, you know, the "all men are created equal" line they love so much. Only problem is that that's where their love for equality ends; all men (and women and every other gender) are born in a system that thrives on inequality, breeds inequality. The right wing notion of freedom is that we're all born as equals, but after that it's every man for himself. And if you're lucky enough to land in a position of wealth, you've "earned" the right to enjoy more freedoms. I find it disturbing to see conservatives fight against women's rights to decide what to do with their own bodies while fighting against abortion and for the unborn's right to life, but then vote against every measure that could improve the lifes of children that have left the womb.

In terms of political power, we've done away with kings and emperors, and instead devised a system in which each individual has the same amount of power; we call that a democracy, where every vote carries the same amount of influence. Now, if you still believe that Trump won the last elections, I really don't know what to say to you. For all other people: which side does everything it can to fight democracy? Which side tries, time after time again, to change voting laws and regulations in order to suppress votes from certain demographics? Even the terms of political "left" and "right" originate in the French revolution: the loyalists to the crown, the side that wanted the king to retain most of his powers, were seated to the right side of the parliament, and the revolutionaries, the progressives who wanted to strip the king from all of his powers sat on the left.

No matter from which side we look at freedom, it's crystal-clear that right wing ideology and politics are antithetical to it. The propagandistic distraction of "big government is bad," is just that: a distraction. If democracy wasn't hollowed out by the capitalists who use their wealth to influence policies, and by the political right with their anti-democratic policies, the government would be one by and for the people, and such a government can not be big enough; ideally it would encompass all of us. So don't let conservatives, Republicans and anarcho-capitalists fool you; they're not fighting for freedom. Freedom, my friends, is universal and can only be if we have political and economical equality; only than will we truly be free from certain individuals holding power over us. The political right likes to focus on individual freedom, which amounts to an individual's right to hold power over other people by means of their political and / or economical power. Look at where that got us. Freedom is either universal, or it isn't at all...

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