Unlocked after one year for patrons only, a discussion of our fixation with organizing political views into an axis "left" against "right":
As new political parties -- left-populists, neo-fascists, and secessionists -- rapidly rise and fall across Europe and other Western countries, and spontaneous protests blur partisan boundaries in the streets of Paris, the old left-to-right scale of political ideology is just not working. What value does this one-dimensional model of politics have, and where did it come from? In fact, it has to do with where you sit at a formal dinner party.
Please sign up as a patron to hear patron-only lectures -- including the next "Myth of the Month," on the historical, political, and psychological meanings of "Game of Thrones" -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/25597371
Suggested further reading: Yuval Levin, "The Great Debate"; Jonathan Haidt, "The Righteous Mind"
