Now, I’m especially puzzled by the correlation between political sides what seems to be the Enlightenment/Romanticism divide.
I’m not sure I see the correlation. On the one hand, some right-wingers do support deregulation and believe that the market will sort things out, while some left-wingers believe that urgent action is needed to avoid collapse[1]. This would suggest that right-wing is Enlightenment and left-wing is Romanticism. On other issues, especially social or moral issues[2], leftists believe that new technologies will be a force for good and should be freely available, while rightists believe they are a threat to (“traditional”) morals and should be curtailed. That would suggest that the right is Romanticism and the left is Enlightenment. I suspect the reason for this apparent divide is that the parties and their constituencies are choosing their positions based on pro-business, pro-religion, or pro-intellectuals’-signalling-based-opinions, rather than by adherence to consistent Enlightenment or Romantic ideas.
[1]: To be specific: financial markets, oil drilling, farming practices are issues where this pattern appears most visibly.
[2]: Specifically: euthanasia/right-to-die, stem cell research, genetic engineering of crops or people.
Odd. Among those I’m exposed to, the strongest voices against genetic engineering of crops and nonhuman animals seem to be left-leaning, generally those aligned with the Green spectrum. Genetic engineering of people is so far outside the Overton window that I’ve never come across a strong political opinion for or against; the consensus view among both the left and the right seems to be that it’s vaguely icky, although it rarely appears at all. Who’re you thinking of?
This is a minor point, though. I agree with most of your analysis.
You’re probably right about that. One thing complicating the question is that “the left” is a mix of technophilic, science-cheering, Keynesian-esque intellectuals and Greens, who are more concerned with the environment and what’s “natural” than other leftists.
I’m not sure I see the correlation. On the one hand, some right-wingers do support deregulation and believe that the market will sort things out, while some left-wingers believe that urgent action is needed to avoid collapse[1]. This would suggest that right-wing is Enlightenment and left-wing is Romanticism. On other issues, especially social or moral issues[2], leftists believe that new technologies will be a force for good and should be freely available, while rightists believe they are a threat to (“traditional”) morals and should be curtailed. That would suggest that the right is Romanticism and the left is Enlightenment. I suspect the reason for this apparent divide is that the parties and their constituencies are choosing their positions based on pro-business, pro-religion, or pro-intellectuals’-signalling-based-opinions, rather than by adherence to consistent Enlightenment or Romantic ideas.
[1]: To be specific: financial markets, oil drilling, farming practices are issues where this pattern appears most visibly.
[2]: Specifically: euthanasia/right-to-die, stem cell research, genetic engineering of crops or people.
Odd. Among those I’m exposed to, the strongest voices against genetic engineering of crops and nonhuman animals seem to be left-leaning, generally those aligned with the Green spectrum. Genetic engineering of people is so far outside the Overton window that I’ve never come across a strong political opinion for or against; the consensus view among both the left and the right seems to be that it’s vaguely icky, although it rarely appears at all. Who’re you thinking of?
This is a minor point, though. I agree with most of your analysis.
You’re probably right about that. One thing complicating the question is that “the left” is a mix of technophilic, science-cheering, Keynesian-esque intellectuals and Greens, who are more concerned with the environment and what’s “natural” than other leftists.
Okay, I think I am beginning to see a glimpse of my mistake. Thank you.