Left and Right for Dummies

Liberal
Progressive
Socialist

Democratic Socialist
Left wing
Bleeding heart
white knight
Beta
Leftist
Libtard

Marxist
Cuck
Freeloader
Sponge
Leech
Feminazi
Social justice warrior
Democuck
Lieberal
Fiberal
Dipper
Politically Correct
Triggered
Taker

Welfare State

Nanny State
Homofascist

Hippy
Commie
Pinko
SociaLUST

They don't understand hard work
They're taxing us to death

They're ruining the economy

They're driving away investment

They are taking away our freedoms

They are driving us into debt

They're taking away parental rights

They're going to nationalize industry

They're coming after our guns

They're bringing in Sharia law

They're creating a society of people who are dependent on the state

Right wing
Conservative

Regressive

Social Conservative
Tory
Republican

Libertarian
Capitalist shill
Running dog of imperialism
anti-woman
anti-choice
backwards
oppressor
anti-science
climate change denier
anti-education
anti-youth
CONservative

Cancervative

Cuckservative
Nazi
Neonazi

incel
alt-right
inbred hillbilly
Racist
Sexist
Homophobe

Dinosaur
Transphobe
Zealot
Right-wing nut job

They have no compassion

They are controlled by industry

They let people fall through the cracks

They don't care about the future of the planet

They are stealing from the poor and giving to the rich

They want to go back to the old days where women and people of colour had no power

You're stupid

You're an ideologue

You're indoctrinating people with your political beliefs

You're an idiot

You don't understand

You're on the wrong side of history

So many insults and generalizations that polarize us.

Since the dawn of time, people have striven to make a world they want to live in. Today, Canadian society has evolved to the point that we the people decide what form of government we want. Although we can debate how much say individuals truly have, that form of government falls somewhere on a spectrum from left to right.

Keeping in mind that:

• Politics and economics are interconnected.
• Whatever your worldview, your beliefs about how a government should operate fit somewhere on a continuum or compass. 
• Political and economic systems vary from country to country and go by different names. Nations themselves can be more to the left or more to the right. 

Just what is the difference between right and left?

Values and Beliefs Our parents, families, friends and communities  encourage us to believe certain things about human nature, how society should be structured and what we want the future to look like. Our own experiences further helps us refine or redefine those ideas. Whether or not you have thought these things through, they influence your ideology. 

History In early political systems in the western world power-both political and economic-was concentrated in the hands of the few. Absolute power was held by one person or family, almost always led by a man, who obtained and held power through force with the support of the church. People were encouraged to think that was the natural order of things. Over time, people gained more education and economic power. They began to demand a say in how their world operated.

Status Quo or Change Generally those on the right prefer the status quo. If changes are to be made, they need to be made gradually. Some on the far right appeal to the glory of the past and want a return to the "good old days" while those on the left value progress towards more economic equality and social justice. 

The Common Good It can be argued that both right and left feel their political views will benefit the common good. The right think that if everyone worked in their self interest, everyone would succeed. Under this way of thinking, everyone would be self sufficient and we would not need many rules . They believe in a more limited government and that we do not need taxes to support social programmes like schools and health care. These services should be delivered by corporations with a profit motive or nonprofit organizations with selfless motivations. People should choose the services they want to use and pay for them accordingly. The left is more inclined to believe we should work together with a stronger government and higher levels of taxation which will fund programmes that benefit everyone.  Schools and hospitals should serve everyone equally regardless of their ability to pay. Those with chronic disease, kids with learning disabilities, the mentally ill, the homeless and the disadvantaged could be raised up through universal programmes delivered through government support.

An old friend used to say he hated ideologies because both right and left were an attempt to make up for human shortcomings and we should all just try to be better people so we wouldn't need ideologies. Or politics for that matter.  But as long as we are human, with all our differences and weaknesses, we need government. We need to consider how we want our world to work.

Name calling divides us. It gets us nowhere. Understanding each other's views might help.

Sunday Sermon

I know I’m not a priest, preacher or theologian.  I haven’t been to church for years.

I’m possibly not even a Christian in the traditional sense of the word.

I don’t feel like I have a “personal relationship” with Jesus Christ and I am not really sure what that means. Nor do I feel that I have been “saved” in the way fundamentalist Christians believe.  I could not tell you the hour and the day I first believed.

But I do believe.

I believe in a lot of things that I cannot see.

I believe the world was created by a divine power. How can anyone look at the natural world and think it just happened, that it was just a random act? The mountains, lakes, oceans and forests- all the miraculous creatures that live therein-the interplay that helps each survive and thrive. My husband calls the wilderness his "church".

But I don’t believe humanity has exclusive rights to control the world for our own benefit. We may have the power, but do we have the right? I don’t believe it is our “god-given” right to destroy it just so we can all have more "stuff". 

I believe in good.  I think of my friends and the hours they devote to the homeless and rescuing stray animals and I wonder why? I think about the example set by my parents- the hours my dad spent with a lonely alcoholic, the times strangers were invited to our house because they needed a friend. Why did they do it? Why, if not for innate goodness in their hearts? And where does that goodness come from? These are things that make me believe there must be a greater force than transcends self interest. A force that is divinely inspired.

I believe in love.  I know how much my parents loved me, I know the fierce love of a mother. Where does that come from, if not divinely inspired? How can feelings so intense not be evidence of God’s love? And love doesn’t judge. It doesn’t judge who you love or what skills and intelligence or money you have or what you believe or what you have done in your past.

So here I am on a Sunday morning. Birds sputtering around the feeder. Redpolls, a magpie, a couple of blue jays, a couple of pine grosbeaks. The squirrel darting back and forth taking peanuts to his secret stash in the neighbour’s shed. Dog asleep on the couch beside me. Husband still asleep. Kids all safe and warm in their own homes. As I sit here and meditate on what I believe and how that impacts the choices I have made in my own life and the path ahead. 

And I wonder how many of you are doing the same thing?

the scars you cannot see

My kids and I were comparing scars the other day. Little visible marks, reminders of the past. The little line on my upper arm where infant-me had a cyst removed. A barely visible mark above my eyebrow where I landed on the corner of the coffee table after jumping on the couch when my grandmother was babysitting. A nick on the chin from crashing into a windowsill while playing our version of “Hockey Night in Canada.” An ugly gash on my foot from tripping over barbed wire while heffullump hunting with my cousins at the river. An appendectomy. A wire-thin mark from a leash burn when our dog, Pippa, took off after another dog at the ferry terminal. The place where the hospital placed a tube to drain my lungs after a car accident. The curved scar where they set my ankle after a compound fracture.  Little chunks of hard scar tissue that remain long after the event. Each one a reminder of pain- and healing. Each one a reminder that I am resilient. Each one a reminder that-with help-my body was designed to heal itself.

Today is the first day of school for many kids and their teachers. Today I think of my colleagues returning to school. Their classrooms, real and virtual, full of kids with their own scars. Some scars are easy to see. Some are invisible.  The scars that remain for kids who come to school hungry day after day. The trauma of losing homes, siblings, parents, culture, or a sense of purpose. The damage that results when they have lost their way. The suffering that comes from rejection, neglect and abandonment. The wounds that arise from witnessing unimaginable violence. The far-reaching impacts of intergenerational trauma.  These scars manifest themselves in many different ways

Our bodies have mechanisms to repair physical damage. With medical assistance, bones can be set. Gaping wounds can be stitched together. Antibiotics fight off infection.  But how do internal wounds heal? What kind of scar tissue mends that kind of brokenness? How can we, as teachers, give students the assistance they need to repair themselves? The scars we cannot see are the hardest to address.

Teachers have to listen to the messages students send, especially when they cannot put their pain into words. We need to get help for their immediate issues especially when the system seems stacked against them. We must get them the long-term help they need even when it means fighting to get them that help. We need to help our students understand where their scars come from and that those scars are part of who they are. We must reassure them that they are not alone. We must let them know they can heal. They have resilience within themselves, even it is years in the making. We cannot stop the pain but with patience and compassion, we can help the recovery. We cannot stop the pain but with patience and compassion, we can help the recovery.

This is what we must do as teachers every day. This is what we must do to bring peace to a young person. This is what we must do in order for our classrooms to function. This is what we must do before we can begin to think about curriculum, outcomes and assessment. This is what we must do before learning can happen.