No Left and Right — just Somewhat Rational and Completely Irrational
Even from the 1789 French Revolution origin of the terms the Right was bat shit crazy:
- Left-Wing (Radicals/Revolutionaries): Sat on the left side of the presiding officer. They favored the French Revolution
- Right-Wing (Conservatives/Monarchists): Sat on the right side. They supported the existing social order
Except that it is a lie. The Right Wing never supported the existing social order:
In 1787, King Louis XVI convened the Assembly of Notables to approve new land taxes, but the nobles rejected them, claiming that only the Estates-General (not held since 1614) had the authority to authorize new taxes.
The Right has never been about anything more then avoiding taxes and regulation and, in so doing, eventually causing chaos. It’s a tax rebellion that is fundamentally irrational and will always end up presenting as such.
For instance an alignment between wealthy people who don’t want to pay taxes and citizens who want reduced immigration is completely irrational.
The wealthy people’s tax rebellion needs immigrant labor — end of story.
The populist form of the Right / Irrational is a mass of contradictions and can only briefly survive. The people participating in Epstein’s slave girl ring are not going to prosecute themselves. The people benefiting from foreign wars are always going to want more war.
And of course the people benefiting from cheaper foreign labor are unlikely to participate in ending that arrangement.
War was baked into the Right / Irrational from the beginning also:
Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette sought help from other European monarchs, notably Austria, to regain their lost power.
HNWI (high net worth individuals) don’t consider themselves American in any traditional sense. When things don’t go well they will always turn to war as a potential save.
Is it reasonable for people on the Right / Irrational to be shocked when their politicians, yet again, go to war?
Key U.S. War Initiations by Party
Democratic Presidents: Initiated major conflicts including World War I (Wilson), World War II (FDR), the Korean War (Truman), and the Vietnam War (Kennedy/Johnson).
Republican Presidents: Initiated or heavily escalated conflicts including the Spanish-American War (McKinley), the Persian Gulf War (G.H.W. Bush), and the Iraq War (G.W. Bush).
The wars started by Democratic presidents are about fighting fascism and communism. Certainly some of those wars are misguided but the Republican presidents are blatantly about conquest and oil. You cannot reasonably be shocked that Trump is doing more of the same.
Of course Democratic politicians frequently don’t live up to a reasonable standard, but it’s incredible that in a democracy a party completely dedicated to the few can run neck and neck with one that is less so.
The Republican led tax revolt has now reached a similar point as the French revolution one. A California proposed ballot measure to tax the nobles one time and save poorer Californians from dying of reduced health care, is being fought against by the nobles.
The rational thing would be for Californian billionaires to gladly pay the one time tax. The French nobles caused the French revolution by rejecting taxes and a one time fee to avoid political instability is the only rational choice. But what drives the Right / Irrational are not such obvious political calculations — they are driven by entitlement and emotional neediness.
When Louis XVI attempted to force tax reforms through a lit de justice (a formal session to override the courts), the magistrates of the Parlement of Paris refused, insisting on the need for a national assembly.
“The Parlement is not empowered to consent to a tax. Only the Estates-General can do so… the magistrate must not consent to the misery of the people… The nation alone has the right to consent to its taxes.”
— Declaration of the Parlement of Paris, Summer 1787 (Paraphrased from historical record).
Context: The nobility argued that they were protecting the “liberties of the nation” against “despotism,” but in reality, they were protecting their tax exemption, hoping to use the Estates-General to force reforms to their liking, rather than the King’s.
Musk is equally irrational as any French noble before the revolution:
“What does it get spent on? A bunch of the stuff it gets spent on you don’t even agree with,” Musk explained. “That’s why we need to reduce the size of the government … and let the people keep a lot more of their hard-earned money.”
He is basically directly calling for revolution and there is no way that ends well for him or anyone.
Estimates for deaths during the French Revolution vary widely, generally ranging from tens of thousands during the “Reign of Terror” to over 2 million when including associated civil wars and external conflicts between 1792 and 1815. Over 16,000–17,000 people were officially guillotined, while total deaths during the Terror (1793–1794) exceeded 50,000.
The Right / Irrational was and is bat shit crazy.