Exposing the Bankruptcy of Both the Left and the Right

“He who controls the labels, wins!”

— Larry Abraham

“There is no left or right, only up or down.”

— Ronald Reagan (1964)

As mentioned in my Skousen CAFÉ article this week, a recent debate about whether to give taxpayer-funded universal income to all Americans showed two social Democrats opposing the idea, even though they normally are associated with the “left,” and Charles Murray, a libertarian who often is viewed as someone on the “right,“ favoring it.

This just goes to show you how outdated and misleading left and right political labels are, and why they should be discouraged if not eliminated from civil discourse. They are divisive and create more heat than light. Such labels often also are used to smear people.

It should be all about what is right, not who is right. The debate should be on the issues, not putting people in political boxes to demonize them like they do in the media (New York Times, Fox News, etc.). When you label someone, thinking stops and finger pointing begins.

At FreedomFest, we discourage speakers and attendees frobm using these schismatic “left-right” labels. We need to avoid prejudging speakers as much as possible and listen to what they have to say.

The problem with labeling people “left” and “right” is that you imply an equality. In economics, for example, Adam Smith and his laissez-faire policies are viewed as “extreme right” on the political spectrum and Karl Marx and Totalitarian Communism as the “extreme left.” The Aristotelian middle is John Maynard Keynes and Big Government/Welfare State. But is that the ideal?

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I prefer the Totem Pole approach, where Adam Smith is at the top, Keynes is in the middle, and low man on the totem pole is Marx. See the accompanying Totem Pole in Economics that I commissioned several years ago.

I believe that Adam Smith offers the best system of government, Keynes the second best and Marx the worst. I side with Ronald Reagan, who said, “There is no left or right, only up or down.”

Mark Skousen

Mark Skousen, Ph. D., is a professional economist, investment expert, university professor, and author of more than 25 books. He earned his Ph. D. in monetary economics at George Washington University in 1977. He has taught economics and finance at Columbia Business School, Columbia University, Grantham University, Barnard College, Mercy College, Rollins College, and is a Presidential Fellow at Chapman University. He also has been a consultant to IBM, Hutchinson Technology, and other Fortune 500 companies. Since 1980, Skousen has been editor in chief of Forecasts & Strategies, a popular award-winning investment newsletter. He also is editor of four trading services, Skousen TNT Trader, Skousen Five Star Trader, Skousen Low-Priced Stock Trader, and Skousen Fast Money Alert. He is a former analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency, a columnist to Forbes magazine (1997-2001), and past president of the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) in New York. He has written articles for The Wall Street Journal, Liberty, Reason, Human Events, the Daily Caller, Christian Science Monitor, and The Journal of Economic Perspectives. He has appeared on ABC News, CNBC Power Lunch, CNN, Fox News, and C-SPAN Book TV. In 2008-09, he was a regular contributor to Larry Kudlow & Co. on CNBC. His economic bestsellers include “Economics on Trial” (Irwin, 1991), “Puzzles and Paradoxes on Economics” (Edward Elgar, 1997), “The Making of Modern Economics” (M. E. Sharpe, 2001, 2009), “The Big Three in Economics” (M. E. Sharpe, 2007), “EconoPower” (Wiley, 2008), and “Economic Logic” (2000, 2010). In 2009, “The Making of Modern Economics” won the Choice Book Award for Outstanding Academic Title. His financial bestsellers include “The Complete Guide to Financial Privacy” (Simon & Schuster, 1983), “High Finance on a Low Budget” (Bantam, 1981), co-authored with his wife Jo Ann, “Scrooge Investing” (Little Brown, 1995; McGraw Hill, 1999), and “Investing in One Lesson” (Regnery, 2007). In honor of his work in economics, finance, and management, Grantham University renamed its business school “The Mark Skousen School of Business.” Dr. Skousen has lived in eight nations, and has traveled and lectured throughout the United States and 70 countries. He grew up in Portland, Ore. He and his wife, Jo Ann, and five children have lived in Washington, D.C.; Nassau, the Bahamas; London, England; Orlando, Fla.; and New York. For more information about Mark’s services, go to http://www.markskousen.com/