I think it would work best for both of us if we discussed some sort of specific policy differences that led to left/far left distinctions.
I'm not sure I can do it just that way. Here's what makes sense to me. I'm going to stick to domestic policy to keep things as simple as possible. And I'm going to use the short scale, the one that includes the sane excludes the fringes. Putting communists on the scale and calling that "far left" distorts it by leaving little room for differentiation.
There are certain arenas that have long been of interest to the left. Civil rights, unions, welfare, gun control, abortion, health care, human rights, protectionism, insulation from the vagaries of life, secularism, etc. The left has effected many programs in those areas in my lifetime, enacted lots of laws. I think that, in general, those who think we have not gone far enough in them and advocate further change in that direction are "far left." Those who would continue to tweak would be "left." Those who would back off are right of center.
You probably won't find that very satisfying... |
