Editorial: Right vs. Left Wing

Francis Fukuyama claims in his book 'End of History' that the left-wing was defeated with the fall of communism in Soviet Russia. He argues that the left-wing has become irrelevant. He is correct to a certain degree because since the fall of Soviet Russia, the world has been shifting increasingly to the right-wing. This idea has been adopted by many right winger pundits to mean that the right has prevailed because it is the correct path to take. This perception follows the traditional realist perspective that this is the way the world is, and therefore it is the way the world will be.

Soviet Russia was a powerful nation which exerted its dominance on other nations to get what it wanted. The United States was and remains a powerful nation which is exerting its dominance on other nations to get what it wants. The United States survived the cold war as the single dominant force in the world. The tool of United States dominance is right-wing ideology. To maintain its dominance the right-wing ideologues believe that they must shift the world to the right. This has become evident in popular media in the US calling left-wing media communist, centrist media left-wing, and right-wing media not right enough. If the whole left/right spectrum shifts to the right, all compromises become right-wing. In this sense the left wing is not dead, but being actively killed.

Popular media can no longer be trusted to stand outside of the left/right spectrum. It is up to ordinary citizens to practice rational and critical thought to determine the balance behind every issue. I propose not an end of history, but an end to political ideology, an end to the left-wing and an end to the right-wing.