I've adopted the label Left View because I think there is a significant difference between the views of the left, center, and right. Often there is substantial agreement by both the left and right at the "factual" and analytical level. Those in the center constitute the substantial majority, but tend to know little and care less. The relatively few in the center who are well-informed and policy-oriented tend toward "liberal" solutions, recently with a larger-than-usual patina of voluntarism offered as one of the key strategies. Leftists do not shrink from government involvement in many spheres of life -- economic, social, cultural, and political. Leftists, like many on the right, tend to be strong civil libertarians. Rightists eschew government involvement, pleading for less government and extolling the virtues of what I view as crackpot individualism and fascist capitalism.

At the core of the rightist view, and sadly of many in the center and an increasing number on the left, is a "belief" in the Hobbesian view of human beings -- that by nature "man" is mean, short, and brutish. At the core of the leftist view is a more neutral position on human nature -- namely that the data are inconclusive, that there are many millions of examples of people who have not behaved in an innately selfish manner, and that to base any decisions on the Hobbesian view is likely to become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Over time I would like to develop this theme and discuss it with others. Thank you for investigating my home page. Comments are welcome.

Butler Crittenden