On 2010-04-26, at 1:41 PM, Chris Doss wrote:
> There were only two sides in those conflicts?
Yes. The centre doesn't hold. The traditional parties lose their mass base. The intensification of social conflict propels followers of liberal parties - especially the propertyless alluded to by Mike Ballard earlier today - further to the left. Conservatives move farther right in reaction, drawing on the more tradition-bound small propertyholders and atomized unemployed and unorganized labourers as their foot soldiers. This is not universally the case; some tea party followers would move left, for example, as has been argued here, but not most. History has shown that some liberals, social democrats, and Marxists, especially within the intelligensia, would cross over to the right for any number of reasons, but again not as a rule.
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Marv Gandall <marvgandall at videotron.ca>
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> There is little confusion about who is on the left and who on the the right in highly polarized societies, especially those convulsed by civil war. There was no difficulty, for example, distinguishing between the two sides in the French, Russian, or Chinese Revolutions or in Nazi Germany or the Spanish Civil War. A simple gesture or comment betrayed the political sympathies of even those who wore no uniforms or engaged in overt activity.
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