Seeking To Determine And Promote The Common Good Frame

From what I can see, the Right and Left are not only making use of the same techniques to alter and formulate perceptions, but both are trying to accomplish essentially the same goal, a goal that amounts to little more than the enslavement of the masses. The only significant difference I can see between the Left and Right, has to do with the preferred method of control. Each camp bitterly opposes the other not because of the ends, but because they disagree with the means.

For example, on the far right we have the Libertarians who claim to uphold the concept of individual rights and freedoms above all else while at the same time handing everything (and they mean absolutely everything, including individual rights and freedoms) over to the whims of what they say will be a truly "Free Market System". If you're one of the many unfortunate plebs who are suffering under the rule of a few filthy rich Capitalists, then according to the Libertarians, you are living in a utopia so long as everyone is (theoretically) free as a bird.

Over to the far left we have the Communitarians (not be be confused with the lesser evolved Communists and their crude, blunt instruments) who will do away with the entire concept of individual rights and freedoms as well as an unbridled free market system, favoring instead the rights and freedoms of the "common good" coupled with a tightly controlled and regulated market system.

According to the Communitarians, their version of utopia is a world where anything may be justified so long as it's for the benefit of the Common Good. If you are an unfortunate individual living in a world ruled by Communitarian Law, a perpetual state of uncertainty and helplessness is the norm because everything you depend on may suddenly be confiscated away if it's deemed to be in the best interests of the Common Good. In the eyes of the commoner, the Common Good is a fuzzy and ill defined animal that only manages to become crystal clear when viewed through the myopic lens of the ruling elite.

I already mentioned The Golden Lake Institute which hangs out on the Left, but what about the Right? Not to dissapoint, here's the National Citizens Coalition, an organisation that used to be run by none other than the infamous Stephen Harper.

Copyright (c) 2007 Rearguard [Proofreader’s note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on September 13, 2007]

Note: The Harper Index The Golden Lake Institute National Citizens Coali...