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Chances are you’ve seen a variant of “The Political Compass” chart like the one below. Although it’s quite popular, this chart has 2 major flaws that play into right-wing misinformation & propaganda. It’s time we stop using these false left/right dichotomies. Here’s why: 1/18 
The 1st flaw is that it places Authoritarianism along a Y-axis intersecting a Left/Right X-axis. Authoritarianism is related to decision-making power & stands fundamentally opposed to a core leftist value: that people should have a fair say in the decisions that affect them. 2/18
By placing Authoritarianism as a Y-axis intersecting both “Left” & “Right”, it at best confuses what leftists stand for & at worse perpetuates right-wing lies about the left. But the fact is, if you are authoritarian or elitist, you are NOT left. 3/18
These types of lies about the left are nothing new. From Nazi “Socialists” to Bolshevik “Communists” both stood at the opposite end of real participatory democracy: people having a fair say in the decisions that affect their lives. 4/18
Those co-opted labels, including, as the chart suggests, “Authoritarian Left” is not just historically & theoretically inaccurate, it’s also insulting to leftists who died fighting Nazism, fascism & other authoritarian regimes – regardless of whatever they called themselves. 5/18
It’s not difficult to see why this keeps happening. When clearly communicated, leftist values resonate as morally, ethically & logically superior & thus in public discourse, the right’s best hope is either disinformation or to appropriate & co-opt leftist labels. 6/18
They continue these same tactics even today. We should not play into their propaganda. And “The Political Compass” does just that. 7/18
Another important point about the Y-axis. “Libertarian” is another label that has been appropriated & often means very different things to different people. 8/18
If by libertarianism we mean people should be able to do whatever they want, irrespective of the effects of their actions on others, well, that’s not the opposite of Authoritarianism, it’s the same damn thing! 9/18
What kind of garbage paradigm would put Authoritarian (people having more than their fair share of say in decisions) on one end of a spectrum & “Libertarian” (as defined above as people having more than their fair share of say in decisions) on the other end? 10/18
The opposite of authoritarianism is not co-opted “Libertarianism”. It is people having a fair say in the decisions that affect their lives: having a say in decisions proportional to how much the decision affects them. 11/18
Now that we’ve disposed of the nonsensical Authoritarian/Libertarian Y-axis, the second major flaw with “The Political Compass” is that the remaining Left/Right axis is devoid of much substantial meaning. 12/18
Sure, we might have a vague concept of what it means to be “left” vs. “right”, but why not just state our values? 13/18
By explicitly stating our shared leftist values their moral, ethical & logical superiority become self-evident. We lose & the right wins by us not stating them clearly & effectively. 14/18
Furthermore, given the history of the right co-opting leftist labels, isn’t it just better to state what we believe in, rather than some umbrella term that can easily be stolen, co-opted or whose true meaning can be easily obscured? 15/18
A far better way of understanding the political spectrum, assessing social institutions, proposals for change or even for evaluating alternative visions of a better future, would be the below 7 left/right axes. 16/18
This is superior for several reasons. 1. It explicitly states our values & what we are striving for. 2. By doing so, it communicates & makes self-evident the moral, ethical & logical superiority of leftist values, and... 17/18
3. It separates them categorically as sometimes some parts of our analysis can be more left or more right than other parts & it is important to highlight these situations – rather than obscure them as one simple ‘left’ vs. ‘right’ axis does. 18/18
Below are separate links to each of the 7 leftist values on our 7 axes with an explanation as to why #leftisbest
Freedom, Democracy & Participation
Justice, Equity & Fairness
Diversity
Efficiency & Environmental Stewardship
Safety & Security
Innovation & Creativity
Empathy & Solidarity
