A more useful model is from state control to libertarian as that groups the high-control ideologies all together as they work and act in the same way - fascism, islam, communism are really all the same, not "left" and "right". It's high control vs freedom. People equate "conservatism" with being "right" but it's not, it's just further away from the high control / big government (often viewed as "left").
Agree. Exactly. I’ve been confused for a while on this. We have a one dimensional left/right spectrum. There’s probably a good argument in there that trying to boil it down to one dimension is, in itself, inappropriate. But if we are to use a spectrum like this, it should work like a spectrum. I don’t understand how the far left is socialist, and as you move to the right, supposedly going away from socialism, you arrive on the far right to .... socialism again (national socialist). It’s like being a nationalist is enough to transport socialism to the other side. Makes no sense.
But to be honest, it does makes sense in the context of political parties like the Democrats attempting to make a historically horrible ideology “stick” to the more freedom loving side of the spectrum. (It’s politically convenient to label someone a Nazi)
When I was growing up, the left/right divide was defined in terms of *general* philosophical beliefs. The “left” was in favor more government control, and the “right” was for less. That’s in general. You couldn’t be sure what any one politician thought on a topic individually. But you had a general idea of how someone thought.
“Right” is generally more individualist, freedom oriented, and a traditional view of rights. “Left” is more collectivist, less individual freedom, and focuses on entitlements instead of rights.
In this way, Nazis are left (socialist, collectivist).