Howard Winter wrote:

> Russell,
>> He is very what people would call "right wing" in his beliefs. So much
>> so that he considers Adolph Hitler to have been "left wing" - and I can
>> se why he says that, but most people think of Hitler as having been far
>> right wing
> 
> Well I've always thought the "wing" model of the political spectrum was
> not only oversimplified, but wrong!  

I tend to agree. It helps avoiding troubling thoughts, though -- as long as
there is only one dimension and two parties ("we" and "them"), things are
easier :)

> There is a case for representing the thing as a cylinder, with moderation
> on one side, say the front, and the two extremes joining up round the
> back.  

But even then it has only one dimension.

> Stalin and Hitler (why are infamous people always known by just one name
> - unless they shot someone famous, when it's three?) were allies at one
> point - at least on paper - and yet their beliefs should have been
> opposite.  

Not really, at least if you go by the names. "National Socialist German
Workers Party" doesn't sound too far away from "Communist Party of the
Soviet Union", especially if you consider that in (American?) English
"socialist" is pretty much synonymous with "communist".

Gerhard

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