The Face Of Imperialism

"The Left, as I would define it, encompasses those individuals, organizations, and governments that advocate egalitarian, redistributive policies and human services benefiting the common people and infringing upon the privileged interests of the wealthy propertied classes.

The Right also is involved in redistributive politics, but the distribution goes the other way, in an upward direction advancing the privileges of private capital and the wealthy few. Rightist governments and groups, including fascist ones, are dedicated to using the labor, markets, and natural resources of countries as so much fodder for the enrichment of the owning classes. In almost every country including our own, rightist groups, parties, or governments advocate privatization and deregulation of the economy, along with tax and spending programs, wage and investment practices, and methods of police and military control that primarily benefit those who receive the bulk of their income from investments and property, at the expense of those who live off wages, salaries, fees, and pensions. That is what usually distinguishes the Right from the Left.

In just about each instance, rightist forces abroad are deemed by US opinion makers to be “friendly to the West,” a coded term for “pro–free market” and “pro-capitalist.” Conversely, leftist ones are labeled as hostile, “antidemocratic,” “anti-American,” and “anti-West,” when in fact they are anti–corporate capital and against the privileges of the super rich."

-Michael Parenti, "Why Rulers Seek Global Dominion," from The Face Of Imperialism