What do left wing and right wing even mean?

Left is more Liberal. Right is more Conservative.

I believe "Left" & "Right" was chosen based on I believe where people sat in the French Parliament during the French revolution... the liberals sat to the left side, and the conservatives sat to the right. Ultimately, the names were just chosen that way and beyond that is nothing more than a label we use and has nothing to do with "direction."

use to be the French people that sat on the Left side of Parliment were a little more free thinking than the ones that congregated on the right side of that building.

Back in those days the some areas of a building were called wings, left wing/right wing.

That is what it means. Or meant, today it is a talking point to be bandied around without any actual fact or details needed.

And yes, Independant is a Party, I am and have been registered Npa, No party affiliation for 27 years now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left-wing_politics

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-wing_politics

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberalism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservatism

Liberal

1.

favorable to progress or reform, as in political or religious affairs.

2.

( often initial capital letter ) noting or pertaining to a political party advocating measures of progressive political reform.

3.

of, pertaining to, based on, or advocating liberalism.

4.

favorable to or in accord with concepts of maximum individual freedom possible, especially as guaranteed by law and secured by governmental protection of civil liberties.

5.

Conservative

1.favoring or permitting freedom of action, especially with respect to matters of personal belief o

disposed to preserve existing conditions, institutions, etc., or to restore traditional ones, and to limit change.

2.

cautiously moderate or purposefully low: a conservative estimate.

3.

traditional in style or manner; avoiding novelty or showiness: conservative suit.

4.

( often initial capital letter ) of or pertaining to the Conservative party. \

5.

( initial capital letter ) of, pertaining to, or characteristic of Conservative Jews or Conservative Judaismr expression: a liberal policy toward dissident artists and writers.

They are names that are (supposedly) referring to the two main political sides.A true conservative would be someone who encourages the continuing practice of social and political beliefs and traditions. They would be someone who tries to minimalize change in the society.

A liberal would be the opposite; someone who would want to maximize change in the society.

Usually though, as is the case today, the words "liberal" and "conservative" don't really mean what they're supposed to mean. For instance, G. W. Bush was supposedly a conservative (if you remember, he was the anti-war candidate when he ran in 2000), but he re-ran as a "conservative" in 2004, promoting completely different ideologies, mostly due to 9/11.

In other words, they are names that we give to people's beliefs so that they can be identified with a group. The words themselves mean nothing, since more often than not, they just refer to what the common conception of a conservative or liberal is and not to what those words really mean.

The size and authority of government. The further left you go, the more government involvement in your life and less respect for the United States Constitution. The more to the Right you go. The less government and more of honoring the United States Constitution as the Rule of Law.

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The definition changes several times a day. But you can count on one explanation:

Right wing and left wing are just two wings of the same bird. For as long as we've voted left or right wing, voters have just gotten the bird.

...

Typically right wing or conservative means people who favor smaller government, less taxes, and less intervention on peoples personal life by the government... conversely left wing, or liberal people tend to favor more government spending and entitlement programs, and favor the government having a larger role in peoples lives. Recently though the republican and democratic parties haven't been true to their platform, and many would argue that in a lot of ways they have become the same. If your interested in a politician who is still a critical thinker, and not controlled by party politics I would recommend checking out Ron Paul. He is running for president currently.

Independent is not a political party. Right wing is often conservative, Left wing is often liberal. If there is a Right wing liberal or Left wing conservative, they are referred to or refer themselves as moderates. Some do their research but I would attest to the fact that most that actually do extensive research instead of just going with a party would be an independent lol.

Let's just say that in "some circles" liberalism is equated with socialism , labour, the working classes, big government and lots of spending on social issues, pro life , pro gay, advocates for the disenfranchised,pro new immigrants.

Right wingers are generally pro business, pro "evangelical "Christians, but not all the time , socially conservative and fiscally conservative. They don't like government interference in their lives and business. They are pro-life, anti gay, prefer tax cuts.

These are generalizations mind you, but most politicians you see on the mainstream will fit this. I don't know why, moderates would be so nice for a change. I would like to see an independent, but the world just isn't ready for someone that smart, or well "independent" yet.

They're supposed to indicate personal preference, since gov is limited due to limits of power. With each party attempting to overstep their limits of power, left and right wing become a little more encroaching when both parties agree to overstep limits of power in a bi-partisan effort.