A Short Theory of the Political Spectrum
Published on Oct 11, 2026, filed under politics. (Share this post, e.g., on Mastodon.)
People who are largely content vote center—they are conservative, they vote for conservatives.
People who are discontent vote right or left:
Those who want others to suffer, vote right.
Those who want others to be taken care of, vote left.
Destructive and Constructive
However, you need to take a closer look to tell that the left and the right are not equivalent options:
Those who want others to suffer, vote right.
Those who want others to be taken care of, vote left.
These two options have vastly different consequences:
Wanting to hurt others (like migrants, like people in need, like other countries) is destructive, not only against those others but also against oneself (cf. “hammers hurt”).
Wanting to support others is constructive, and ultimately also benefits oneself.
What you can see here is philosophy, in terms of our models of the world, in action:
There is the separatist–destructive view of the world in which people feel disconnected from other people, and therefore believe that hurting others does not affect themselves.
There is the collective–constructive view of the world in which people understand, consciously or intuitively, that hurting someone else will eventually lead that someone to hit back—and that conversely, helping others is also helpful for them.
While per se valid choices to make (freedom), the asymmetry and therefore difference stems from the idea that it would be acceptable to hurt another. It’s not the arguable stupidity that this may backfire—people should be free to hurt themselves—, but this destructive, domineering arrogance that is inherent to the Right.
That is the political spectrum in a nutshell *: You can use it to explain what has been and what is going on, how our thinking about the world influences our world, and how problems in that thinking translate to problems in our world.
* This is not new but I cannot attribute it with accuracy; I’m stating my understanding.
About Me
I’m Jens (long: Jens Oliver Meiert), and I’m an engineering lead, guerrilla philosopher, and indie publisher. I’ve worked as a technical lead and engineering manager at various companies (e.g., Google); I’m an active web and tool developer (code optimization, digital defense), a contributor to web standards (like HTML, CSS, WCAG), and a book author (O’Reilly, Frontend Dogma).
I love trying things—in web development and engineering management, but also in politics and philosophy, where I hold to one idea in particular: that we can only be well if we take good care of everyone. Here on meiert.com I talk about some of my perspectives and experiences. (Interpret charitably but be critical—and share feedback and advice that makes my work better.)