Right, Left, or the Middle (Finger)?

I hate the political labels Left and Right. They have done more to perpetuate the "democratic deficit" in recent decades than anything else combined in my opinion. Having a label allows one to group a collection of opposing views and dismiss them all with generalizations that may only apply to a small minority of that grouping. Even worse, when such a group is labeled then when one of that group does something extreme or is misinterpreted, everyone else in that label is similarly characterized.

Labeling is a weapon of the demagogue used against the intelligence of the collective and is it surprisingly effective. Entire elections have been swung on the character assassinations of political wags, simply because one member of a group held views opposed by the general public. We've become so used to voting for parties, we've stopped judging the individuals we vote for on ability and merit and actual positions on issues.

It depresses me when I see a blogger talk about others as being a "right whinger". It also depresses me when I see one labeled as a "liberal lefty". Our world is more complicated than right and left, liberal and conservative. And I say we should all give these labels the Middle Finger.