What do we mean when we say Neither Left nor Right?

by Zvi Baranoff

What do we mean when we say Neither Left nor Right?

Approaching the world without ideologically based prejudice and seeing beyond the left/right paradigm is a conscious political decision and not an abandonment of principles with the hope of finding a touchy-feelie middle ground without clarity or analysis.

“Neither Left nor Right” as expressed by the Green Movement or the Radical Center as Mark Satin at one point defined it is not about creation of a “safe space” for creeping fascism and the suppression of the progressive movement of the last half century. Rather, it is about the synthesis of shared values of individuals and groups that have grown to the place of seeking commonality.

In a practical sense, it is a philosophical/ideological place where, for instance, environmentalists and feminists and prison reform activists have found ways to work together with shared purpose without inherently adapting each others complete analysis or perspectives. It is the point where anarchist squatters and religious conservatives can garden together or plan the defense of common space. It is the cultural and political meeting place that allows ranchers and indigenous people to collaborate in opposition to a pipeline or support solarization.

Such a perspective brings together people from diverse backgrounds that approach issues from different perspectives, finding a common purpose and shared action. It is an approach to the physical and economic reality without a surrender of values. For instance, to avoid ecological catastrophe requires a rapid phase out of fossil fuels. To bring about such a global shift will necessitate the involvement of multinational capitalist enterprises, bankers and national governments. To recognize the players does not imbue them with added legitimacy.

To be “Neither Left nor Right” includes at the very core being antifascist and critical of capitalism from a deeper, unified sense. It recognizes that we bring about change by political, economic and cultural processes that are woven together. Being “Neither Left nor Right” is about total Transformation or the words are meaningless. To use the phrase effectively, we need to begin with the common principles. The early Green Movement referred to the Four Pillars of ecology, grassroots democracy, social responsibility and nonviolence.

When we give up our language to the manipulation of anyone that is not committed to common action, we will find ourselves in a hopeless loop of misdirection. Our allies will be painted as enemies and our values will be whittled away should we allow “Neither Left nor Right” to be understood in a way that was never meant. It is not an open door to pointless debate with fascist elements or their apologists.

“Neither Left nor Right” is absolutely true. Neither from a leftist nor a conservative prospective, with a broad consensus, we can assuredly call out creeping fascism and collectively tell the enablers to, most respectably, bugger off.

Rock Against Racism poster from the 1980s