The right-left divide is about power, not ideology

Photo by Michael on Unsplash

The origin of the concept of right and left in a political context dates back to the French revolution. In an effort to appease reformers, King Louis XVI allowed the empowerment of a legislative body to provide him with advice and consent. This was in the wake of the French intervention in support of the American revolution, and with the democratic philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and others popular…