Mark Skousen's No More Political Labels

It is human nature to view the world wanting to categorize it and its contents into groups in order to efficiently predict the characteristics of that person or object. This tactic of categorizing is referred to as labelling or stereotyping. In politics, labels like “left-wing”, “right-wing”, “liberal”, “conservative” and many others are used to organize people or groups into convenient ideological boxes that are easy to understand. However, this method of labelling is often simplistic and causes more confusion, biases and debate than it solves. They often pit politicians against each other and impede on their individual endeavours. In theory, labels are simple and easy, however, politicians and the parties they belong to are far more intricate …show more content…
This is the reason labels are often an inaccurate description of a person’s or group’s views. Unlike this binary would suggest, finding politicians or political parties who's views align perfectly with either “left-wing” or “right-wing” is virtually impossible. Most politicians, political parties and their supporters have values associated with both “left” and “right” and yet they are generalized in order to fit them into a specific group. In his article No More Political Labels, Please, Mark Skousen says “Labels put people into political boxes and keep them there, preventing individuals from objectively considering alternative opinions and changing their minds” (Skousen, 1999), which illustrates how detrimental labels can be the improvement of society. Although labelling may seem like an easier way to sift through candidates and their supporters, it ignores those with nuanced and complex values, a trait which allows for real progress to be made and which is shared by …show more content…
However, their dangers appear when the polarizing environment they create takes away from meaningful and relevant discourse, which should be the most important role of a societies government and its politics. Although they aim is to promote efficiency, when dealing with the policies, laws and officials who will govern countries and the world, thoroughness and meticulousness rather than efficiency should be the top priority. Generalizing rids the world of its intricate, unique and constantly changing aspects which give it the ability to adapt to and accommodate specific circumstances. Political labelling impedes on this ability and leads the world to value trivial issues rather than those that truly