Life-affirming – life-averse. An alternative to the “left-right” division
By Andreas Peglau
November 11, 2025
For just where fails the comprehension,
A word steps promptly in as deputy.
With words `tis excellent disputing;
Systems to words ‚tis easy suiting;
On words `tis excellent believing;
No word can ever lose a jot from thieving.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: FAUST, Part 1
The question of what is “right” makes no sense without assuming a “left” position. But where do these terms come from?
Origins
The political “left-right” division[1] dates back to the French National Assembly of 1789:[2] Looking at the scene from the front, with the king in the middle, the more anti-monarchist opposition sat on the left, while the more conservative, royalist opposition sat on the right. This seating arrangement was based on the spatial conditions of the British House of Commons, so it was not a French invention.
However, those sitting on the left were not socialists or communists, but mainly members of the bourgeoisie, who in turn represented extremely diverse political orientations. The 1,315 deputies of the National Assembly, all of whom were male, were composed as follows:
“25% of them were members of the clergy, 18% belonged to the military (primarily nobles), 40% were lawyers or holders of public office, and 7% of the deputies were entrepreneurs; deputies from the countryside were underrepresented, and the common people of the cities were completely absent.”[3]
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See also:
People as puppets?
How Marx and Engels suppressed the real psyche in their teaching
By Andreas Peglau
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We are not born warriors. On the psychosocial prerequisites for peacefulness and “warlike“ behavior
By Andreas Peglau
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Further publications by Andreas Peglau
https://andreas-peglau-psychoanalyse.de/
https://afsaneyebahar.com/category/andreas-peglau/
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Amir Mortasawi (alias Afsane Bahar) (امیر مرتضوی (افسانه بهار 