A good insult lasts a long time.

– Rocky Balboa

Growing up in the late 1960’s and early 70’s wasn’t an easy time for anyone with a thin skin. Back then, kids could find a reason, and I mean ANY reason, to ridicule other kids. If your hair had just been cut, you would be teased because you “just had your ears lowered”. If the length of your pants was too short, you’d probably be ridiculed for wearing “high waters” in anticipation of the next great flood. God forbid you dropped your tray of food in the school cafeteria, which would most certainly result in a standing ovation by the other troubled children. It’s a wonder we all didn’t end up in therapy.

As we’ve aged, however, the caliber of insults seems to have waned. This is evidenced by some comments I’ve observed by various internet trolls who seem to only surface once every pandemic or so. It seems that referring to someone as being “on the left” is now acceptable as an insult. I’m not sure how this came to be a worthy slur.

I happen to think that some things associated with the left are pretty good. I used to be able to throw a baseball with reasonable force with my left arm. I draw stick figures with much greater precision with my left hand than if I used the opposite hand. I haven’t kicked a ball of any type for many years, but if forced to do so, I’d use my left leg. On the other hand, if I need to use scissors, I’ll use my right hand. I also swing a golf club right-handed. Well…maybe that’s not a very good example of proficiency. The point is this; there’s nothing wrong with the left, unless of course you’re driving a car. Then it’s best to get on the right side of the road. In England, however, left is good and right isn’t right.

Whenever I hear or read someone use the term “those people on the left”, I assume that something less than positive is coming next. Terms like “those people” or referring to any specific group of people with a pronoun is almost always not flattering. Categorizing someone based on their political ideology as either right or left seems a bit simplistic.

Maybe things aren’t always as clear cut as right or left. Maybe it isn’t a question of right or left, but a question of right or wrong. Am I right?