Is it broadly true that the right looks to individuals and cultural factors when explaining social ills and seeking solutions to them while the left looks to systems and societal structures?

I agree with C. They’re both on to something.

It’s broadly true.

The right have a cynical and pessimistic view of human nature, which means they believe people need to have order imposed on them. They are not against social structure and systems—only that they need to be reinforced and made more authoritarian.

Because of their cynicsm, the right are naturally more inclined to reproach individuals for the conditions they find themselves in, or for simply not conforming to the values preferred by the right. It’s not a sincere attempt at solving ‘social ills’, but rather a way of reinforcing their own prejudices about people and society—because there is no solution with simply blaming individuals.

The left are basically the opposite of all that, and it’s systems and social structures that often harm us, harm our development, cause dysfunctional behaviours, and ‘social ills’.

As usual, the right are completely incorrect. But, in politics, it’s not really the point to be correct.

The right, most commonly expressed through conservatism (and sometimes fascism), has a broader ideological purpose: to entrench wealth and privilege, and offer an intellectual justification for inequality and for preserving the status quo, which is then disseminated to the rest of us plebs in ego gratifying ways.

I’m uncomfortable with the breadth of that statement. I also don’t see a lot of difference between ‘cultural factors’ and ‘societal structures’ – those, to me, are sort of two sides of the same coin.

Having said that, the right wing and conservatives eschew broad approaches to issues (look at gun control, look at economic stimulus, for example) and tend to put responsibility on the individual.

Except for abortion rights, where they provide ample evidence of their hypocrisy.

I’ll simply agree with @Dutchess_III, that’s a fair statement.

The right used to support the government and authority while the left were supporters of individual freedoms and anarchy. Now the roles seem reversed. Do the terms “right” and “left” mean any more that “them” and “us”? Hasn’t the issue always been the balance of power between the individual and the state, the open plains of the west and the crowded cities of the east?

@Dutchess_III: “They’re both on to something.”

What exactly is that? What is the “right” on to?

There is no doubt that cultural factors come in to play when people make decisions about how to behave or react.
There is also no doubt that many of the systems we have in place are weak and biased.

^ Not sure what that means, but what is the “right” on to specifically?

I don’t think you can split it politically. Each person uses their own set of resources, and family, environment, even time passage play a role in how an individual will process information. Politics is only one cherry in the pie chart on that one.

I was inspired to ask this question after researching more into “critical race theory”. One criticism of it was it that it focused too much on structures and systems and didn’t look at the “cultural” reasons for racial disparities. But sometimes I think the two sides are talking about the same things or at least not as diametrically opposed as they seem. For example, I’ve seen many right-wingers cite fatherlessness as a factor contributing to criminality and poverty among African Americans. A left-winger would respond that the reason many fathers are absent is due to over-incarceration, thus we need criminal justice reform. To me these aren’t unrelated or opposite approaches; they’re essentially getting at the same thing.

Anyway, thanks for the answers.

My kids were fatherless. They’re all doing OK.
My “culture” is white.

I think this is a false dichotomy. I think you either consider the entirety of a problem, or you don’t. I think you either look for blame in the wrong place or you don’t. I think you either have a full perspective of history, or you don’t. As with most things when someone proposes an over simplified assessment of a topic, I have to answer with, ‘It more complicated than that.’

@Dutchess_III haha, I think I turned out okay and my bio dad wasn’t around at all, but I did have uncles and other male figures around.
Statistically speaking, the chances of us ‘fatherless’ turning out okay is rare, so credit to the good mom’s out there like yourself. :)

“the right looks to individuals and cultural factors when explaining social ills and seeking solutions”
The first part is correct but “the right” lately pretty much never seek solutions that don’t just dump all responsibility back on the individual. I.e. they don’t seek solutions besides “figure it out yourself sucker! Government support is only for the rich.”