Neither Left Nor Right | Leonard E. Read

A short explanation on the political Left and the political Right by the great Leonard Read (author of another great, and famous, work, I, Pencil : https://www.econlib.org/library/Essays/rdPncl.html

This was written back in the 1950s, but it is quite important today, especially in the United States. For decades, the Americans have used the terms Left and Right to describe the politics of socialism and the politics of free-market conservatism respectively. But these are not accurate terms and it is particularly strange to see people who claim to favor free-enterprise describing themselves as members of the "Right." This writing by Leonard Read discusses why this is odd.

From the article: "What, actually, is the difference between communism and fascism? Both are forms of statism, authoritarianism. The only difference between Stalin’s communism and Mussolini’s fascism is an insignificant detail in organizational structure. But one is “left” and the other is “right”! Where does this leave the libertarian in a world of Moscow word-making? The libertarian is, in reality, the opposite of the communist. Yet, if the libertarian employs the terms “left” and “right,” he is falling into the semantic trap of being a “rightist” (fascist) by virtue of not being a “leftist” (communist). This is a semantic graveyard for libertarians, a word device that excludes their existence. While those with Moscow relations will continue this theme, there is every reason why libertarians should avoid it."

Leonard Read refers to libertarians. The current Libertarian Party is not all that libertarian, and I suspect that Read would have disagreed with some of what appears in the pages of Reason magazine and, in particular, with the various interviews Reason magazine has done with RT Television (basically, Putin TV). So, when Read talks about libertarianism, I would not take it to refer to capital-L Libertarians in the US right now. Rather, he means people who believe in limited government and see government's legitimate role being the protection of the rights of the individual.