Left and Right

No, it is not what you think. I have already explained that I won't accept any political labels. What I want to explore are words as ideas. See, I am a lefty in the physical sense and have always been, like my mother before me, my sister, my husband, and my nephew. I have lived in a left-handed family and understand the limitations and constraints built into our society: the design of desks in public schools; the pain inducing handles of scissors; the task of pushing a pencil rather than pulling it when learning to write by hand; the placement of the gear shift and gas pedal in cars; adding machines or calculators - including the one on my keyboard; the computer's mouse. Simple examples found every day; challenges to be flexible and adaptable because my natural tendencies are not the norm.

These natural tendencies hold a link to a dark history. My husband's grandmother was punished, teachers rapped her knuckles with a ruler, until she stopped using her left hand to write in school. This visible difference has been held suspect in many countries over the years. Some cultures continue to shame members naturally inclined to use their left hands. In some, the left is deemed the "unclean hand" - never to be used for eating. Which is logical, for hygiene purposes without running water, yet theoretically, each person could choose to keep one hand "clean" and the other "unclean" without demanding it to be right or left. I ran into a similar attitude when living in Germany: kindly and patiently shown how to eat "properly," with a knife and fork, my mentor wanted me to hold the knife in my right hand, like her. I refused. It made no sense to me, although socially conforming (and I sincerely respected their culture). I learned their way my way. Lefties are even associated with evil through biblical accounts and superstitions. Charged with devil worship, witchcraft, and nasty spell inducing signs, left handedness holds a checkered past. Most cultures and times view my natural characteristic with some level of suspicion.

If right is right then left is wrong. I have been told that I write with the wrong hand. But I write with the hand that works the best. I was told I must be stupid because I favor my left hand. I wondered about that one for awhile, but decided that since I did well in school, relative to other right-handed kids, I was probably not stupid. Culturally in English, we have extended the idea of a right hand to a right way or what is good, proper and just. My Webster's dictionary lists fifty definitions for right, but only nine for left. To be right: sane, accurate, appropriate. To be left: abandoned. The words are descriptive and active; they permeate ideas.

It is this history of ideas that divide our cultural discourse today. Commonly, left of center is demonized, ridiculed and patronized; right of center is celebrated, worshipped, and idolized. Or how about the idea that right is strong and left is weak - mimicking the condition of right-handed bodies. It is an old story resting on old prejudices. Likewise, there is little truth in the descriptions politically: a "left" leaning government like communism in Russia tried to control or make up jobs, but jailed and murdered its own citizens; a "right" leaning Republican flank in the U.S. today tortures prisoners, and flagrantly overspends.

We need new words. We need words that don't divide but lead us together to the mountain in the scene above. Truth does not reside in the right or the left; nor is truth in the frequently substituted labels of conservative or liberal either. One can be conservative fiscally, but liberal socially and vice versa; the variables and combinations are endless. Culturally and politically labels serve as dividers rather than explanations. What is the basic idea of human nature? What is the idea of government? Let go of left and right. If you demonize, malign, mock, or diminish the other, left or right, because of their difference, you are ridiculing the foundation of our country. Beware of unwarranted superstition and suspicion; use the facts before you. If the facts contradict a previously accepted illusion or constructed social conformity, honor reality. Don't follow someone else's idea of who you are, or who someone else is, or what you should be.

We naturally come with two hands, even though one is usually stronger or more capable. Take it from a life-long lefty: I need my right hand. They both serve me well.