The Adverse Effects of Leftist Social Policy

In 1789 the French King was going broke. Trying to raise cash, he convened the Estates General, a representative body. Seating was arranged according to political preference: those hoping to retain the monarchy sat to the Right of the presiding officer, while those wanting radical change sat to his Left. Hence the terms Left, Leftist, and Leftism..This is a cautionary tale, and perhaps a metaphor for Denocratic Capitalism in America: by mobilizing the Left, Louis XVI unwittingly arranged his own beheading.