Left and right wing come from which side of the assembly they sit on . Meaning that right and left wing are relative ideas , based on which side of the house of representatives , US senate , or parliament a party is sitting on physically . The fact of the matter is social conservatism is an expression of populace control . Neither part has ever had a monopoly on that ever . It doesn ' t matter which side of the isle the bigotry is on , vilifying a side just makes them more obstinate in alliance . You can ' t challenge bigotry by vilifying an entire political group on the bigotry of a few . That sort of blanket stereotyping enforces the stereotype and forces the majority into extremism . This is exactly how the Nazis and radical Islamicists came to power , all blanket vilification does is enforce the extremism .