Ever wondered why it is that the conservatives are called the "right" and the liberals are called the "left."
Then by 'chance' stumbled upon this verse in the Bible:
Ecclesiastes 10:2 (NIV)
"The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left."
Nice. I like that.
ReplyDeleteBut the modern usage goes back to the French revolution where the conservative members sat to the Speaker's right in the chamber and the more radical members to his left.
Of course, most of them were shortly to lose their heads.
Read somewhere that where the parties sit in the British House of Commons is a matter of historical chance, following on from where someone (waaaayy back...Pitt or Pitt Younger) sat. His guys joined him and the bad guys were across the aisle. And so it continued, both day and night. The groups stayed where they were while the names changed!
In the Canadian House of Commons, the Prime Minister is to the Speaker's *LEFT*. So it is not fixed.
I like Ecclesiastes better!