Metavirus says:

i don't think your construct works to the 50/50 equivalency you suggest.

the left/libertarian side of the equation wants due process, drug law reform and fair justice. they want less war, less police abuse, and MORE fundamental constitutional protections for our people.

what you refer to as "illiberal economic redistribution via government spending" is just the way that every modern democratic/capitalist system WORKS. there will always be a progressive tax system, in every major democracy/capitalist system in the world. always — it's never going to change. "redistribution" is just an inflammatory word to describe the services that government provides to keep us safe, provide for a common infrastructure and provide various social safety nets to cushion the productivity of our citizenry. yes, it is true that "the poor" use much more of the latter and "the rich" pay out more to support it. but that is just the way a modern democracy works.

besides which, the vast majority of left/right and center have no interest in doing away with the "redistributivist" progressive tax system, so its a misnomer to peg this at the feet of "the left".

so, at the end of it, you're left with a "left" that sees government being able to do good things (and, by the way, is the only game in town right now that is actually proposing to PAY for programs they want to implement) and a "right" that sees most any government system as worthless and will spend their last breath to tear down as much of it as they can.

Remember the Bush years? Not just the big stuff, but the small stuff. The "strangle the government baby in its crib" mentality was apotheosized. Nearly every agency of government was stripped of funds and talent and, as a result, we got an FDA and USDA that drastically cut back on food inspections and drug safety. We got an interior department that squandered billions of dollars in managed oil contracts due to cronyism and zero oversight.

so yes. one side believes that government can do some good and another side that recoils instinctively to most everything that is or would be done by government (with a complete and unyielding faith that the Oracles of Free Markets with bless us with their bounty)

and, no, i don't discount some of the anti-freedom, intrusive stuff that "the left" sometimes likes, like seatbelt laws, cycle helmet laws and the like. but really, again, that kind of relatively minor stuff is supported by the people who for vote them, who, again, run across the political spectrum.

the simple fact is that the republican party is the pinnacle of statist power and corporatist corruption. the dems have their bad traits too but when we're talking about who's really on the side of "freedom" and constitutional values like due process and the rule of law (including with respect to torture), there really is no contest.