The descriptions left-wing and right-wing are obviously badly broken for describing the complexities of political thought. Does extreme right wing mean an Anarcho-Capitalist type or a Fascist? Does extreme left wing mean a Maoist or a Green? Trying to describe too many unrelated variables with an overly simple model is a recipe for confusion.
I think that the terms should be used only to refer to the leading political coalitions in a particular country at a particular time. Any ideology with no serious political power should not be described as leftist or rightist. With this definition, extreme left and extreme right become meaningless, or perhaps refer to the ideas at the hearts of the two main parties. Of course, one may still refer to extremism with respect to more specific ideas.
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