Why Are We Leftists?

Just something I've been thinking about recently: why are we leftists?

I can hear the protests right now - more than one three-percent-thinker doesn't consider him/herself easily characterized by an abstract stereotype like "leftist", but the truth is that we hold many opinions shared by those traditionally associated with, or self-identifying as, leftists. This is a little bit odd to me, as in terms of personality and personal values we're closer to libertarians than we'd like to admit. I imagine that we like to think of ourselves as self-reliant, creative, intelligent, educated and able to make informed and reasonable decisions about our lives, probably better than other people can do for us. These traits are also championed by libertarians, since it is through these values, and personal freedoms, that an individual can flourish.

I also don't think that the left has any kind of monopoly on sound policy. In fact, I don't think sound policy has any kind of ideology behind it. "Sound", in this case, means it works. Many political acts whose goals were morally atrocious were pretty well thought out, and fairly effective in execution. And I don't think any of us are naive enough to fall for the idea that our side is always right.

But nevertheless, in terms of abstract world view as well as moral values, we share most of them with people on the left.

Which brings me back to my question, why are we leftist? What personal experience or intellectual inspiration drove us to adopt our worldviews? And why, in the end, did we rely on those views instead of other, possibly more "objective" (or at least more clinical and less blindly emotional), means of making opinions?

I'll actually confess that I'm not sure I'm a leftist at all. While I believe in things like the greater good and well-being of a society potentially at the cost of some individual liberty, I'm also not prone to believing in egalitarianism. I actually DO belive some people are morally superior to others, and it is the value and works of these people I wish to see perpetuated by society. I also do not believe happiness should be considered an intrinsic good in a society. Surely we can come up with a better reason for existing than to make ourselves feel good? (No, to make others feel good is not a good answer - it just leads to the same question.) Perhaps that makes me a fascist. That's a scary thought.

I'm more comfortable with why I'm not a libertarian - I don't trust myself. I know I have failings, and I know I can be selfish, and short-sighted, and bigoted and discriminatory, and I know I fantasize about myself being right all the time despite the fact I most certainly am not. At the same time I have a good sense of what I am responsible for in society. This, I think, makes social democracy a good government for me. I get to vote on things I believe are good, but then others take me to task for doing the right thing. In a libertarian system, on the other hand, I'd be responsible for controlling myself, which I might not be able to do. Extrapolating this to other people in society (and I imagine people like me are not rare) suggests libertarianism in general is bad for society. How I see it, anyway.

Discuss.