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Got around to watching this video by @DataDistribute, which defines the right-wing in terms of commitment to a collective, transcendent, moral good (to summarise as briefly as possible)
It seems to me that any attempt to describe some essence to the terms "left" and "right" fails. For example, the Distributist's critique of left-wingers as being unconcerned with the collective good could easily be applied to many right-wingers
In fact, it's quite a common critique of right-wingers made by left-wingers.
I also disagree with the characterisation of left-wingers as entirely utilitarian (Distributist also says this). Abstract concepts such as equality and justice are generally important for left-wingers, and not simply because of their instrumental value
The reality is that "left" and "right" are not natural categories, they're just terms that describe political alliances, and political alliances aren't for the most part based on coherent ideological differences but rather on conflict between identity groups
Without wanting to sound like too much of a wignat, I think the most important division is racial. White ethnic chauvinists are "right-wing" and non-white ethnic chauvinists are "left-wing" (as are whites with negative ethnocentrism-see attached picture)
While mainstream conservatives like Ben Shapiro may not exactly be white ethnic chauvinists, they're generally closer to this than left-wingers (i.e. they argue against ideas like "systemic racism" and lefties call them racist/white supremacist on this basis)
Again, I don't think there's any ultimate essence to the terms "left" and "right", but this is imo the single most salient division between the two
