A spectrum such as good to bad or black to white or sweet to sour covers a subjects variations from A to Z.  The political spectrum which runs from left to right originally was explained as follows:

100%----------(Amount of government)----------0%

Left Wing-------------------USA------Right Wing
Totalitarianism ---------------------Anarchy
TOTAL Government --------------------No Govt
Example:Communists
Nazis (Fascists)

No government is a bad situation as it leads to chaos, but America was to be very much toward the right or less government  The idea that Nazis are right wingers is a false idea that has been put forth by those who would confuse the concept. Nazis are not for less government!!!  If you can get this concept straight, it well help in understanding politics.

Any time you attempt to reduce a complex system into only one dimension, you're going to fail.

At a minimum you need an additional axis.  An example of this is the graph the Libertarian party has on their webn site.  One axis for economic policy and one for social policy, with the amount of government vs. individual control used as the measurement.  

So the classic 'right wing Christian conservative' as portrayed by the media would be in the quadrant with high inidividual control of economic issues (capitalist) but with high government control of social issues.  

The left in this country started out having high government control of economic issues ("big-business is bad") and low government control of social issues (legalise drugs, legalize abortion, etc.) but they have been shifting more and more towards government control of social issues as well.  

The fact is that very few people fit the stereotypes.  In my case, I have some friends who think I'm liberal because I think that drugs should be legalised and I'm against the death penalty.  Then I have other friends who think I'm conservative because I'm pro-gun and pro-business.  If people would stop trying to oversimpify everything into a one-dimensional model like what you're trying to do then they'd have a much better grasp of the world as it really is.  But we'll continue seeing the one-dimensional model used because it has one very big advantage:  It is very good for name calling, as you point out with the Nazi example.  They were to the left of their main rivals who were outright socialists so now anybody who wants to attack anybody is to say that they are a member of the "radical  right" and immediately there is the implication that thay are a Nazi or a Fascist.