Conservatives frequently refer to themselves as centrists or neither. In the U.S., it is obvious someone is a right wing asshat if they claim to be centrist or neither.
“bOtH sIdEz r EqUaLlY bAd!!!”
If they were really centrist they’d vote democrat anyway, as that’s the centrist party.
Many leftists also vote democrat. Lesser of two evils, a two party system, no ranked choice voting, etc. etc. etc. etc.
Depends on the centrist I want a smaller government more than anything which 9 out of 10 times forces me to go republican or libertarian. I like democrat ideas at times but hate their execution. Democrats fumble the ball every time they get it once the Pelosi’s and Bidens are out of the party I might give them another shot.
What do you think of the fact that the GOP is responsible for the vast majority of overspending the US does? They consistently drive up the national deficit every time they’re in a position to do so. They deregulate and remove the teeth from federal agencies, bitch about how ineffective the government is at dealing with things, deregulate more, cut taxes for the wealthy, drive up taxes for the poor and middle class, and then shovel our money into the Pentagon. If you were actually compelled by small government and less spending, you’d be voting democrat every time. They’re the only ones that actually reduce spending on a federal level
I don’t even vote at the federal level zero chance Biden or Trump will se my vote in 24. At my local and state level I’m ok with the GOP they have consistently cut my taxes while balancing amenities in my community.
You’re a bot.
I’m a centrist generally I believe in climate change want to expand immigration but also want to cut spending, scale back military involvement and focus more on state’s rights. I don’t really fit with either side.
How would one scale back government and focus on climate change and expanding immigration? And state’s rights to do what exactly?
Centrism is when you pretend that the screams of oppressed trans people mean exactly the same to you as the chants of the nazis prosecuting them, but deep down you know you’re actually a nazi too.
More accurately, I would say these types react to someone criticizing the status quo, which is typically right wing. These types are usually sheltered white guys who have had very few problems with the status quo because, well, they’re white men.
It’s called “conservative” for a reason, you could say. Good point.
You forgot rich, no matter colour as long as you are rich
I was poor as dirt and was like this for a long time.
People that claim themselves to be centrists in this economy, are either plain stupid or republicunts in disguise.
Yes, they are not mutually exclusive.
This exactly reminds me of when Nazis try to claim they’re “third position” or “syncretic” to say they’re neither left or right lmao
The meme character is frustrated at “the the”, yes?
“I don’t like the Right or the Left!” only criticizes the Left
I have a step grandfather who is super far right but insists he’s a democrat and that he’s the only true democrat in the family since he was elected as a democrat judge in a rather conservative area in Ohio in the 80s or 90s. He has also said the only thing he can do to save the country is to vote for crazy fascist republicans. Insists he knows how to run a government better than everyone in the family as well all because he was a judge.
One of my favorite thing to do with him is talk about something that impacts me and not tell him that it impacts me directly until after he’s been super shitty about it. Once I say it impacts me he then backtracks and tries to say that he still fully believes in the things he believes in but that he didn’t mean me, he meant the other ones. That my situation was different for no reason. He’s a piece of shit who my family expects me to respect, but I have many times purposefully been disrespectful because someone like him deserves negative respect.
To be fair, he may actually be a democrat, just a historic one. Their ‘roles’ were kind of reversed compared to today until somewhere in the last century if my outside knowledge of US political history serves right.
The flip came with Johnson signing the Civil Rights Act and then Goldwater and Nixon capitalizing on racists’ anger about it with the Southern Strategy.
I am a socialist, though I do not subscribe to all of the American left’s social or moral takes. I just want everyone to have a strong government-provided safety net, good social services, and a satisfying life that isn’t defined by the type of work one does or one’s profession.
edit: Having said that, it doesn’t seem like either the “left” or the “right,” at least in America, truly cares about effecting these sorts of changes. They just want to be loud.
Sure the left isn’t exactly going for those kinds of changes, but the right is actively trying to move away from the changes you want.
I take your point, but that doesn’t mean that I find the left to be much more appealing than the right, at least in terms of its ability to make worthwhile systemic change. The end result is the same. The American “right” and “left” are obsessed with their own flavor of identity politics, and that is what defines them over their approaches to government and economics. America’s “left” is still seemingly anti-socialist.
I don’t think that people should go out of their way to offend others, and the left’s propensity for tolerance is somewhat better than that of the right’s, but the postmodern social construct that is “identity,” at least in American culture, inspires tribalism and disunity. The right, being so opposed to postmodernism, itself, has unwittingly adopted the construct of identity, regardless.
And I don’t wish to invalidate others’ experiences as members of identity tribes, especially those who have been (or still are) wrongfully subjugated by coercive powers in our society that may even force an identity construct upon them, but generally, feuding between opposing identity tribes seems to me to be a distraction from making a systemic shift toward a better society. Identities don’t care about social welfare, though they may claim to; they care about ensuring they remain or grow stronger as modes of personal validation or actualization. They struggle against each other, as if they are, themselves, organisms fighting for survival.
People aren’t defined by the subscription list of their identities (including “left” and “right”). We are not the final distillation of social performance. We just are—a cross section of experience, carried from one moment to the next.
What do you mean when you talk about “identity” here?
I suppose, more specifically, self identity as defined by one’s belonging to any number of a given set of social groups (e.g., fandom. nation, gender, race, religion, socioeconomic class, etc.)
I more or less believe that the concept of the self or of one’s identity is arbitrary: that there really is no self to identify.
I’m neither left nor right, I’m forward
And always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom!
The reason that you are running into situations like this is because you (the meme creator position) don’t witness the Centrist also vehemently argue with right-wing policies frequently.
You only see them argue with you and therefore have a skewed view of them and their politics. If you are left wing, and argue for left-wing policies in every case, that means you will also be argued with by somebody who believes political nuance and not just waving a party flag.
The right wing also shits on centrists because they think they are secretly left-wing since they argue with some of their stupider points as well.
These people are not secretly right-wing and just don’t have the balls to say it. That is a horrendous take no matter where you fall on the political spectrum the only serves to limit conversation.
I’ve participated often in a wide variety of conversations on a wide variety of platforms. The trick is, for some weird reason Centrists never vehemently argue with the right. I wonder why that is…
The truth is centrism is just a way to support the “convenient” part of conservatism while avoiding any blame for the “inconvenient” parts. It’s fence-sitting bullshit. Centrists simply equate to embarrassed conservatives.
One of many reasons for this could be your choice of topics, the location of the argument, and your perception. Any Centrists in the argument may be on your side of that particular issue and therefore are appearing left-leaning to you at the moment.
You not looking for them does not mean that they are not there. Them not coming out and identifying themselves continually does not mean they are not there.
Just like anything in science, your perception is not reality, especially when it seems that you are looking to enforce an opinion, not find the truth.
Most of the Centrists I’ve spoken to also tend to argue the issue, and not the side. They see sides and at-all-costs group membership as a form of lunacy.
Centrists lack gumption. They lack imagination. You propose anything that exists outside of the current capitalist hellhole that we live in, and they will be the first to argue “but what about jobs? What about the economy?”
This planet will be covered in arctic floodwater and the centrists will be too concerned about making sure we have a fair argument about it.
“Both sidesism” will be the death of us all.
You are casting a broad (and incorrect) net over a wide swath of people.
I would make none of those arguments you proposed.
I have a very strong environmental bent. I feel the world should be made uncomfortable now to avoid apocalypse. I would break apart mon- di- and even tri- opolies. I would overhaul the copyright system to enhance competition specifically because we’re in a period where small companies are not capable or competing in the arenas that megacorps do. I would remove loopholes from tax and legal laws.
I would enforce corporations cleaning up after their messes. If that cleanup is too expensive for them to bear, then they should not be making those messes to begin with.
I would also refuse immigration from countries with more population than can be supported. I would push for a more cyclical global economy instead of relying on inter-governmental debt spirals. I would implement UBI.
I meet none of the standards you have laid out.
Who are you to tell me what I am, other than confidently incorrect?
That ain’t centrism, that’s neoliberalism. Go forth and be the best neoliberal you can be, I guess. But when the chuds start calling you a socialist, for proposing what seems reasonable to you, don’t back down!
Maybe, but I wouldn’t use the label. I want them to fight the ideas, not dismiss the label. Makes for better conversation.
I mean I only ever see the ones arguing with leftists actually admitting to being centrist, so if what you’re saying is true then maybe the centrist arguing with rightists should consider improving their PR by being more vocal about it. Because y’all only ever seem to bring up your political affiliation when arguing with one particular side, so no wonder you’ve developed a reputation based on that.
They don’t have PR. They’re not a cohesive unit. I don’t generally even like calling myself Centrist because I hate labels and don’t like the way they encourage group-think. There’s probably scads of Centrists I wouldn’t get along with as well.
Yet you clearly identify as a centrist based on your comments on this thread. They’re just as much a unit as the right or left based on how they behave and act on their political beliefs. Either you identify with centrists, in which case it’s up to you to be the change you want to see in their reputation, or you don’t, in which case their reputation shouldn’t reflect on you.
I don’t like people making baseless accusations. I defend people on all sides when people are wrong about their opposition. I hate it when people think they know what others think and project incorrect (and often evil) bullshit on each other. It’s important to be right with the right reasoning and conclusion, not just one or the other.
I care when Christians purposely mischaracterize Muslims, and I am neither of those groups. I hate people being wilfully wrong because their group fetishizes a certain angle of the truth instead of the boring reality of the situation.
Ideas are important and I don’t feel we can get out of the current shitty slump we’re in politically unless we clearly identify and discuss the world. Labels and group membership make that harder to do.
So no, I don’t really identify as a Centrist, but you may think I am. I don’t “identify” as anything. I am me and I’m more complex than a few easy labels for you to slap on. Labels make it easier to dismiss people and ignore their words.
If I took the label Centrist, then that means I take the baggage you hold for the word, and I abjectly refuse to do so.
But you’re not just defending centrists, you’re responding to claims people make about centrists by saying “but I’m not like that so obviously not all centrists are like that”. Your reply to pthaloblue elsewhere in the thread is an example of this. You clearly present yourself as a centrist there in direct response to someone talking about centrists. You seem to be arguing about this from the point of view of someone who feels like they’re being personally attacked even though based on the actual beliefs you’ve mentioned and your own dislike of labels by all accounts you’re not a centrist and thus not an example of what centrists are like.
