I think the true centrist would be the least likely to genocide.
Wtf are you talking about. On the Left, we hate killing. We’re completely opposed to it. We don’t entertain the idea. Centrists who might allow some killing are not the least likely to genocide. The Left wants no unnecessary deaths.
Huh, that’s strange. There was a left-leaning fellow I responded to yesterday who said:
“So then you’re saying that liberals and leftists CAN publicly call for the roundup, imprisonment, and execution of all Republicans who push fake news in online and broadcast media?”
Sounds like they were very much in favor of some killing.
Attachment to an ideology is breeding grounds for contempt. Look at all of the leftists on social media lately calling for genocide of either Palestinians or Israel. As soon as you get so mired in labels, ideologies, etc you run the risk of becoming radicalized and unable to see the “other” as people. The central view is “both of these sides have done some abhorrent shit, let’s figure out how we can do better without an all out war.” The extremes are “Palestine wrong” and “Israel wrong”.
For the record, most of my personal beliefs lean pretty left of center. I still don’t identify as left, right, or even really center, because labels will only get in the way of truly expressing your beliefs. I just hate the “centrists like riding the fence. Centrists are cowards” kind of rhetoric you see everywhere.
Sure. I have a ton of ideologies, too. I’m also not obsessively attached to them and am willing to entertain opinions contrary to my ideologies. I don’t immediately throw them into a “you’re bad and wrong” box because my ideologies are perfect and infallible.
What of the reason that hypothetical person thinks that is because they have looked at most positions and the left is what makes the most sense in the big picture?
I don’t think I have ever seen a position on the right that I agreed with personally, and even when it comes to the left/center stuff… there’s a ton of disagreement within the left. It’s very much not a unified thing.
Look at anarchists and authoritarian leftists, for example, sure they’re both left, but about as different as they can get. And then within each “major” ideology you got tons of splinters and disagreements and smaller stuff. From Anarcho communism to market socialism to Anarcho syndicalism, to Democratic socialism, and so on.
At some point you have to think about what people really mean with the left/right divide.
I encourage you to keep picking stances based on the individual issue, instead of towing a party line. And know what? That may always align with the “left” and that’s great for you. The issue is if “left” is used as a shorthand for “good,” even if it’s been that way consistently in the past.
I, too, am almost universally left leaning on most issues, but there are some (arbitrary gun laws, for instance) that the left just doesn’t make sense on. Same with a lot of the more ‘woke’ aspects. Blindly following the leftist ideology means I accept those. I do not, and consequently the left doesn’t accept me sometimes because of that. Thus, I don’t identify with that term. Not labeling myself allows me to reform my beliefs without anywhere NEAR slas much cognitive dissonance, rather than being metaphorically shackled by a certain in group’s beliefs.
Wtf are you talking about. On the Left, we hate killing. We’re completely opposed to it. We don’t entertain the idea. Centrists who might allow some killing are not the least likely to genocide. The Left wants no unnecessary deaths.
Huh, that’s strange. There was a left-leaning fellow I responded to yesterday who said:
“So then you’re saying that liberals and leftists CAN publicly call for the roundup, imprisonment, and execution of all Republicans who push fake news in online and broadcast media?”
Sounds like they were very much in favor of some killing.
Attachment to an ideology is breeding grounds for contempt. Look at all of the leftists on social media lately calling for genocide of either Palestinians or Israel. As soon as you get so mired in labels, ideologies, etc you run the risk of becoming radicalized and unable to see the “other” as people. The central view is “both of these sides have done some abhorrent shit, let’s figure out how we can do better without an all out war.” The extremes are “Palestine wrong” and “Israel wrong”.
For the record, most of my personal beliefs lean pretty left of center. I still don’t identify as left, right, or even really center, because labels will only get in the way of truly expressing your beliefs. I just hate the “centrists like riding the fence. Centrists are cowards” kind of rhetoric you see everywhere.
Everyone has an ideology. You may just not be aware of it.
Sure. I have a ton of ideologies, too. I’m also not obsessively attached to them and am willing to entertain opinions contrary to my ideologies. I don’t immediately throw them into a “you’re bad and wrong” box because my ideologies are perfect and infallible.
And why do you assume leftists are different?
I don’t, necessarily. I assume people who think left is the only way, and there’s no room for a center or right are different.
What of the reason that hypothetical person thinks that is because they have looked at most positions and the left is what makes the most sense in the big picture?
I don’t think I have ever seen a position on the right that I agreed with personally, and even when it comes to the left/center stuff… there’s a ton of disagreement within the left. It’s very much not a unified thing.
Look at anarchists and authoritarian leftists, for example, sure they’re both left, but about as different as they can get. And then within each “major” ideology you got tons of splinters and disagreements and smaller stuff. From Anarcho communism to market socialism to Anarcho syndicalism, to Democratic socialism, and so on.
At some point you have to think about what people really mean with the left/right divide.
I encourage you to keep picking stances based on the individual issue, instead of towing a party line. And know what? That may always align with the “left” and that’s great for you. The issue is if “left” is used as a shorthand for “good,” even if it’s been that way consistently in the past.
I, too, am almost universally left leaning on most issues, but there are some (arbitrary gun laws, for instance) that the left just doesn’t make sense on. Same with a lot of the more ‘woke’ aspects. Blindly following the leftist ideology means I accept those. I do not, and consequently the left doesn’t accept me sometimes because of that. Thus, I don’t identify with that term. Not labeling myself allows me to reform my beliefs without anywhere NEAR slas much cognitive dissonance, rather than being metaphorically shackled by a certain in group’s beliefs.
Edit: towing? Toeing? Toe ring? Idk man.
Can you elaborate on the gun laws and woke stuff? With gun laws you’ll find to see that leftists very much do not have a unified position on it lol.