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.
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 feel like the very idea of "centrist" is flawed. Sure you can choose not to identify with either party.
But for most of these issues you can't reasonably pick a "center" option for most issues. Sure we can argue implementation but you're either ok with abortion, gun control, gay rights, civil rights, or your not.
Is it really useful to have the "control guns" and "control guns only a little" groups fighting when there's a "school kids are a worthy sacrifice for guns" party?
They always seem to vote Republican.
This comment section is a riot.
So if someone truly has values that fall on both sides of the aisle, and can tell you what they don’t agree with on both sides, and can admit fault to each side… that makes them Republican?
I’d rather take someone any day that will take a stance on individual issues over just agreeing with what a specific political party says.
Everyone saying in this comment section that you aren’t strictly a Democrat you’re wrong/the problem… are indeed themselves the problem and are kidding themselves.
This is pretty accurate for the U.S., at least based on what I've seen of people online. I am not American, but one of your political parties built a gallows outside of the capital building and broke in while carrying weapons and chanting about hanging the vice president. I don't think you can really be centrist when that's one of the choices. You're either for or against the "murder the government, ban democracy and institute fascism" party.
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.
I'm not one of those people, especially since I don't live in the US but is it so hard to envision having different views on different issues?
All of the stances taken by one side need not resonate with you.
I for example am not in support of social media witch hunts when someone is accused of being racist/sexist/classist and and so on. I firmly believe that we should be instituting bodies that have the power to investigate issues like this and take appropriate actions, with more freedom than the typical judicial process. This however does not mean that I don't support gender equality, climate action or social welfare measures.
Another example would be affirmative action. I find it horrible that the supreme court gutted it the way it did but I also find it quite unpleasant that the elected representatives, in all this time, did not try to replace it with grassroot level measure such as food security, free tuition, books etc. higher school and teacher density in lower income or low performing areas. I feel that affirmative action was a stop gap measure, but it ended up being the prop used by politicians to not act on more fundamental issues.
Honestly, I would rather forgo the label altogether. In my experience label makes people into tribes and tribes aren't really conducive to nuanced dialogue or individual opinions, rather, they're good at collective action.
It’s funny because most republicans recognize that all politicians are corrupt and shitty people, and so they want to pull a “Hunger Games” or Game of Thrones” and sort of break the wheel and destroy these rich power dynasties.
The media recognizes this and pushes propaganda to paint them as fascist nazis.
The left eats up the propaganda and therefore is stuck in the “us vs them” mentality, thereby ensuring nobody actually stands up to the power dynasties.
This is why a lot of republicans still and will always support Donald Trump. Regardless of the person he is or may be, the power dynasties DO NOT WANT HIM AS PRESIDENT. There must be a reason why. So they will continue to vote for him and support him.
It’s both why Republicans will turn a blind eye to things Trump has said or done, and why the power dynasties spend extra time focusing and picking apart things Trump has said or done, while protecting and not reporting on other corrupt politicians.
Really it boils down to, Republicans have taken the “red pill” and are ready to take down the system and powers. Democrats got a taste of the Red Pill with Bernie, but quickly swallowed the blue pill when the DNC stole the nomination and gave it to Hillary. They got sucked back into the game but were so close to breaking free.
The RNC is trying to suck republicans back into the game now with DeSantis.
Now, some people say Trump has always been “part of the game”. I personally think this is not the case because Trump has shed light on a lot of corruption and even admitted to using tax loopholes that existing politicians enabled him to use. He’s revealed what’s going on behind the curtain that most politicians want to hide from the public.
It's almost like the other side would have some sound arguments even if their resolution isn't right or something!
Go infiltrate right wing media. Ask them what they think about Centrism. What y'all need to understand is that Centrism is an umbrella term for all who can't identify with either side. That means that yes, if you come at a centrist criticizing the right or left or centrist while being the other side, chances are they will never 100% agree with you. Thats how it is. Even within Centrism opposite ideas fight and coexist because thats what defines it: we don't align ourselves with any side but ourselves alone, even the idea of Centrism, if it exists. To reiterate, Centrism is not the right side, it never was a side, but simply an umbrella term to call "the unaligned". Well except for Radical Centrism, which is not Centrism, despite its name.
Maybe when we can finally separate ideas from our identities, politics would be remotely constructive from the hellhole it is today.
*criticizes the left*
:^|
:^)
THIS HAPPENS ALL THE TIME 😭
I am right-wing, this meme makes me happy.
