philosophene
Nemo (the happy leftist)Centrists stop being cowards and just admit you are right wing challenge
No offense to the actor in the meme btw. I have no idea what his politics are, he could be a communist for all I know.
Zack 
@manicbanjo so no independents? Isn't most of the focus is for campaigns to have their party appeal to the swing voters?
Sally Strange@Zack101 @manicbanjo Yes and it shouldn't be, given that there are roughly 30 - 40% of people who simply never vote. Why do you think both parties prefer to focus on 1-2% of "independent" (read: ignorant & unprincipled) voters when they could easily win elections by getting 5-10% of non voters to start voting for them?
SocialistStan@SallyStrange @Zack101 @manicbanjo They go after independents because non-voters may have a reason for not voting that in itself is a principled stance. Independents are not opposed to voting, so the parties have one less hurtle to cross to get their loyalty..
Jade (Jay)@SallyStrange This stance is an especially stupid one to take. Every POC vote is just taken for granted when in reality it is not guaranteed at all - be it because of voter restrictions or weariness from politics itself. And instead of trying to get to the majority, you take that measly percentile of swing voters aka "moderates" that are MOSTLY white people who more often than not still choose the right and if they do, they FOR SURE won't tell you 
@Zack101 "independent" just means not affiliated with a party, it says nothing about where they are on the political spectrum. Bernie Sanders is an independent and he's on the left. I'm talking specifically about people who say they are centrists.
🐚 Undo Influence 🐚lol no. Sanders brands himself as a Socialist but does nothing to grow the U.S. Socialist Party as he's too busy kissing up to establishment Democrats. He punches Left at supposed 3rd-Party "spoilers" and has made a tidy living off his perpetual tokenism.
James Harris - Find my bridged Bluesky account@Zack101
@manicbanjo
See that’s where US politics is messed up. There are many more nuanced positions than Democrat and Republican, but you’re forced to pick one. Dems are closest to representing the Left, but are also nowhere near actually being Left. And are the only electable option. We face the same problem in Canada. 2 electable parties with an illusion of choice of other parties, but none actually electable.
@manicbanjo
See that’s where US politics is messed up. There are many more nuanced positions than Democrat and Republican, but you’re forced to pick one. Dems are closest to representing the Left, but are also nowhere near actually being Left. And are the only electable option. We face the same problem in Canada. 2 electable parties with an illusion of choice of other parties, but none actually electable.
hammancheez@manicbanjo i told someone here the Democratic party as viewed through the world lens of left-right qualified as center right and got blocked for bothsiderism lmao
Greg Leunig@hammancheez @manicbanjo Ironically, that's the opposite of both-sides-ism. It's actually the explanation for how this happened - people whose identify revolves around being "centrists" have not stopped to consider what each party actually stands for, or that the Republican Party since Reagan has dragged the whole US Political spectrum way to the right by being progressively more and more crazy.
@booksthatgoboom @manicbanjo I can believe the US Democrat party is a little too cozy with corporate interests while also recognizing the GOP is basically full-blown fascist lol
@hammancheez @manicbanjo Oh yeah - I've been a Democratic voter since I turned 18, but most of the politicians I vote for are WAY too cozy with billionaires and dirty energy companies. We just gotta hold the line against fascism until we get ranked choice voting
Voron@manicbanjo @booksthatgoboom @hammancheez A liberal in the 80s is now a leftist socialist extremist even though their positions haven’t changed
Todd Gatts@voron @manicbanjo @booksthatgoboom @hammancheez
Yeah, that's not true. I was a liberal in the 80's and I'm more liberal now. If my views had not changed since the 80's I would be further right than I am now.
Yeah, that's not true. I was a liberal in the 80's and I'm more liberal now. If my views had not changed since the 80's I would be further right than I am now.
@voron @manicbanjo @hammancheez Exactly! Since I was born in the '80s it took me a long time to realize that shift had happened. I realized it when I realized how conservative Obama was, relative to my personal beliefs.
Strange Tim@manicbanjo Refusing to "take sides" is, in itself, taking a side. While I'm not radical, I have embraced the tree hugging, and can't seem to shut up about all lives having intrinsic value.
Mihailik 🌼🌼🌼🏃🏿♀️🌼🌼🌼because Left/Right/Centrist division is a colonialist #Western distraction.
Neither of these ideologies is positive and good. Each of them is complicit in mass murder, colonisation and oppression. BY DESIGN
@486timetable @manicbanjo Exactly, that's why I'm not a voter.
Eunger@manicbanjo lol I love this. My favorite is “well both sides do it” when confronted with a singular bad act by one party, as if they’re part of some sort of enlightened class of political bodhisattva.
@eunger @manicbanjo What if the “both sides do it” is based on a pattern of policy positions over 30 years?
@voron @manicbanjo yes, if you completely change the factual scenario I provided you may get a different conclusion.
@manicbanjo @eunger You presented one scenario, I presented another. Unless you think yours is the only scenario possible
GATEKEEPER@manicbanjo
Independents are not a party , they are a diversion. The Eagle is the symbol of the country and the reason why is it's two winds ,not two wings and an asshole. #cowards
Independents are not a party , they are a diversion. The Eagle is the symbol of the country and the reason why is it's two winds ,not two wings and an asshole. #cowards
John Arnold 
@manicbanjo This amounts to saying, “If you don’t agree with me why can’t you just admit you’re an asshole?”.
Centrism can mean all kinds of things. Some people don’t like being called socialists because some view that word as being synonymous with communist. Some people believe in market forces controlling supply for some things while others should be provided by the state. Some people believe in a welfare state that goes further than others. Lots of reasons to consider…
@manicbanjo ones self more central on the political spectrum than those who call themselves “leftist”.
I hate the word leftist. I’m not a fan of the word socialist either.. I’m not a fan of putting people into conveniently attackable pigeon holes.
I’m a candidate standing for office for the Labour Party here in the UK. I’m on the left. But I don’t mock or insult people just because they might not agree with me on one issue. I persuade. I discuss. I listen.
Unite.
People who "don’t like being called socialists because some view that word as being synonymous with communist" = factually wrong & probably callous, aka assholes
People who "believe in market forces controlling supply for some things" = assholes, possibly genocidal assholes depending on what the things are
"Some people believe in a welfare state that goes further than others" = weaselly vague nonsense designed to impress assholes
RodanHere's the thing. Are you interested in being "right" or in power? Cause I'm interested in actually making a difference. I want to remove the tories from power. I want our country run by decent honest people who care about others.
None of that is socialist or communist or centrist or any political ideology really. It's just plain decency.
So if you spend your time attacking people because you want to be right.. well that's not very helpful.
Jessica Sparrow@manicbanjo As I keep saying, a "centrist" is just a fascist with plausible deniability.
Inan@manicbanjo For a moment i saw myself in that picture with the exception that i always and sometimes by coincidence show support for the leftist side! Do you think anyone admitting to stand either on one right or left side would do any good? Do you wish for the ultimate battle of opposites, of of sun and moon, light and dark, good and evil, odd and even?
I would hope for a pluralistic (yet antiright) society.
I would hope for a pluralistic (yet antiright) society.
hiding from plagues ☣️♿@manicbanjo SCREAMING THIS FROM EVERY INTERNET WINDOW
Hera [Yaseenist] Harper@manicbanjo I heard somewhere that “actual centrists are leftists and self proclaimed centrists are right wing” Which, given how skewed things are, yeah
Like the _actual_ ‘reasonable middleground’ is left leaning at this point
Lesley Carhart 
@manicbanjo "It's not like voting changes anything"
It's Just Jenn 🏳️⚧️@manicbanjo Have you noticed there's a lot less "Enlightened Centrism" here than on Twitter? I think most of them are still there "resisting"...something.
CuccU@manicbanjo I call that a NONCEist
Emma Builds 🚀I used to work with a guy who had "radicalcentrism" as a domain name.
But his positions were more or less right wing.
Also, I'm sorry you're dealing with the reply guys in this thread.
Dear reply guys, stop defending centrists.
Athena Grayson@manicbanjo "Centrist"="I'm Republican but I still want to be invited to the neighborhood pool parties and not get ignored the minute I start complaining about taxes/welfare/kids today. Look, I'm sorry they're burning crosses on your lawn, but I have to think about the taxes I might have to pay when I'm rich someday."
@manicbanjo
Not sure what I'm called but I go issue by issue. Some of those fall on the left and.... some fall on the... Right. gasp! In elections I may choose a singular issue (depending on what's on topic per cycle) that determines if I vote dem, rep, or ind. I registered Democrat in 2015 (from independent) to vote for Berny in the primary. I prefer dialogue over blunt objects and generalizations.
Not sure what I'm called but I go issue by issue. Some of those fall on the left and.... some fall on the... Right. gasp! In elections I may choose a singular issue (depending on what's on topic per cycle) that determines if I vote dem, rep, or ind. I registered Democrat in 2015 (from independent) to vote for Berny in the primary. I prefer dialogue over blunt objects and generalizations.
@Uberuser I'm fascinated to hear which positions you take that fall on the right, given that there's not a single one that doesn't throw marginalized people under the bus.
@manicbanjo great ground rules for intelligent dialogue. I prefer to avoid your blunt object you wish to bludgeon all who disagree with you with.
CarpInSanDiegoSo basically you don't have an answer. Good to know.
GamerTower@manicbanjo The actual centrist doesn't respect shit, yall are fucking idiots lol.