balderdashPick a side
𝔗𝚎𝚑 𝔅𝚊𝚖𝚜𝚔𝚒What if I informed you that there are more than two options, and they don’t have to be extremities? And what if I followed up by informing you that what we have in the US, for a political spectrum, is not the norm elsewhere in the world?
The political spectrum in the U.S. omits leftists entirely. Both Republicans and Democrats are pro-capitalism and pro-U.S. imperialism.
IsoldeMy reply was more aimed at the title of the post and its sentiment. “Pick a side”
I’m not a believer that there are only two political options for the US, long term, and would love to see a true political multi-party representation in the US government. I believe that something not completely (EU) far left will prevail in the US. And absolutely not the (US) far right. (Perhaps I’m just being a wishful fool, and the US will crash and burn in the next 1-5 years. Hopefully, we can make it out of this mess without doing so. But if it has to happen, so be it.)
completely (EU) far left
The EU is only “far left” in comparison to the US.
But that’s because the US has moved so far to the right that they can’t see any other political position from where they stand.
US has always been right wing, never even went center left once.
To be fair, I am bad at picking titles. So there’s that
AmnesigenicI’d respond by saying you’re too stupid to safely walk and chew at the same time and advise you to stop talking
henfredemarsThe US doesn’t really have a far left. It barely has a left. What MAGA calls left tends to be rather center, like the position that people should be able to afford healthcare.
“Radical left Joe Biden” will never not be funny.
also “left media” never has a foothold in the MSMs too.
Yeah, I’m a balding hippy type
still better than the other two in this meme đź¤
I mean… I’m not in a position to disagree with it.
BlackLaZoRWe hate centrists. Everyone hates centrists
Opposing fascism isn’t far left. That’s just being a decent person.
This meme is made by a leftist, and that community does have an issue with the same “if you don’t explicitly agree with everything we say, you are other and therefore evil” attitude that the MAGA crowd has.
Hey look, someone trying to prove my point.
They’re right, you’re a moron and a coward
Based on what? The fact that I don’t fall over myself to agree with whatever the leftist opinion-du-jour is? Comments like yours are specifically why the leftist movement is doomed to failure. It’s a shame, since most the ideas are good, just too many self-righteous assholes are the vocal face of it.
chemical_cutthroatYou sound like a Libertarian.
I view libertarianism similarly to how I view communism (the actual philosophies not the co-opted bullshit Libertarianism or the red scare version of communism); they are systems that seem like they could work if you somehow got everyone on the same page, but I don’t believe that they are robust enough to withstand the people who would exploit the system.
I feel like half the problem with politics right now is that everyone feels like they have to pick a label to call themselves. So they pick whichever is closest to what they believe at the time, then (consciously or unconsciously) mold themselves to conform with that chosen group. Suddenly, everyone who disagrees is personally attacking them, since they went and made their political affiliation part of their identity, rather than just a choice they make.
I don’t think politics should be based on belief. Beliefs imply inflexibility. I think we should look to history, find out what worked, and find out why the things that didn’t work failed, and use that to try and come up with ideas that will work in the modern context. And I definitely don’t think we should chain ourselves to ideas that aren’t working, which people seem to have a tendency to do when it’s their beliefs.
So you’re one of those people whose whole political stance is “we should look into that.” Cool. You don’t have any thoughts? Opinions?
That’s not what I said, and I’m not going to write you an entire thesis explaining my position on every single issue. My point is that people shouldn’t just pick one political philosophy and take every tenet it has as gospel.
You’ve built quite the defense system there. Whole lot of walls.
I bet you are the kind of person that wishes they didn’t vote in 2024, like a lot of embarrassed Trump voters.
You’ve got quite the imagination there. And you must be a terrible gambler, because your bet is not even remotely close.
I’d say “good try though”, but it really wasn’t.
You’re right. You probably aren’t old enough to vote.
You really are bad at this whole guessing thing.
Wordy and self-aggrandizing but basically yeah, you even admit the ideas are good and that the only reason you pretend otherwise is because you don’t like the people telling you them, get the fuck over yourself and start being correct about things
Can you even read? I said the left has an attitude problem, just like the right does. That says absolutely fuck-all about how I feel about the actual ideas behind leftism.
“Attitude problem” translation you’re a fucking toddler
So I say the leftist community has an issue with how they keep attacking everyone who doesn’t seem to agree with everything they say, and your only response has been name-calling. Yet somehow that makes me a toddler? Whatever. Enjoy being angry.
If you’re not angry you’re either stupid or evil
UnderpantsWeevilThe fact that I don’t fall over myself to agree with whatever the leftist opinion-du-jour is?
Getting strong Know-Nothing vibes of this whole thread. No real ideological thesis or central position. Just a bunch of hollow “I’m a free thinker because I hate you” reactionary slop.
I’m very purposely trying to keep my opinions about policy points out of it, because that’s not what I was ever taking issue with, and it would only serve to completely derail the conversation.
All I’ve ever been taking issue with is the discourse itself. The US has a two party system, which is inherently going to encourage a very “us vs them” mentality. When people immediately jump to name calling, ridicule, and general verbal abuse at the first hint of disagreement, it’s only making things worse.
cygnusLeftists barely agree with each other, let alone anybody elsewhere on the political spectrum. You aren’t entirely wrong, though - there is a tendency to say that anything good is leftist and anything bad is right-wing, but right-wingers also do the same (see how anytiing they don’t like is either woke or communist, or both)
Yeah there is a massive range of disagreement under the umbrella term “leftists”. Marxist, Marxist-Leninist, Trotskyist, Maoist, Communization theory, Anarcho-communist, Eco-anarchist, Christian anarchist, etc. etc.
These are all largely arguments over organizing a working class majority in control of it’s own lands and capital. None in these groups objects to the central thesis of worker self-government.
By contrast, centrist/right groups favor narrow hierarchies of elite oligarchs, them bicker over exactly which one of their kingpins should get the big chair.
And anything that doesn’t involve a fencepost tickling their prostate is a sin to centrists.
Their g-spot is pretty far to the right though.
Yes, a lot of self-proclaimed centrists are rather right-wing but like to picture themselevs as occupying the middle of the bell curve. See also their use of the term “common sense” when they want to feel like their view is the majority one despite that not being supported by statistics.
but right wingers are mostly homogeneous in thier beliefs, with the hefty help of the propaganda MSMs and financial backing. left doesnt have a propaganda machine promoting “left”, thats why there isnt any unified belief amongst all left leaning people.
Thank God a brave centrist was willing to come here to criticize the left and defend the right to protect us from evil socialist extremism.
Please, oh holy enlightened central one, tell us the errors of our thinking. Is it our sins of universal healthcare, anti-genocide, and equal rights for all?
Please, oh please, do sermon us on the benefits of the right like unregulated capitalism, environmental destruction, and thought policing
Is a shitty attitude a defining point of being a leftist? Because that’s the only thing I’m criticizing here. Everything else is just you making up things to be mad about.
So when you get rightfully criticized, your response is to cry that all of your criticisms are made up and that everyone besides you is wrong and has a bad attitude
If everyone you meet is an asshole, maybe you’re the asshole instead. But having that epiphany would involve you dropping that iconic “better than you” smugness that centrists love so much and giving a fuck about other people instead
What part of your comment was “legit criticism”? All you did was assume I’m a centrist and go off with a bunch of sarcasm based on that.
If you were trying to say that the the way some leftists attack everyone for everything is justified or necessary in some way, you should have tried making that point without adding in assumptions and sarcasm.
We’re assuming you’re a centrist because you’re very clearly trying to hold the exact position that the OP meme is mocking. My sarcasm is on point here because such a position is foolish and worthy of ridicule, and the hyperbole does an excellent job of pointing out the blatant falsehood of the entire political spectrum being equal.
I have no obligation to entertain right-wing viewpoints, give them a platform, or respect anyone who thinks they are worth consideration. In fact, I have an obligation to the do the exact opposite in defense of the victims of those viewpoints coming to fruition.
My advice would be to get off the fence and grow a thicker skin. No one likes centrists, especially whiny ones who think they’re above reproach or consequence.
You truly are proving the point I was making. Go back and look at the first comment I made that started this whole thread.
What if I rephrase to leave out mentioning MAGA, and simply say “the way some leftists choose to communicate is counterproductive”. What part of that statement says anything about actual leftist policy?
The knee-jerk reactions of people in this thread is exactly what I am taking issue with. Based on a single sentence, criticizing not leftist ideals, but criticizing the choice of how some people communicate, now you assume you know my position on all topics, based on your idea of what a “centrist” is (a term the is quickly becoming as useless as the term “woke”).
What point were you trying to make exactly, that your panties get twisted when centrists and the fascists they enable are rightfully called out? Again, not my responsibility to tolerate your intolerance.
If you’re going to keep pestering me demanding an apology, I’ll save you some time and tell you that you won’t get it. Go to a fascist forum if you want validation that the left are a bunch of meanie extremists for advocating basic human rights.
when centrists and the fascists they enable
bahahhahahahahhaha
Imagine being this ideologically far gone.
“everyone who dissagrees with me is a NASIIIIIIIIIIIIIIiyyyeeeeeeee”
I’l bet you have a septum ring and florescent hair too.
They’re right, cry about it
Again, where did I say any of that? In order to demand an apology, I’d probably have to use the word, or at least one of its synonyms.
The point I’m making is that if you are actually interested in making any change to society, being caustic towards centrists is counterproductive.
Think about it. If you want major societal change, you will need a majority of the population on your side. Anything less and you’d just be trading one form of authoritarianism for another. Now if you are dividing the population into three groups (left, center, and right), which group do you think you would be drawing people from? Do you think you can convince them to change with verbal abuse? Would that work on you?