The Moderate/Centrist Discussion Thread

[Deltanium]

I realized that RWDT and LWDT exist, so I thought to myself "Why not create a discussion thread for centrists?" This thread is for discussion of all topics related to centrism and centrist ideologies.

[Bienenhalde]

Not sure whether or not the mods will accept this, but it was nice to see an NSG poll with Christian Democrat as an option.

[Trumptonium1]

centrists are simply left-wingers masquerading as centre ground to protect their wealth from their own ideals by working with the right

politics has moved on greatly since 2008, the only "centre" that still rabidly regards oneself as such are the champagne socialists.

[Deltanium]

centrists are simply left-wingers masquerading as centre ground to protect their wealth from their own ideals by working with the right

politics has moved on greatly since 2008, the only "centre" that still rabidly regards oneself as such are the champagne socialists.

Good sir, have you heard of a little thing called Classical Liberalism and Libertarianism? Those combine rightist economic policies with leftist social policies, and as with acids and alkali, one neutralizes the other.

Left+Right= Centre

[LiberNovusAmericae]

centrists are simply left-wingers masquerading as centre ground to protect their wealth from their own ideals by working with the right

politics has moved on greatly since 2008, the only "centre" that still rabidly regards oneself as such are the champagne socialists.

Not all centrists work with the right or left. That being said, I do not believe that centrism exists unless one just is not active in politics. Ask any "centrist" anything and there will probably be a pattern of beliefs associated with either the left or right. While some people might be more moderate than others, I don't think one can be truly centrist.

[Deltanium]

centrists are simply left-wingers masquerading as centre ground to protect their wealth from their own ideals by working with the right

politics has moved on greatly since 2008, the only "centre" that still rabidly regards oneself as such are the champagne socialists.

Not all centrists work with the right or left. That being said, I do not believe that centrism exists unless one just is not active in politics. Ask any "centrist" anything and there will probably be a pattern of beliefs associated with either the left or right. While some people might be more moderate than others, I don't think one can be truly centrist.

Well, they can be close and they can be "moderate" (Not really leftist but not really rightist either)

[The National Salvation Front for Russia]

I consider myself a centrist these days, because I've lost interest in authoritarianism of all stripes. Democracy and the markets provide the best means of improved quality of life, because politicians and companies have to compete over votes/purchases. It's not perfect, but better than an autocracy in which the dictator has only to give large bonuses to his inner circle and keep everyone else on a basic level of sustenance so he can tax them.

Christian Democrat particularly because I'm a somewhat conservative Christian who believes in a social market economy.

[Farnhamia]

I realized that RWDT and LWDT exist, so I thought to myself "Why not create a discussion thread for centrists?" This thread is for discussion of all topics related to centrism and centrist ideologies.

You need a whole lot more in this OP. What's a centrist, what's a moderate? What are some of their positions? I'll leave this open for the moment so you can work on the OP,

[Bienenhalde]

centrists are simply left-wingers masquerading as centre ground to protect their wealth from their own ideals by working with the right

politics has moved on greatly since 2008, the only "centre" that still rabidly regards oneself as such are the champagne socialists.

I suppose you think anyone who disagrees with you is left-wing, which is sort of odd, since in many ways your political beliefs do not seem to be compatible with traditional conservatism anyway. You seem to have problems with trying to understand nuance, but the truth of the matter is that political ideology is far more complex than a simple binary distinction between the "left" and the "right".

[Bienenhalde]

Good sir, have you heard of a little thing called Classical Liberalism and Libertarianism? Those combine rightist economic policies with leftist social policies, and as with acids and alkali, one neutralizes the other.

Left+Right= Centre

Christian Democrats are sort of the opposite to your description, but I suppose both ideologies have one thing in common: that they defy the conventional stereotypes of left-wing or right-wing politics, which are especially prevalent here in the United States.

[The South Falls]

My political scores say otherwise, but I delude myself that I am a centrist.

[Costa Fierro]

centrists are simply left-wingers masquerading as centre ground to protect their wealth from their own ideals by working with the right

politics has moved on greatly since 2008, the only "centre" that still rabidly regards oneself as such are the champagne socialists.

Oh hey, three posts in and we're already repeating shitty memes.

[Costa Fierro]

centrists are simply left-wingers masquerading as centre ground to protect their wealth from their own ideals by working with the right

politics has moved on greatly since 2008, the only "centre" that still rabidly regards oneself as such are the champagne socialists.

I suppose you think anyone who disagrees with you is left-wing, which is sort of odd, since in many ways your political beliefs do not seem to be compatible with traditional conservatism anyway. You seem to have problems with trying to understand nuance, but the truth of the matter is that political ideology is far more complex than a simple binary distinction between the "left" and the "right".

It's just the right wing version of "everyone I disagree with is a Nazi".

[LiberNovusAmericae]

I suppose you think anyone who disagrees with you is left-wing, which is sort of odd, since in many ways your political beliefs do not seem to be compatible with traditional conservatism anyway. You seem to have problems with trying to understand nuance, but the truth of the matter is that political ideology is far more complex than a simple binary distinction between the "left" and the "right".

It's just the right wing version of "everyone I disagree with is a Nazi".

I've encountered people like that, and even though I'm a right winger myself, it wasn't pleasant.

[El-Amin Caliphate]

How are Christian Democrats centrist?

[Uiiop]

How are Christian Democrats centrist?

Their economic positions and their ideologies relationships to their faith being secular enough to not be an issue is my guess.

[Major-Tom]

In the last year alone, I swear I've seen at least a dozen different "centrist threads." They never amount to anything here. It has nothing to do with the individual participants who describe themselves as centrist, most of them are awesome posters, but there just isn't much of a community here that is genuinely excited by centrist politics.

[Joohan]

centrists are simply left-wingers masquerading as centre ground to protect their wealth from their own ideals by working with the right

politics has moved on greatly since 2008, the only "centre" that still rabidly regards oneself as such are the champagne socialists.

Good sir, have you heard of a little thing called Classical Liberalism and Libertarianism? Those combine rightist economic policies with leftist social policies, and as with acids and alkali, one neutralizes the other.

Left+Right= Centre

It's the worst of both worlds.

[Western Vale Confederacy]

In the last year alone, I swear I've seen at least a dozen different "centrist threads." They never amount to anything here. It has nothing to do with the individual participants who describe themselves as centrist, most of them are awesome posters, but there just isn't much of a community here that is genuinely excited by centrist politics.

The entire point of centrism is that we AREN’T a bunch of raging partisans that would unironically declare Trump an emperor or AOC as General Secretary.

We’re not meant to be colourful.

[Costa Fierro]

In the last year alone, I swear I've seen at least a dozen different "centrist threads." They never amount to anything here. It has nothing to do with the individual participants who describe themselves as centrist, most of them are awesome posters, but there just isn't much of a community here that is genuinely excited by centrist politics.

The entire point of centrism is that we AREN’T a bunch of raging partisans that would unironically declare Trump an emperor or AOC as General Secretary.

We’re not meant to be colourful.

It is about practicality, pragmatism, and good governance. Idealism for the sake of idealism is none of those things.

[Dumb Ideologies]

If you're real moderates, you'd only be moderately moderate and wouldn't actively define yourselves as such or create a thread.

Checkmate centrists.

[SD_Film Artists]

Only a Sith deals in absolutes.

It's interesting being a centrist as you get bashed from both the left and the right as they see one's non-extremism and see apathy, they see one's balancing of ideas and see indecision.

centrists are simply left-wingers masquerading as centre ground to protect their wealth from their own ideals by working with the right

politics has moved on greatly since 2008, the only "centre" that still rabidly regards oneself as such are the champagne socialists.

You could just as easily say "centrists are simply right-wingers masquerading as centre ground to protect their civil rights and benefits system from their own ideals by working with the left."

[Nordengrund]

I think a lot of centrists are just liberals and conservatives who are abhorred at how far to the extremes their sides are moving, so they find themselves tuck in the center.

[The Blaatschapen]

Argh!

So the Right Wing Discussion thread is full of people who I disagree with on personal freedom (they're by and large too authoritarian for me).

The Left Wing Discussion thread is full of people who I disagree with on the role of the free market.

The Libertarian Discussion Thread is full of people who I disagree with on the role of the government.

So this thread could have been an Echo Chamber Discussion thread for me. But then it somehow includes Christian Democrats? A group that is traditionally placed as centre-right (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian ... of_Germany for example).


I have no home echo chamber

[SD_Film Artists]

Some people seem to think that they can debunk all centrism with the golden mean fallacy, but this is unfair as it implies that all centrists think with a kind of 'means justies the ends' logic, but this is incorrect. Balance is important but it's not a goal in itself. For example if I were to choose between a meteorologist and someone who uses crystals to determine the weather then I wouldn't choose a mix of both; I'd choose the meteorologist because it's science.l

Argh!

So the Right Wing Discussion thread is full of people who I disagree with on personal freedom (they're by and large too authoritarian for me).

The Left Wing Discussion thread is full of people who I disagree with on the role of the free market.

The Libertarian Discussion Thread is full of people who I disagree with on the role of the government.

Economically I'm more leftist, but I don't support any left-wing political groups because too many of their members seem to think that you can't be patriotic and left-wing at the same time. They like to think of themselves as "anti-imperialist" and yet they're happy to turn a blind eye when a non-western country makes a blatent land-grab.

Take the Falklands for example; the war itself has nothing to do with socialism, yet alot of leftists are sympathetic towards Argentina because they'd apparently rather have some new imperialism (unjustified Argentine land-grab) rather than something which looks like old imperialism (British self-governing overseas territory).

In the Morning Star (British far-left newspaper) you can have a fairly reliable drinking game by looking for the words 'imperialist' 'western', or 'facist'.