Are you 'murican? I don't think the rest of the world agrees on any of the US's "definitions" of left, right and liberal. From a European POV, the US democrats are really, really far to the right. Sanders might be leaning toward the center. The republicans are a strange mixture of libertarian regarding economical matters and very very right-wing/intrusive on personal matters. Whenever someone even mentions/comments other people's sexual orientation and identity I automitcally assume they are creep that wants to sniff other people's bedsheets. How can you be partly libertarian and also creepily nazi-intrusive? US-republican invention I can't wrap my head around, that is.
It would be a mistake to characterize this as a left/right issue. That's a classic pattern for drawing up support for inhumane policies, telling "the right" that "the left" wants something and that therefore they should oppose it. This is a basic issue of lives vs. deaths, human rights vs. an oppressive fascist regime, don't allow it to be reframed in these other ways that distort it.
Lets be honest with ourselves, half of the left is in support of the genocide happening is gaza. have seen this in both US left. and just as much in German, UK, Dutch left parties. only the French left has somewhat of a push back against that, France seems to be the only western country to still have genuine left factions among its left parties.
That's not what centrism means. It's not an immediate compromise between the two. It's acknowledging that not every single stance held by a political party is the correct one.
I can support background checks and other limitations on firearm purchases, and also not want open borders. We should be doing something about the excess of gun violence, and we should be doing something about the thousands of immigrants jumping our border.
Interestingly do all the leftist who now chant "from the river to the sea..." support genocide of the jews because that is exactly what those words mean.
I think the true centrist would be the least likely to genocide. Right and left both imply an attachment towards one arbitrary end of the spectrum. Center implies you're willing to entertain ideas from both sides, because realistically the truth almost always lies in the middle of the extremes.
The end state of these ideals is two sides who have nothing alike wanting the other gone, and the others going, "woah wait guys, you're both a little right, let's chat instead of murder." Centrism isn't just not being able to pick a side or take conviction, it's about wanting to synthesize all relevant information into a worldview that is a bit more aligned with reality.
Yeah you really have no idea what you're talking about.
I'm ionaore what it is that makes so many lemmy users think that centrist (like me) are evil or dumb or just enabling right wing extremists. I think it's fair to say that such view are actually quite extremist in themselves.
Let me put it in a similar story as this apparently works for you?
Leftist: all right wings are Nazi's and they all want to commit genocide, we should kill them all before they kill us!
Centrist : well, let's not go so fast? Things aren't that simple nor that black and white. First off, a dead man can't learn, and a lot of actual neo Nazi types are just misinformed, disgruntled and would do well with the right people to look up to. Then, I'm quite sure that most right wing or conservatives aren't anywhere near liking neo nazi ideas, let alone genocide.
I think a lot of the more extreme ones have, like you, over simplified world views that cause these extreme views. I think if you simply keep talking you will find that nearly all of them are like you, have families and friends and a dog, they love people too, they simply have different experiences and ideas than you have. Talk to them.
Also, if you kill allmrifht wing and conservatives, isn't that genocide? I assume you're against genocide, so why are you in favor of killing "them"? That is king of a right wing thing, according to you, do you want to be that?
In short, it's not that simple, moet people really aren't that bad.
Leftist: WHAT? HOW DARE YOU, YOU NAZI! WE SHOULD KILL YOU FOR DISAGREEING!
E: Every down vote without discussion just proves my point even more. You're all in a cult.
Nah, both sides suck for different reasons.
Most situations have more choices than the two you are often presented with. For example, who is in the right, Hamas or Israel? Neither of them. They're both trying to justify killing innocent people because the other side killed innocent people.
In the meme, a centrist would obviously agree with the Democrat. If it were flipped and the Democrat were saying some equally off the wall thing, they'd side with the Republican. They've both become extremist versions of what they once were and the other side points out the obvious insanity and gets to feel smug about their low hanging trophy. And dumbass people from both sides eat it up.
Why do you think people are clinging to the center despite all the weird hate against it? They don't want to be associated with either side. Both sides get some things right and some things wrong. Yet, we're expected to take them as a package deal, because politics have become cult like.
Ah yes genocide, where 14,500 people out of 2.048 Million have been killed in 45 days (0.7% of the population) in the war started by terrorists hiding behind the same civilians, and that number too given by the very same so trustworthy oh so poor terrorists I mean freedom fighters (who also include their own fighters killed in that number, as those poor freedom fighters have filmed themselves fighting in civilian clothes hence they are civilians), who kill their own civilians with their own crappy rockets yet blame it on the other party, and each one of the 14k killed hand counted and verified by the poor honest doctors who have never seen a gun bearing terrorist inside a hospital nor ever seen a tunnel or a hostage, being committed by the strongest military power in the region, which has the capacity to kill all those 2Million people in a single day!