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the political centre?
- Thread starter Eddi
- Start date
anna.
colors your eyes with what's not there
A big empty hole where it used to be.
That's interesting, I'm a centrist but I am beginning to resent liberalism but I wouldn't go as far to say that I am staunchly illiberal
Where will this lead?
I have no idea!
A label whose denotations and connotations depend on the country, time, and individual in question.
Locating the center of a spectrum requires knowing where both of its ends are. That is a variable piece of information, as I noted above. I generally prefer to ask people questions instead of assuming anything about them merely based on the label or labels they use to describe their views.
That people will be in the middle of all issues.
This differs from taking positions on the ends
of various spectra, with the average being in
the middle.
That's interesting as I hold both left wing and right wing views simultaneously
I am not at all on the middle when it comes to most issues
I am neither overall left or right
Hence I call myself a centrist
But the way I see it that does not equate to holding some intermediary moderate position
anna.
colors your eyes with what's not there
As an aside: You do a good job of doing that, for sure. But there's another way to think about how someone describes themselves; it can give insight into the person that goes beyond their assigned label. It's like a psychologist asking patients what they (the patient) think their dreams mean, which can be more useful than a rote interpretation of a dream. How a person uses a label for themselves vs. the textbook definition of that label.
Now that I've written that out, I'm not sure I'm saying it very clearly...
anna.
colors your eyes with what's not there
I would agree with you. I find myself in a similar situation in my own political arena.
I'm a pragmatic extremist.
Would you be able to expand on that?
Watching inertia through a dusty Overton window.
These days, probably "no man's land."
"Why did they spell the word 'center' as 'centre'? That's... unusual."
Yup. That's what came to mind.
Then a bullseye. That point in the middle, that's the 'centre' of it.
Then nothing.
Ideas and ideologies aren't physical things. How can they have a center, a term that references spatial or physical characteristics? Isn't it weird that we talk about ideas like that? How do we even determine what the 'center' of a set of ideas is when it has no physical dimensions? It's weird.
Best I can do is ask "what is my political center" which would be "what are the deeply held values that root my political views." Is the political 'centre' then whatever that common deeply held root is of the people? What is that, then? Is it freedom? Doesn't seem to be these days. Is it democracy? Doesn't seem to be these days. What if a nation doesn't have a center? What if it lost its center?
I think, in my country, we have lost any center.
Yup. That's what came to mind.
Then a bullseye. That point in the middle, that's the 'centre' of it.
Then nothing.
Ideas and ideologies aren't physical things. How can they have a center, a term that references spatial or physical characteristics? Isn't it weird that we talk about ideas like that? How do we even determine what the 'center' of a set of ideas is when it has no physical dimensions? It's weird.
Best I can do is ask "what is my political center" which would be "what are the deeply held values that root my political views." Is the political 'centre' then whatever that common deeply held root is of the people? What is that, then? Is it freedom? Doesn't seem to be these days. Is it democracy? Doesn't seem to be these days. What if a nation doesn't have a center? What if it lost its center?
I think, in my country, we have lost any center.
anotherneil
Well-Known Member
The center can be identified by a balance of rights between the individual and the collective; the closest ideology to this is libertarianism.
Anarchism, which is an ideology that puts the individual before the collective, is on one extreme of the spectrum; socialism, which is an ideology that puts the collective before the individual, is on the opposite extreme of the spectrum.
I think that the best example of the center would be what the US was when it was founded, without slavery and with equal rights.
Anarchism, which is an ideology that puts the individual before the collective, is on one extreme of the spectrum; socialism, which is an ideology that puts the collective before the individual, is on the opposite extreme of the spectrum.
I think that the best example of the center would be what the US was when it was founded, without slavery and with equal rights.
Koldo
Outstanding Member
How does libertarianism benefit the collective (in a manner that balances with the individual)?
anotherneil
Well-Known Member
In the way that anarchism does not benefit the collective - by having the state, government, laws, rights, order, etc.
What are your thoughts on how libertarianism benefits the individual, in a manner that balances with the collective?
Twilight Hue
Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
Where a shaking of hands meet. That's the real center.
You beat me to a mention of the Overton window. The American left is very right wing compared to the left in Europe - the Overton window in the US has shifted so far right.
Wirey
Fartist
I feel your pain.
I'm a social liberal (small L) and a fiscal conservative (small C), which generally pully me to what I view as the centre. However, as society seems to be more receptive to what I view as extreme political philosophies as actual policy (i.e. the death of Roe, defund the police as a political statement) I wonder if there is even a centre to be a part of anymore.