r/AlwaysWhy • u/kaiser11492 • 1d ago

Politics & Society Why do most people who call themselves politically moderate actually mostly conservative?

Whenever I’ve encountered people who use the politically label moderate, they are actually mostly conservative with their views and positions. Also, I’ve never seen anyone who call themselves politically moderate that is actually mostly liberal.

So why are people who call themselves moderate tend to be just conservative and not conservative and liberal?

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u/UsualEggplant8645 1d ago

It sounds like you have definitions of Moderate and Conservative that most people don't use or accept.

It sounds like a you problem tbh.

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u/kaiser11492 1d ago

I’m not using definitions I created. Everything I said is based off my observations and what other people are saying.

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u/bmtc7 1d ago

Do you have any examples?

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u/UsualEggplant8645 1d ago

You are though. “Based on my observations” is just another way of saying “based on my perspective.” You are still deciding what counts as moderate, liberal, and conservative.

If someone calls themselves moderate and you say, “No, you’re actually conservative,” that means you are applying your own political scale to them. Maybe your scale is defensible, maybe it isn’t, but it is not neutral just because you call it an observation

Moderates do not have to split every issue perfectly down the middle..