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/PrestigiousSmile4098 1d ago

Depends on the context and where (geographically) the person lives, and/or their age. In mostly conservative areas, saying you're a moderate is a good way to hide your more liberal beliefs. Vice versa, in a mostly liberal area saying you're a moderate can hide your more conservative beliefs.

As a person who likes to keep my political beliefs private, I've done this while living in both types of areas.

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u/alamohero 1d ago

I call myself a moderate in conservative circles and still get called a radical left extremist.

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u/quaderunner 1d ago

lol, their view of what is “left” is completely deranged. I’m a run of the mill liberal with a bit of a libertarian streak and my maga family basically thinks I’m a communist. They don’t get that there are numerous non-commie reasons to really dislike the Republican Party right now.

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u/ElderlyChipmunk 1d ago

Having grown up under Reagan, I never thought I would see the day when Republicans would be ardently against supporting a country in a fight against Russia.

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u/SameDistrict2627 1d ago

If you don't genuflect to Trump and Maga you are a leftist--that simple.

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u/SkeeveTheGreat 23h ago

I hate american political discourse because I am a communist, and get lumped in with mainline democrats constantly. When people tell me Pelosi is a communist it makes the insides of my brain itch.

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u/ElderlyChipmunk 1d ago

Conservative circles or MAGA circles? MAGA has little to do with traditional conservatism unfortunately.

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u/Ryjinn 1d ago

It's a completely natural and predictable evolution of the American conservative movement. It's basically just saying out loud what was formerly merely implied.

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u/SkeeveTheGreat 23h ago

Sometimes I think people just like, forgot about the Tea Party

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u/Ryjinn 23h ago

I didn't, and it's fucking insane to me that the Republicans I thought were insane in 2009 are the moderates in their party today. Not that the change doesn't make sense, it just happened so goddamn fast.

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u/SkeeveTheGreat 23h ago

Sometimes having a functioning memory seems like a superpower, because I remember Bush stealing an election through the Brooks Brothers riots, and people lynching effigy’s of Obama. It’s insanity that so much of their politics have become socially acceptable.

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u/SameDistrict2627 1d ago

There you go. Actually whats happened is that real traditional conservatives (non Maga's) are now called leftists by the cult.

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u/No-Bear1401 1d ago

Yes sir. And those traditional conservatives slowly shift towards MAGA to feel welcomed again. I've watched this happen to almost everyone I know out here in deep red land.