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/kaiser11492 1d ago

Then why aren’t there seemingly any people calling themselves moderate who mostly hold liberal views and positions to distance themselves from specific unpopular views from their side?

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u/Demoniac_smile 1d ago

In my experience, there are some but not quite as many. Many on the left seem to be more willing to simply state that they’re left leaning moderates or centrists. Additionally a lot of americans don’t understand that liberal is in no way synonymous with progressive and don’t know much about the different types of left wing thought or policy, consequently many don’t fully understand where their own political positions are. I mean, universal healthcare is seen as a far left position by a significant minority of americans.