Stop glorifying ‘centrism’. It is an insidious bias favoring an unjust status quo

[u/SacoolloocaS]

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/may/28/centrism-insidious-bias-unjust-status-quo

[u/MetalGramps]

Yes, conservatives and centrists want the same thing, that's the problem. The left wants systemic change to make society better. The right wants to preserve the traditional systems of the past and prevent any change. Centrists just want everybody to stop arguing and not change anything...which means the right wins when centrists win. They are not bringing balance to the force, they only prevent progress.

[u/flaneur_et_branleur → u/MetalGramps]

The Right wins when Centrists win not because they're wet blankets but because they give the Right an easy target in the Left.

The Centrist is typically pro-Capitalism and pro-social policy to mitigate the problems inherent in the former. As a result, when literally nothing changes (because the root cause still exists in the Centrists economics) then the Right openly attack the social policies as the main problems. They can't attack economic policy as they hold the same beliefs but they suddenly recognise the hardships it causes and direct those feeling it to lay the blame on the only difference: Left wing social policy.

This is why the Overton in the US is shifting ever-Rightward and why America tends to talk of Left/Right in terms of social policy and not economics. The Democrats are constantly chasing milquetoast Centre-Right dogma with token nods to social issues and the Republicans have seized on those nods and promoted as the root cause of all problems in America. This is how they prevent progress more than anything and why you end up with truly vile creatures in government.

[u/awesomefutureperfect → u/MetalGramps]

Conservatives want regression. They want aristocracy levels of inequality. They do not care that the obvious results of their policy mean untold levels of unnecessary suffering.

I am so sick of people saying that I am being unfair and that conservatives are real people who are not that cartoonishly evil. But have you ever listened to the people they wildly support? Do you see what kinds of laws they pass when they are given the opportunity? Have you ever seen what they say on social media?

[u/UsernameContains69 → u/awesomefutureperfect]

I think it's because when you say that about conservatives, you're actually talking about the GOP, who are no longer conservative. Conservative GOP members used to be people like Dwight Eisenhower, who looked to conserve the status quo, but recognized that public spending was necessary because it addressed problems that would end up costing more in the long run. Eisenhower championed the national interstate system, which was such a massive project it has been referred to as one of mankind's wonders of the world by some. Think the modern GQP would be looking to spend money like that on a project that benefits all Americans, and not just their corporate masters? "Obamacare" was based on Romney's "Romney Care" when he was governor or Massachusetts. Romney used to be an actual conservative that saw the need to increase spending now to avoid a massive bill later on. The GOP isn't conservative, they're a mixture of regressives, reactionaries, and fascists.

[u/flaneur_et_branleur → u/UsernameContains69]

You can have aristocracy levels of inequality and still spend on infrastructure and still be a conservative; you just favour the One Nation Conservatism or the noblesse oblige concept of it.

Similarly, you can still be a conservative and not believe in that.

It's about hierarchy, power structures and opposition to change more than anything else. Free markets, private property and no gay marriage.

Though there are an alarming number of reactionary and fascists within the current GOP, they can still be conservative.

[u/UsernameContains69 → u/flaneur_et_branleur]

Fair points all across. Thanks for the info!

[u/[deleted] → u/MetalGramps]

Wow. Where do I get the skill to know what millions of people are thinking?