this post was submitted on 25 Jul 2023
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Conservatives frequently refer to themselves as centrists or neither. In the U.S., it is obvious someone is a right wing asshat if they claim to be centrist or neither.
"bOtH sIdEz r EqUaLlY bAd!!!"
If they were really centrist they'd vote democrat anyway, as that's the centrist party.
Many leftists also vote democrat. Lesser of two evils, a two party system, no ranked choice voting, etc. etc. etc. etc.
Well america does not have a real left tbh ! Many people think of socialism as left wing while it is the economic center , someone supporting social left policies like lgbt rights can be considered liberal , but they can still be against universal healthcare or other socialist polices and then votes dem , coz they are liberal!
Exactly
Depends on the centrist I want a smaller government more than anything which 9 out of 10 times forces me to go republican or libertarian. I like democrat ideas at times but hate their execution. Democrats fumble the ball every time they get it once the Pelosi’s and Bidens are out of the party I might give them another shot.
What do you think of the fact that the GOP is responsible for the vast majority of overspending the US does? They consistently drive up the national deficit every time they're in a position to do so. They deregulate and remove the teeth from federal agencies, bitch about how ineffective the government is at dealing with things, deregulate more, cut taxes for the wealthy, drive up taxes for the poor and middle class, and then shovel our money into the Pentagon. If you were actually compelled by small government and less spending, you'd be voting democrat every time. They're the only ones that actually reduce spending on a federal level
Well said. The right has used the "small government" nonsense line forever. It's amazing how much they get away with by saying one thing and quietly doing basically the opposite. Gullible idiots all over the place.
I don’t even vote at the federal level zero chance Biden or Trump will se my vote in 24. At my local and state level I’m ok with the GOP they have consistently cut my taxes while balancing amenities in my community.
You're a bot.
How are massive subsidies for businesses "smaller government"?
It isn’t I want them gone PPP loans the 08 bailouts never should have happened in my opinion.
PPP loans were Trump's administration and Emergency Economic Stabilization Act was Bush's, why do you still vote for them?
I don’t really vote at the federal level anyway I focus on state and local elections that have more impact on my life. As a christian I don’t feel confident in my ability to answer to god why I picked a certain candidate at that level which is another reason I favor more localized government so politicians are humans in the community again.
I asked a pretty simple question and I wasn't looking for your life story.
Most people want an explanation when I say I don’t vote at the federal level so I kind of get defensive with it. State empowerment movements are growing like crazy it’s a lot easier to admit this in real life than it was even a decade ago.
If you don't vote federally why do you care about Pelosi and Biden?
It seems hypocritical.
They still screw things up for me the federal government takes from my paycheck etc I’m not happy with where the money goes when either side has power.
'Etc' is used to continue a list of like things and you can't can't do that with one item in a list.
All forms on income outside my Roth IRA and 401K.
Am I actually talking to ChatGPT here because it is not making any sense.
Which besides your paycheck is... what exactly? Or are these hypothetical streams of income once you get out of the "temporarily embarrassed millionaire" hole you're in.
The large-language model here has aptly synthesized the thoughts of just about every "centrist" I've ever encountered: Votes Republican based on policies the party allegedly supports but obviously doesn't, won't vote Democratic based on some vague complaint about style, yet perfectly content with all of the egregious things Republicans actually do.
How do you figure the GOP is the party of small government? Tax breaks for the rich? Christian Fascism for the rest?
The Republicans want to take away your right to an abortion. Big government has gone too far!
(Also they love spending on the military)
Claiming to want a smaller government and voting republican... They haven't been small government for 30 years. They collect the same amount, often more, in taxes they just shift the tax burden onto the poor through sales tax (at state levels) instead of keeping progressive taxation. Then they use that money to subsidize rich people. Uneducated morons lap it up and think they are saving money because their state has a lower, or no, state income tax, without realizing they are actually paying more through a higher sales and property tax.
It's crazy. I noticed this on dating sites. I live in a red area, but I ONLY would see "other" or "centrist" I think I could count on one hand how many people I saw actually say they were conservative.
Naturally they all had their identity set as "free thinkers..."
I use dating sites mainly for hookups and unless someone is explicity left I dont talk to them about their , centrist beliefs coz most of the times they left me offended !
So you just have sex with them?
Same in Germany. To call yourself Right in Germany is, well, we had a very right wing government and we swore "never again".
So the conservatives are center, the liberals are center, the social Democrats aren't really left anymore and self identify as center and the same is with the green party. There is one party called The Left and they obviously identify as left but can't agree on what that means. And the far right party (AfD) calls themselves Conservative.
the "enlightened centrist" lol. that's my mom, who calls Trump the "lesser of two evils"
Not just the US , that is a worldwide thing ! Although dems are not left either !
True. By all international standards, the U.S. Dems are a conservative party while the GOP is a fascism party. The Overton window in the U.S. is very far to the right. Conservatism has gone unchecked for so long it is running rampant. It needs to be extinguished. It's a health and safety issue at this point.
With every election I feel that dems inch a little bit towards the right and the GOPs move towards fascism a little more , this needs to be checked too !!
I consider myself a centrist as far as the world stage goes. In America that means I’m a democrat.
No what we have such polarized politics. Comments like this are insane.
I’m a centrist generally I believe in climate change want to expand immigration but also want to cut spending, scale back military involvement and focus more on state’s rights. I don’t really fit with either side.
How would one scale back government and focus on climate change and expanding immigration? And state's rights to do what exactly?
I’d move the US to work more like the EU. Conservatives could move to conservative areas and liberals could move to liberal areas with more power to pass things they want to see in their area. Some states would be able to address climate change and handle immigration in any way they want. Others could focus on safety, firearms, low taxes and personal freedoms. Each state would be more responsible for balancing its own budget and planning for emergencies. Without FEMA etc if a hurricane strike Florida they best have had their emergency fund ready and or get help from trading partners otherwise your out of luck. It’s like a modern HOA living in one gets you better roads, amenities etc if they mismanaged it then taxes go up people leave and they redo their books to incentivize the next generation back. America would become more nomadic as people try to strike the best deal every few decades while some political die hards would stick to a state for certain reasons maybe abortion laws or being in an unregulated industry local to that specific state.
That's absolutely wild, genuinely terrible, and intends something basically no different than what we already have. The biggest difference would be all of your conservative areas immediately collapsing without funding from liberal areas lol. I mean, your whole plan is basically just not having the United States anymore, and assuming that states will continue to play nicely with one another when they no longer have any higher authority to hold them to rules and regulations.
States already have different laws on abortion, gun ownership, taxes, and "personal freedoms". People can already move. This is just such a strange political take, I almost don't know what to say.
Yeah pretty much but it sounds pleasant to me though an economic cleansing in a sense if an area is economically uninhabitable it shouldn’t be supported by those that are some states will fail sure if there is economic value another state will utilize the space or form. I imagine the Dakota’s Carolina’s Virginias etc coming together to be more efficient smaller states like Rhode Island would also have to get creative or cease to exist. Those citizens would be allowed to move about the country and find jobs in areas that can support them working raising our economic output in the long run and ending crap like swimming pools in backyards in phoenix or Vegas.
I don't really see how those things are related in any way, since the majority of the population haven't really been economically dependent on the productivity of the land beneath them in quite some time. The reason why liberal states fund while conservative states are constantly struggling with their budgets is because of unsustainable economics favoring businesses while shuffling the burdens onto individuals instead of corporations. It has literally nothing to do with swimming pools in Vegas unless somebody passes a bill banning private swimming pools in Vegas, which seems counter to your desire for freedom. Also, why would states merge and shrink?
Honestly, if you want people to move away from economically uninhabitable areas like Phoenix is steadily becoming (primarily because surviving it will only get more expensive), you're gonna need a large, well-funded federal government to foot the bill for getting millions of people to move away from the Phoenix area. That's millions of units of housing that need to be built elsewhere, millions of tons of possessions that need to be moved, businesses that need to relocate, and employment and healthcare to be managed.
I genuinely don't understand how you arrived at your political solution, especially when it sounds like the problems you want solved are fundamentally incompatible with the Republican party, and simply not perfectly catered to by the democratic. Which, makes sense because literally no party in the US is advocating for deleting the federal government and becoming a loose federation that California will inevitably conquer in a bizarre inversion of Manifest Destiny.
I'm baffled, but you're also rather polite about your strange political dream, so I wish you the best.
States' rights to do what?
Whatever they want basically with some fundamental rights such as allowing other citizens emigration and immigration within the US.
Yeah sure keep dog whistling bud
More immigration, less military, more independence to states? Buddy, you're a democrat.