this post was submitted on 31 Oct 2023
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[–] psycho_driver@lemmy.world 222 points 1 year ago (57 children)

There are no centrists when one side is fascism.

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[–] SkyeStarfall@lemmy.blahaj.zone 194 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (51 children)

I do listen to "both" sides! That's exactly why I'm a leftist!

I don't get why centrists think that you have to be "centrist" to listen to both sides, or why doing so makes you a centrist.

[–] Illuminostro@lemmy.world 27 points 1 year ago (2 children)

The same reason most smart non rich Republicans say they're Libertarians: so no one will give them shit.

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[–] Kyrgizion@lemmy.world 155 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I have family members who refer to me as Cassandra because I regularly spout "inane nonsense" about the future which then inevitably becomes true.

I don't have a gift or a crystal ball. I have two eyes and (sadly) a working brain and the werewithal to study history and put one and one together.

We aren't geniuses by any stretch of imagination. It's just extremely sad and painful to see almost everyone else keep going with the (just) bearable lies vs the distinctively unbearable truth.

[–] HonoraryMancunian@lemmy.world 92 points 1 year ago (6 children)

Cassandra... in Greek mythology was a Trojan priestess dedicated to the god Apollo and fated by him to utter true prophecies but never to be believed. In modern usage her name is employed as a rhetorical device to indicate a person whose accurate prophecies, generally of impending disaster, are not believed.

For those who were also wondering

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[–] dojan@lemmy.world 42 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm like this, but I'm just a pessimist. I naturally expect a terrible outcome from everything, and get disappointed every time I'm right.

My roomie got called in on an all-staff meeting on a weekend back in spring. They're truckers, so some work weekends, it's normal. All-staff meetings were not however. No one divulged any information, and so I was all "oh you're all getting laid off." My friend was all "that's impossible, they're actively hiring!"

Day came. Gathering started. Atmosphere was great. My friend sent me a text going all "we're all having a great time, drinking coffee and eating cinnamon buns, talking about work." Half an hour later "so we just all got laid off."

The company was struggling as a whole, so they decided to shut down operations in this region in an attempt to downsize and keep the company afloat long enough to remedy the situation. The management didn't know until right before the meeting, hence why no one knew what the meeting was for.

[–] Endorkend@kbin.social 27 points 1 year ago

I'm in the same boat and have to admit that while I had very low expectations people call me nuts for, the past decade especially has had me go "this is even worse!" quite a few times.

Reality somehow one ups my worst expectations on a regular basis still.

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[–] agent_flounder@lemmy.world 136 points 1 year ago

"Surely we can find some common ground between the Final Solution and the status quo?" —centrists

[–] AeonFelis@lemmy.world 118 points 1 year ago (6 children)
  • * Boasts about listening to both sides of the argument *
  • * Doesn't even bother to read and understand the Xweet they are replying to *
[–] echodot@feddit.uk 47 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Everyone who claims to be a centralist is like that. They're not a centralist they're just a ostrich sticking its head in the sand.

There's no sensible debate to be had about whether the climate crisis is happening. The Right don't have anything to offer the conversation because they deliberately refuse to debate sensibly on it.

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[–] darq@kbin.social 98 points 1 year ago (57 children)

I'm a leftist precisely because I started paying more attention and listening to both sides.

I was a centrist before I started doing that.

[–] Deceptichum@kbin.social 40 points 1 year ago

I was a leftist because my parents weren't and I was a rebel.

I eventually grew up and thought 'this is fucking awesome' and kept going.

[–] OctopusKurwa@lemm.ee 28 points 1 year ago

If you are paying attention and you have a drop of empathy then you're almost guaranteed to be one.

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[–] darth_tiktaalik@lemmy.ml 87 points 1 year ago (18 children)

Literally arguing for a middle ground between correct and incorrect because they reflexively have to make themselves look like the reasonable center whenever the left/right dynamic comes up on the internet.

No thought into the response it's just Pavlovian centrist drooling.

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[–] 31415926535@lemm.ee 87 points 1 year ago (80 children)

Past week, been seeing a lot of anti liberal stuff on lemmy. So, you've got people from the outside trying to destabilize the u.s. saying, both sides are the same, democrats are just as bad as Republicans. This creates a scenario that created Trump becoming president in the 1st place. It's done on purpose.

Now, I understand that democrats, liberals aren't perfect. But we have one side trying to set up detention camps, threatening to kill political rivals, consumed with hate. Other side trying at least to be better people.

I'm asking honestly, I would like to learn. Why is the both sides mindset becoming so prevalent?

[–] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 26 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Why is the both sides mindset becoming so prevalent?

Liberalism is used, cynically (imo), as a cudgel, to vote against real progressive politics. We can't have healthcare-for-all because we have to pick the side that isn't insane or else we get the insane group. And so on, and so on…

Look at how the Biden admin endorses genocide in Gaza. They completely ignore the masses of protesters calling for a ceasefire. How can they get away with this? "The other side is worse."

A truly responsive party would not stick its thumb in the eye of the people. It's not that both sides are equally awful. It's that both are awful and one uses the other to retain power.

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[–] rmuk@feddit.uk 78 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

Theory: they know. They know we're in trouble, that we need to take action, that we can fix the problems. They know that they're wrong and that they're making things worse, but they don't care about being right or making the word better, they only care about winning. To change is to admit defeat and, therefore, lose, so the only way to win is to make sure that your opponents lose too.

[–] CitizenKong@lemmy.world 42 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I think it's even easier than that. Remember when you left your dirty dishes in the sink yesterday and thought that's a problem for the tomorrow guy (or girl)? That's them, on a global scale, all the time.

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[–] CosmicCleric@lemmy.world 66 points 1 year ago (10 children)

Looking through all the comments in this topic, it's sad to see that at this point we're arguing about defining labels, instead of solving problems.

[–] Cethin@lemmy.zip 35 points 1 year ago (8 children)

Well we can't solve problems. What else are we going to do?

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[–] Filthmontane@lemmy.world 32 points 1 year ago (4 children)

The only way to solve our problems is with an educated and united working class.

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[–] meyotch 56 points 1 year ago (6 children)

I love an opportunity to bag on ‘centrism’. It is often used as a cover for political ignorance. After all, would a non-illiterate claim both sides are the same? It only takes a few minutes to find some of the million ways they are not the same.

[–] shneancy@lemmy.world 34 points 1 year ago (6 children)

I once talked with an enlightened "pacifistic" centrist.

At some point I used the low hanging fruit - colonialism! do you think both sides were right? I felt kind of silly for not using a more sophisticated argument but- he said "yes, they should've just talked and came to some compromise :)". It didn't matter to him that one side was clearly an aggressor, because since the native people tried defending themselves that was enough for him to think both sides were bad.

clearly that fruit was a bit too high still, so I went with the good old - what about Jews and hitler? he replied that still, they should've tried to come to some sort of compromise- at that point I was very done talking to that guy. How on earth did he see a possible middle ground between "i'd like to live please thanks" and "i want your whole ethnicity eradicated" is beyond me

the lesson is - start with arguments you find simple and straightforward, ones with obvious answers, because some people can and will trip over even the lowest hurdles, and it'll save you a lot of time lol

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[–] IWantToFuckSpez@kbin.social 39 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Hey leftists how about you stick your head in the sand and live in blissful ignorance like us centrists do. Meanwhile our asses are sticking up and we get ass raped by capitalism. But because we “listen” to “both” sides and make up our own mind we decided to actually enjoy it.

[–] assassin_aragorn@lemmy.world 36 points 1 year ago (10 children)

"Why don't you listen to both sides of the argument and make your own opinions and arguments based on that?"

Bitch, why do you think I'm a fucking leftist???

The enlightened centrist here comes across as a Republican too embarrassed to admit it -- it seems to be a core thought in conservatism that anyone who isn't conservative just hasn't formed an independent opinion, and if they did that, they'd be conservative.

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[–] madcaesar@lemmy.world 34 points 1 year ago (4 children)

One of the worst things we liberals did, including me is not fighting this Republican rot at the start with the ferocity it deserved.

I remember during the Bush years, while republicans were infesting every level of government and calling liberals demons and Unamerican and enemies... We chuckled at them and laughed along Jon Steward how silly these republicans were, while sitting at home complacent. All our leaders kept spouting bipartisanship as the ultimate goal... Meanwhile Republican talkshow hosts were calling Democrats America's #1 enemy...

We didn't sense the danger and the massive damage their propaganda was doing to the next generation and to every level of government.

Now we've arrived at Trump... And fighting back now is infinitely harder.

It reminds me of climate change.... We saw the problems early, yet did nothing and now that we have to do something it's so much more painful and some of it likely unfixable.

[–] BeefPiano@lemmy.world 33 points 1 year ago (3 children)

But South Park showed us that Al Gore was a weird nerd who was afraid of something that doesn’t exist! hahaha ManBearPig he’s super cereal!!!

[–] madcaesar@lemmy.world 25 points 1 year ago

Fuck, I almost forgot about Southpark the grand daddy of bOtH sIdEs!! So many kids grew up regurgitating the both sides turd bullshit because of that show.

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[–] TwoGems@lemmy.world 34 points 1 year ago (7 children)

Both sidesism is so stupid.

"Oh let me hear the fascist nazi's side that's trying to kill trans people as a scapegoat! I am so enlightened and balanced to be hearing this side too!"

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