What's your definition of a political moderate?

[The_Yoda]

Jaicee said:

Dante9 said:
I think the definition of moderate is someone who is not at either extreme, but sits more closely to the center of things. They can still be left-leaning or right-leaning.
However you want to define it, the problem at the moment is that the extreme left have made everything an "us or them" scenario. Either you are extreme left or you are far right/nazi and there's nothing in between for them. They even eat their fellow leftists alive, if they are too moderate in their views. Purity tests apply.

This. That's how I feel about it.

I mean I feel like I'm definitely left-leaning. I regard myself as a socialist, a feminist, an environmentalist, a strong believer in restorative justice, stuff like that that's generally considered to be on the left. The issue is that the progressive movement clearly does NOT wish to be identified with me because of disagreements over stuff like gender identity, prostitution, my general disdain for religion (including, heaven forbid, minority faiths like Islam), the fact that I don't think all guns need to be banned, my opposition to cancel culture, that sort of thing, which brings me to the conclusion that the cultural definition of a progressive has moved to a very specific place that does not include me somehow. And honestly, I also just don't really want to be associated with it anymore myself. I just feel more dispassionate than I used to about politics in general and struggle to think of any politicians I greatly admire or respect.

Welcome to getting older and some would say wiser.