| Jaicee said: I've been thinking about embracing the term 'moderate' as a descriptor for a while now. Here's the deal: For as long as I've had political opinions, I've always thought of myself as left wing. Strongly left, in fact. Although I have learned and grown over the years, this much hasn't changed. Until recent years. It's not that I've moved a lot, it's that it's very clear that the left does not wish to be associated with me anymore. Things I consider secondary differences of opinion with the mainstream progressive movement have now been rendered dividing-line matters that merit dissociation with me. I'm banned from the Revolutionary Left forums, banned from the Democratic Underground forums, banned from Pride, the main subreddit I visit have been banned and you'll never guess who the instigators of that were. It does make one question whether or not these are the right people to call allies. It increasingly feels like maybe the progressive movement is changing in a way that excludes me by definition and maybe I should accordingly think about embracing a different term formally. I do worry a tiny bit though that calling myself a moderate from here on, like on the social medias and such, may be misleading in that I think many people's definition of a moderate is like a neoliberal or just somebody who basically favors the status quo and that ain't me. No, I am not undergoing a "red-pilling" or anything of that nature. I've not had some revelation that's changed my fundamental worldview in substance and I kinda think that these terms the left and right have like "red pilled" and "woke" are rather arrogant and pretentious in fact in that everybody seems to assume that they're the only ones 'awake' and everybody else is apparently just too oblivious and dumb to understand their deeper truths or whatever. Most of the views I hold still feel like left-leaning ones to me. But I hold a few opinions strongly that are most often classified as right-leaning (whether that's really fair or not) and I'm frustrated though with how every difference of opinion, particularly on social issues, is treated as a dividing line that requires the severance of ties. That's why I'm thinking moderate might be the right term by which to describe myself henceforth. But like I said, I'd also prefer that people not feel misled like on the social medias and such by my use of that descriptor. So what do you think? When you hear the term "moderate" do you hear "unprincipled person who stands for nothing" or more like "somebody who's combination of views doesn't fit neatly into a progressive/conservative categorization"? |
A moderate left is someone who doesn't hold extreme views and doesn't favour major change. So someone who believes in the elimination of class distinction in the US would be a radical leftist, but for some reason the whole gun regulation issue is a left/right thing in the US (I don't know why?), but if they are anti-gun regulation and still believe in the elimination of class distinction, they're not suddenly moderate. A moderate is someone who would be in favour of policies to lessen the class distinction, but not in favour of doing way with them completely.
But, in the US, everything in politics is incorrectly divided up into left and right categories. It's a massive over-simplification and is generally not correct.
Also, you've been excommunicated by the US leftist groupthink, but that doesn't mean you're not a leftist, it just means you're independent of them. They don't own the leftist ideology - they only think they do because they know how to mindlessly recite a song and dance, but will call heretic on anyone who actually has an independent thought... even if it is objectively further left. They excommunicated Elizabeth Warren, too; using tactics such as conspiracy theories, and taking irrelevant pieces of information and making them paramount reasons as to why she is to be viewed as an enemy of the left; many of them racist attacks, either calling her Pocahontas or feeling that Donald Trump calling her Pocahontas is a legitimate and effective attack on her. That's why those sorts need to be called out and ridiculed, harshly (I've done my part). Anyone who claims to be a leftist and felt Elizabeth Warren was far more dangerous than Donald Trump or the Republican party should be challenged - although, most of the time they don't even try to argue, and instead just re-recite their song and dance narrative, because they're idiots.
Anyway, the point of my ramble is that these sites/groups don't own the left. If they ban you for having a different point of view, then fuck them =P
I describe myself as a little dose of toxic masculinity.
