OK, I need to have a thread about centrism coz I am being accused of it again in terms of doing 'both sides' stuff. I've said before why I don't think centrism (in the sense of taking a middle position on everything rather than finding your views somewhere near the middle) works.
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Having these values means I cannot support any positions on the far-left or far-right coz both of those positions are in opposition to the values above. This is a very different motivation to finding myself somewhere in the middle than having a predilection for middle positions.
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Those awful memes which have 'centrists' taking a middle position on major human rights issues actually reveal the motivated inconsistency that extremists are prone to, not those of us often accused of centrism right now.
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It's not us who support freedom of speech sometimes, who think religious privilege is OK in some cases, who want some individual freedoms curtailed, who think evidence can be dispensed with for some claims or that it is OK to discriminate by race, gender sexuality in some cases.
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The kind of inconsistency above which applies values pragmatically and inconsistently is not the failing of the majority of us who value secular liberal democracy and the fruits of the Enlightenment. It is the failing of the ideologue who can be right or left.
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End of conversation
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I'd have put evidence-based epistemology first, but that's because I'm even more absolutist about it than you!
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Quite a thread to prove how not centrist you are. I say, who the hell cares so long as you’re true and honest with yourself. What’s so morally offensive about centrism, anyway? Extremism is best? I guess it is, if you want to make $ these days.
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These things are "values" not mere political positions. We need ppl with values rather than ppl who merely choose the center because it's in between current political positions. It feels like ppl don't have values much in US anymore, only political positions.
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Those kind of "centrists" have no real character IMO. I don't trust them or their behavior any more than I trust the fanatics of Left & Right. As a lifelong moderate politically give me someone who is honest & principled, even if we disagree.
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I bet under cross examination you’d concede pretty quickly that you’re not actually an absolutist on any of those issues
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