Almost no-one's principles or moral intuitions revolve around finding the centre of any issue & believing in that.
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Rather they are in the centre because their values happen to be in the country they live in. Elsewhere, they'd be somewhere else.
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So, 'centrism' is not the right way to look at it. There are positive values there & ppl defined by those, not where they fall on spectrum
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If I look at where I fall on Left/Right spectrum, it is just Left of centre but I am not a conciliatory, compromising, undecided person.
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And its a mistake to think of people who find themselves there just on that spectrum are wishy-washy & uncommitted.
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I have argued in terms of a centre in the past but I've always really been talking abt a set of principles rooted in liberalism & humanism.
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Which are found on the left & right but not in the extreme reaches of either.
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It can be, but it's usually phrased as a commitment to moderation & finding a balance between extremes. Often fond of pendulum analogies.
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But within a certain context and due to entirely different values that straddle both sides. Not coz you think middle always best.
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Maybe not that the middle is best, but a deep suspicion of absolutism & Utopianism or any ideology really. My dad was like that.
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That would be radical in Pakistan & nowhere near the middle. You'd not want a central position there.
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So 'centrism' is less useful than spelling out those principles which come down to liberty and a dislike of ideological certainty etc.
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Fair point.
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What about a philosophical commitment to being aware of the concept of tradeoffs, which will repel one from purist stances & towards centre?
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This would still be underlain by some principles & strongly held beliefs which are not defined as 'in the middle of left & right.'
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Yeah. +1 for 'underlain'.
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:) So, fact that they're in the centre of left & right is not really what defines them. Not really what they're committed to
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Left, right, centre are all terms relative to each other. There is very little besides that which gives these positions a coherent identity.
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Which is why I think more in terms of authoritarianism & freedom, & eschew left/right labels.
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