this post was submitted on 25 Jul 2023
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I feel like the very idea of "centrist" is flawed. Sure you can choose not to identify with either party.
But for most of these issues you can't reasonably pick a "center" option for most issues. Sure we can argue implementation but you're either ok with abortion, gun control, gay rights, civil rights, or your not.
Is it really useful to have the "control guns" and "control guns only a little" groups fighting when there's a "school kids are a worthy sacrifice for guns" party?
This internet version of centrism that everyone hates on is bizarre to me, for the reasons you say - the "only commit half a genocide" type of centrism. Are there people who really strike a middle ground on every issue on principle?
I always understood centrism as "I hold enough opinions from both parties that I don't align with either one", which honestly fits me pretty well. I still have strong opinions on individual issues though...
That's not a principle, it's just a rhetoric. Like when people demonstrated in Charlottesville : one side wanted to get rid of a slavers statue while the other side run a car through the crowd. Then Trump took a "centrist" position and said that there was some very fine people on both side, which was just a way to defend his side