this post was submitted on 25 Jul 2023
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I mean I only ever see the ones arguing with leftists actually admitting to being centrist, so if what you're saying is true then maybe the centrist arguing with rightists should consider improving their PR by being more vocal about it. Because y'all only ever seem to bring up your political affiliation when arguing with one particular side, so no wonder you've developed a reputation based on that.
They don't have PR. They're not a cohesive unit. I don't generally even like calling myself Centrist because I hate labels and don't like the way they encourage group-think. There's probably scads of Centrists I wouldn't get along with as well.
Yet you clearly identify as a centrist based on your comments on this thread. They're just as much a unit as the right or left based on how they behave and act on their political beliefs. Either you identify with centrists, in which case it's up to you to be the change you want to see in their reputation, or you don't, in which case their reputation shouldn't reflect on you.
I don't like people making baseless accusations. I defend people on all sides when people are wrong about their opposition. I hate it when people think they know what others think and project incorrect (and often evil) bullshit on each other. It's important to be right with the right reasoning and conclusion, not just one or the other.
I care when Christians purposely mischaracterize Muslims, and I am neither of those groups. I hate people being wilfully wrong because their group fetishizes a certain angle of the truth instead of the boring reality of the situation.
Ideas are important and I don't feel we can get out of the current shitty slump we're in politically unless we clearly identify and discuss the world. Labels and group membership make that harder to do.
So no, I don't really identify as a Centrist, but you may think I am. I don't "identify" as anything. I am me and I'm more complex than a few easy labels for you to slap on. Labels make it easier to dismiss people and ignore their words.
If I took the label Centrist, then that means I take the baggage you hold for the word, and I abjectly refuse to do so.
But you're not just defending centrists, you're responding to claims people make about centrists by saying "but I'm not like that so obviously not all centrists are like that". Your reply to pthaloblue elsewhere in the thread is an example of this. You clearly present yourself as a centrist there in direct response to someone talking about centrists. You seem to be arguing about this from the point of view of someone who feels like they're being personally attacked even though based on the actual beliefs you've mentioned and your own dislike of labels by all accounts you're not a centrist and thus not an example of what centrists are like.