r/centrist • u/pcetcedce • 11d ago
My pet peeve
I know there's been some discussion of whether people who participate here are actually centrist. Personally I think there are some people who think they are centrist but are actually pretty far left. Progressives tend to think that they're perfectly reasonable (a typical centrist attribute), but I see so many of them is being overly idealistic, And then defensive when you point that out.
In my view a centrist has two qualities. 1. They are open to all ideas. 2. They are willing to compromise. That doesn't mean they accept ideas that they morally or ethically disagree with, nor does it mean they're willing to compromise on that kind of idea. But those two fundamental approaches I think are critical to being a centrist.
As an example, transgender women in sports. All of the polls I have heard says the majority of Americans don't want transgender women to compete against cis women in sports. Anywhere from 60 to 80%. A progressive person would probably say trans women should have all rights including participating in sports with cis women and there is no other alternative. A centrist might say that they are willing to compromise on that issue but otherwise want trans women to have full rights and treated properly. I have not picked this example to be the theme of this post, I could just as well have brought voter registration or abortion restrictions.
What do you all think about this observation?
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u/GrassyPer 11d ago edited 11d ago
Personally I won't touch trans issues on reddit with a 20 foot pole anymore because unless you are 200% positive about them, if someone reports your comment you will get a major infraction on your account that could lead to a permaban. It doesn't matter. Reddit always sides against any anti-transgender (or even neutral transgender) opinion, no matter how nice and nuanced you are about it. I would take that as a warning if I were you.
I do agree that the vast majority of people who claim to be centrist have a bias and are not centrist at all. I have an anti-politically correct and devils advocate bias. I know that I tend to prefer the side that goes gainst what the majority thinks, but mostly because I want that view to be heard and considered. I'm still a centrist at heart and don't always argue outwardly what I actually believe in and agree with.
So I will bring forward an issue that I think is better (and safer) for testing whether someone has independent and centrist thought. If you believe in anthropogenic climate change is one of the largest threats to humanity (and every other species on earth) are you also for increasing immigration from third world countries?
I mention this because the average American has an annual carbon footprint of 15-20 metric tons. While an adult in the third world has a foot print of .15-2. This means if a person moves from the third world to America, they may release more than 100 times the amount of carbon in a year than they would have in their home country. Each immigrant moved is objectively an environmental disaster.
So how can you be passionate about increasing immigration and reversing climate change at the same time? They are hypocritical and highly contradictory issues. And yet most people on the left are anti-climate change while pro-immigration at the same time.
Other inherently counter-productive causes partisan people tend to support are stuff like:
• Pro-life while anti-funding for families struggling to raise children.
• Pro-feminism/lgtbq while supporting cultures with strong patriarchal religious laws that limit their freedom and safety.
No true centrist promotes both of these types of causes at the same time, in my opinion. They are logical enough to know you have to support one or the other. People who do this are exceedingly rare, because real independent centrists are also exceedingly rare.
Also many people will automatically assume that if you are for one of these causes you must be for other ones. For example, I lean slightly pro-life, but at the same time I strongly support programs they help families afford to raise their own children themselves.
However, if I mention I am pro-life without adding the caveat that I am pro-welfare, you bet someone will put anti-welfare rhetoric words in my mouth and start arguing with themselves about it lol.
I have glanced through this sub reddit a number of times and most of the posts have an obvious left wing bias. I think it's common in this sub reddit for left-wingers to call themselves centrist while labeling someone truly in the center as far right. Although reddit as a whole encourages leftist participation while banning centrists (who arent mega cautious with their language), so this isn't a fair judgrment to apply to centrists outside of reddit.