Here is Robert Reich's description of how far right 'centrists' have gone. So when billionaires want #CNN and #MSNBC to be in the 'center', it really is far right. #NoLabels is far right. https://robertreich.substack.com/p/biggest-change
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More proof this dude is clueless... The only thing he has going for him is he panders to what people want to hear, rather than being right.
More extremism, yay! Yes lets demonize people who actually consider all sides to a discussion and draw educated decisions, cant have that.
Sorry should have been clear, the clueless person was Robert, not you. While I dont agree with many of your views I would never be so rude to a person to their face over a disagreement. Robert I dont mind since he is not here and certainly wont be. Plus he is actually exploiting people while you are not.
@freemo I knew what you meant. Thanks for the clarification anyway.
@timo21 No problem, I think you are well intentioned so I have no personal issue with you. Reich not so much.
@freemo The reason I posted this particular article by Reich is it matches my personal experience. And it shows how moderates and centrists are not the same. I used to live in an area where John Birchers had daily columns in the local newspaper, but at that time I never imagined they would take over the Republican party. The political right now is very very far right, while the far left has stagnated. So Reich is correct on how the distance between the wings is very wide.
So to be clear I **do** agree with the fact that there is a difference between moderates and centrists for sure. Moderates have leans to one side or the other, but have departed from center. The attached diagram shows the spectrum in terms of how much someone leans right or left (bottom) and then my impression of the distribution of the population across the spectrum for EU (top dashed) and USA (top solid).
@freemo Thanks for the chart. I think you are way overestimating the number on alt left. The green party failed to get inroads to local politics, there is no immediate successor to Bernie, they are a mess. The Democratic Socialists of America are just getting started, so maybe in the future they would be large. But the alt right is extremely well funded, so that attracts power seekers in large numbers. The alt-right should be much larger on your chart, IMO. But overall, it's a good chart.
> Thanks for the chart. I think you are way overestimating the number on alt left.
The funny thing is, anytime i show this chart or describe it to people those on the right think I am way overestimating the alt-right, those on the left think im way overestimating the alt-left. Meanwhile centrists tend to more or less agree with the distribution.
The only difference I often encounter among centrists is if they think the alt-left is slightly more pronounced or the alt-right. I think the alt-left is marginally larger than the alt-right, some think the inverse.
I would say this effect is largely due to the left seeing the alt-left as just left and dont recognize their violence or extreme nature since their views are in line with their own more closely. It is common that members of a group are more forgiving with their extreme members than people of the opposing group.
> The green party failed to get inroads to local politics, there is no immediate successor to Bernie, they are a mess.
Yes sadly the lack of third-party support this election. Though Bernie disappearing is a good thing, as I would place him firmly in the alt-left in terms of extremism of views. As someone who spends more time in Europe than america even most Europeans, who lean left, think Bernie is a joke in my experience. Not sure what the right in Europe think as I dont have anyone on the right im super close with I can think of.
> But the alt right is extremely well funded, so that attracts power seekers in large numbers.
They are all multimillionaires on both sides, so they are all way too well funded. But I do agree the right tends to have more money to work with than the left on average.
> The alt-right should be much larger on your chart, IMO. But overall, it's a good chart.
I would actually agree that both the alt-right and alt-left here should be about x2 the height i drew them. Relative to each other I find it accurate, though relative to the middle its not proportional.
