I’ve come to realize that the visual of left and right suggests that a balance lies somewhere in the middle.
This of course couldn’t be further from objective truth. The survival of our species relies on, for lack of a better term, being optimally nice to one another. And there really is no middle ground for compassion.
If leftists were all supremely compassionate and altruistic beings, then that might hold true. But I don’t see how anyone could spend much time in leftist spaces without realizing that that’s not the case.
If we didn’t live in such an imbalanced society that’s already skewed so far to the right, then center-left and center-right might be able to meet somewhere in the middle and make policies that work.
I realize that’s not the world we live in, but it’s a fallacy to assume that the way things are is the only way they could be, could have been, or could ever be.
As things stand today, centrism is a form of appeasement and tacit approval for the gradual slide to the right. For the same reason that you can’t argue in good faith with someone intent on arguing in bad faith.
The political process only works as it’s supposed to when everyone involved comes to the table with good intentions, and engages in the process civilly, respecting the rules. The far-right (which has co-opted the entire right wing at this point) doesn’t play by the rules, so the center-left attempting to take the moral high ground and reach across the aisle because they still believe the political system can work as it’s supposed to, is basically just losing a game of tug of war because they didn’t get the memo that they’re supposed to be pulling the other way.
I’ve come to realize that the visual of left and right suggests that a balance lies somewhere in the middle.
This of course couldn’t be further from objective truth. The survival of our species relies on, for lack of a better term, being optimally nice to one another. And there really is no middle ground for compassion.
If leftists were all supremely compassionate and altruistic beings, then that might hold true. But I don’t see how anyone could spend much time in leftist spaces without realizing that that’s not the case.
If we didn’t live in such an imbalanced society that’s already skewed so far to the right, then center-left and center-right might be able to meet somewhere in the middle and make policies that work.
I realize that’s not the world we live in, but it’s a fallacy to assume that the way things are is the only way they could be, could have been, or could ever be.
As things stand today, centrism is a form of appeasement and tacit approval for the gradual slide to the right. For the same reason that you can’t argue in good faith with someone intent on arguing in bad faith.
The political process only works as it’s supposed to when everyone involved comes to the table with good intentions, and engages in the process civilly, respecting the rules. The far-right (which has co-opted the entire right wing at this point) doesn’t play by the rules, so the center-left attempting to take the moral high ground and reach across the aisle because they still believe the political system can work as it’s supposed to, is basically just losing a game of tug of war because they didn’t get the memo that they’re supposed to be pulling the other way.