Oddbean new post about login | logout I’ve never considered myself left nor right, but more of a centrist. I tried approaching issues from a pragmatic point of view - consider both sides of the argument and favor a rational argument. I also held my beliefs loosely as mostly treated them as a collection of data points that informs my opinion. But over the years it seems the left has shifted so far to the left that having moderate views is now considered far right (or so they tell me). By their own definitions and name calling, people who exercised honest judgement in the most balanced way possible are now considered far right extremists. These titles felt very odd to me and I went from feeling like I fit into society pretty well to some sort of an outcast. It’s refreshing to see there are people who are still sane and value rationality over group think and hivemind hate. Or perhaps it’s just the media propaganda trying to shape public opinion - I don’t really care anymore. We have other things to focus on, let animals fight animals in their own cages.
Both sides are so far left now that being center makes you far right.
I find it prevalent on both sides. I feel like you nailed me to a T with your self description. I've always considered myself socially liberal and fiscally conservative. I've equated it to the pendulum effect multiplied by sports team like fanaticism. It's funny because I've been called far-right Trumper and a libtard in the same discusison just because both seem to have gone so extreme over the last couple cycles. That topic? Financial responsibility and entitlements. I believe in entitlement programs provided we can afford them. Neither side seems to like that. All that being said, the media has gotten drastically worse during that same time period. While I don't watch TV media, I do read a lot so I typically will use AllSides.com to try to read an article from both vantage points.
When I expressed skepticism to close ones about the vaccine I was labeled a conspiracy theorist. I, like you. Didn’t consider myself obliged to either side. But that moment changed me. Not to say I went more right. But I certainly changed my viewpoint on normies and it really woke me up to the hive mind. In a way the lockdowns made me more resilient and knowledgeable. Just have to take the good with the bad. Even though friendships changed along the way. It opened doors for new relations to form.
Schools and universities put dangerous ideals in the minds of the students. Ask yourself this: why is socialism on the rise? Why does nobody consider what happened behind the Iron Curtain for what is was: the greatest experiment on half the planet. Poverty, censorship, nationalization, mass genocide etc. The goal posts are shifting because our youth are put on a path that has been traveled before but nobody told them the inevitable unfolding.
