Moderates: Everyone is an asshole but me.
That may be so, but then again the whole point of this thread is how contradictory political parties are, and simply being snarky and saying that Moderates think that they're not assholes doesn't explain how they're contradictory in the same way that Republicans and Liberals are.
They're not. Moderates understand that there's no such thing as issues neatly falling according to "right" or "left" ideology, because life is far too complex for that.
For example, in the case of abortion, an Independent or Moderate would argue that it's a woman's right to have an abortion, especially if she would be in dire straits if she had the baby. However, they would also emphasize adoption as an alternative to just aborting if it's possible, be fully supportive of social programs if she chose to keep the baby and stress the importance of birth control as a preventative measure.
The American Left and American Right couldn't care less about this type of balanced view. For the American Left, a woman must abort without question--even so much as suggesting adoption as an alternative is considered is anti-choice (even though, ironically, the American Left are dictating that women choose abortion as their only option and not consider any alternatives). For the American Right, a woman must keep her baby without thinking because they believe in the "sanctity of life" and then be forced to fend herself without the benefit of social programs to make sure that the child grows up healthy and in a stable environment.
So, you can mock me as a "Moderate" all you want. I know that moderates often have the more balanced view in this country; the fact is why the American Left and the American Right have been "eating their own" over the past few years. They can't stomach the moderates within their own parties.
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krl97a (5619)
5 years ago
They're not. Moderates understand that there's no such thing as issues neatly falling according to "right" or "left" ideology, because life is far too complex for that.
Or they're shallow and/or don't follow politics closely and tend to sway with various winds.
For example, in the case of abortion, an Independent or Moderate would argue that it's a woman's right to have an abortion, especially if she would be in dire straits if she had the baby.
First, an "Independent" isn't necessarily the same thing as a "moderate". Independent refers to party affiliation, or lack thereof. A lot of Independents are hard core ideologues. Many are to the right of Republicans and don't identify as "Republican" because they're disgusted with the party and think they're too liberal. Polling over the years has found more (often around twice as many) voters view Republicans as too liberal than Democrats as too conservative, which is why Independents usually break Republican in general elections. That's why elections are competitive despite Democrats having that higher affiliation rate they're always bragging about.
"Moderates", on the other hand, are people ideologically roughly in the middle of the crude one dimensional spectrum. Contrary to your claim moderates can be all over the place on specific issues. Many are Pro Life on abortion (especially since polling consistently shows that a supermajority of Americans, including some self described pro choicers, want abortion significantly more legally restricted than it is now). Some are consistent while others contradict themselves in a variety of ways. You can't put all "moderates" into one tight little box. If anything a widespread feature most tend to share is the lack of a well thought out political philosophy. They've usually inherited beliefs, values, and principles, but haven't consciously worked out all the details so they can apply them to electoral politics in an informed way.
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