Political Memes

I run into this on dating apps. “Centrist” and “apolitical” are both code for “conservative.”

An older acronym for the same thing, BSABSVR

Both Sides Are Bad So Vote Republican.

I have never met a "centrist" on social media who wasn't. Same with the horseshoe theory.

Let's take America: are you for democracy or against it? - "I can see both sides" - wtf? Fascist enabler, at best.

Even if they're not a right-winger and don't claim to be a centrist, "both-sides"ing things is a waste of time, at best.

Like, when Jon Stewart came back to the Daily Show. I think it was his first show back, but it might have been his second... And his main talking point was about how both Biden and Trump were old. I know he's just a comedian on a comedy show, but it still felt like a betrayal. At the very best, it was a waste of a chance to say something that could have actually made a difference.

"Both sides bad, bit aT leAsT tRuMp iS hOnEst aBoUt iT!"

The Honesty:
"You won't have to vote anymore"
"Dictator on day one"

Funny how there's a bunch of people in the comments essentially just unironically repeating the meme: "Well this must be wrong because I believe this and I'm actually a centrist!!!"

That's the point, buddy. You're the butt of the joke. The idea that the far-left and far-right are equally bad or warrant the same amount of scrutiny and criticism is a right-wing belief.

To make the point more obvious instead of using "left" and "right" look at specific political beliefs that the far-left and far-right have:

1. Equality across social and demographic groups vs. State-enforced racism, sexism and other kinds of bigotry

2. Abolishment of bourgeois property and money vs. Complete privatization, oligarchy and corruption

3. Globalization, peaceful relations and a right to live where you want vs. Complete isolationism and xenophobia

4. Right to self-governance and no government with a monopoly on violence vs. State sanctioned violence against those considered undesirable or traitors

Hopefully I don't need to explain which one is obviously worse. To equate what the far-left and the far-right advocate for one must misrepresent the left, so both-sides-ism inherently has a right-wing slant.

There's also:

"Leftist" insisting on "both sides".

-mask pull-

Russian bot

Another one I noticed is they say shit like "well they're saying two opposite things, so you cannot know the truth". Mother fucker, if you dig a tiny bit the truth is out there, waiting for you, but they cannot accept one side is lying (it's theirs)

This is some crazy doublethink shit. It's clear just looking at the inconsistent interpretation from all the top-level comments that 'centrist' is a blanket term that both describes 'centrist' positions and also 'left/right radicals'. The only consistent is whether the subject is subjecting the in-group to criticism

The same user constantly harps on 'far-left' progressives complaining about democratic positions, and calls himself a centrist.

This is just standard 'out-group' gatekeeping. "If you're not with us, you're against us" shit.

On the other hand, the kneejerk of labeling every even remotely centrist viewpoint as inherently dishonest is pretty annoying. My own views lean SocDem and I've found voicing any opinion which is neither solidly left-wing or solidly right-wing, especially if it does not align with very American-centric views of the political spectrum, often elicits unpleasant reactions. Nuance is hard, I guess.

Both sides exclude me for holding my particular set of opinions. I'm on my side, fuck you!

Nuance is inconvenient to radicals and fundamentalists.

Lemmy being black or white like always. You can be a leftist, vote for the left and still recognize the flaws in your own parties and the good ideologies in the other…

I swear, the left usually calls itself open-minded, but as soon as someone on the right comes around, instead of trying to convince them with arguments, they are being called straight up evil russian bots. So what do they do, they go back to truth social, where they are well treated, and keep voting conservative.

As long as you're amoral and self-serving, you can only be a "right winger", whatever that means. It's only when you dispel the myth of moral relativism and believe that, yeah, some things ARE wrong (and we should avoid and condemn them, of course), that you can start becoming a person worth existing and worth listening to. And if you're not very smart nor very brave you might be a "non radical" "leftist" but hey, your heart is probably in the right place so I'm not gonna hate (too much).

I'd rather have a politician who does absolutely nothing than a fascist.