hot take, politics
"Moderate" and "centrist" usually just boils down to "either left or right, but being afraid to speak it aloud due to social consequences and/or group dynamics"
re: hot take, politics
@joepie91 IMO centrism is also defined by a strong preference for politeness, order, etc over justice, and a willingness to turn (even more) authoritarian when they feel threatened - scratch a liberal, and a fascist bleeds
re: hot take, politics
@pinoaffe Often, yeah, though there are also interpretations of 'centrism' where this isn't the case, in my experience. It''s a bit of an overloaded term.
Right-wingers seem to use the term 'centrist' more, left-wingers the term 'moderate', but ultimately they seem to mean very similar things.
re: hot take, politics
@joepie91 who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can't agree with your methods of direct action;" who paternalistically feels he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by the myth of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a "more convenient season."
2/2
re: hot take, politics
@joepie91 yup, I find MLKs words on this subject quite informative: "First, I must confess that over the last few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Council-er or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate who is more devoted to "order" than to justice;