Was quite left leaning, but have slowly been turned off by the left.

[ButterBeast]

HAHAHAHAHAH. The sarcasm is out today. Apparently a far left wing anti American radical is center right?

Ahhahaah

L o l

why do people actually make accounts for this kind of nonsense spam? reminds me of one thing http://i.imgur.com/n8umjWj.png

[Aphrel]

So for most of my life I would have identified as been fairly left leaning and open to moat things. But i have felt in the last few years that the left is just not for me anymore. Special interest groups, identity politics and lack of direction has turned me off. Now I do not identify with the right either and feel I am closer to the center.

I am for universal healthcare and taxes to pay for services and infrastructure. But i do not like how both the right/left continue to make laws to protect us from ourselves. I am also angry about the right and left are invading our privacy.

Have your politcal prefernces changed recently as parties change and become seemingly more extreme?

So, you are one of those people who identify with a group of people instead of actually forming your own opinions on specific matters? And now you find that the group of people you used to identify with have changed?

Well, my advice is to actually form your own opinions, dont let one word define you. That way, you know where you stand, on everything. And if you change your mind about something, your political stance change with it. You will no longer feel the need to defend either the left or right from anything they've said or done, because they do not represent you, they represent only themselves.

https://www.politicalcompass.org/
This site is pretty usefull if you care about where you stand in comparison to others and while takign teh test you also have to take a stance towards most political ideas.

[Louisa Bannon]

Here is a map for your benefit (shows the individual's positions, not necessarily positions they implemented)...

Can we just make this a sticky or maybe just vote what is quoted above the "best, most informative post ever made about U.S. politics on General Off-Topic"?

[Deleted]

I always considered myself a (Left leaning-) Liberal. I still do, but seeing how far left people are acting currently (and getting away with it) I feel ashamed sometimes. I was never a big fan of the right wing in general, even tho I never considered them all Nazis or similar things - most of them aren't (duh).

The reason I critique the left more is just because I expect them to be better in some way. The last 3-4 years have opened my eyes, that it really doesn't matter which side on the coin you are on - extremists are in both camps and dangerous. Even tho I believe, that the far left is currently the one more "ok" with the media. Which is a very bad thing imo. - the second you say "ok" to extremists on one side - the other will follow suit and nobody wants a situation like this.

[PosPosPos]

Got any evidence to back this up?

Conservatives have this self-afflicted immunity against providing evidence.

[Kuntantee]

well typically as people get older, get a job, and work for a living, they become more and more conservative.

not really...

[Azadina]

HAHAHAHAHAH. The sarcasm is out today. Apparently a far left wing anti American radical is center right?

Ahhahaah

L o l

Talk about radicalism. Of course everyone seems far left to you, when you've radicalized yourself up to a point, that you've sailed off the edge of the right wing flat earth. There's no one to the right of you, or at your spot, everyone else is to the left.

[Pua]

Have your politcal prefernces changed recently as parties change and become seemingly more extreme?

I'd be clear about what you're saying.

For example, the political compass splits left and right into an economic perspective and then puts another scale on whether or not you're a libertarian or authoritarian. Too often, the left is associated with extreme liberalism which hampers the strong economic arguments that it might otherwise put forward. The right (economically speaking) is often, perhaps unfairly, associated with authoritarian viewpoints, no more obviously when people discuss the "extreme right" that is populated by fascists, racists and other difficult people.

The compass, therefore, puts people into four categories:

Left-libertarian.
Left-authoritarian.
Right-libertarian.
Right-authoritarian.

The problem, particularly in the United Kingdom and United States, is that all of the major political parties (those that can hold power, anyway) are right-authoritarian; just to slightly differing degrees... And I do mean slight. What compounds this issue is state-sponsored media coverage and biased journalism that reinforces this narrative, in subtle ways discussed at length by Noam Chomsky.

So if you believe in things like universal healthcare, or higher taxes to pay for public services, then you're doggedly socialist in viewpoint. These are the types of economies you'll see in places like Scandinavia (high wage, high tax, high service) where salaries for flipping burgers are, unbelievably to Americans or Britons, living wages. Special interest groups and identify politics have nothing to do with socialism, but are consistently wrapped up with it.

I hope that helps.

[Deleted]

What I've personally changed through the years has more to do with abandoning idealism in favor of pragmatism and compromise. But that doesn't really reflect on right/left associations.
My attitude towards parties is that I generally dislike sectarianism. Currently, where I live, the left is atomizing into several very strongly opinionated corpuscles. Some are new parties, some are within established parties. And that doesn't appeal to me. I don't think it's wrong to have them. But I'm hesitant to put my trust into such associations; likely because, in my mind, they're the product of unwillingness to compromise.
All through this process, I'm becoming more accepting of the liberal-center. Which effectively puts me in a shift towards the right.
I guess I also suffer from politics-as-a-sport: it pains me to see traditional democratic socialist parties being crushed. Their failing also makes me question years of support that was perhaps misplaced. But I welcome that aspect too, because it makes it more clear that I should focus more on policy than on tribes.

[Spectral]

A few of my positions have changed, but mostly the rapid shift in cultural tastes around what constitutes being "good" on the left is what has moved me towards the nominal right. By the cultural standards of roughly a decade ago, I remain quite liberal, but I surely don't identify with the modern American left's politics, which seem to be mostly about identity wedges and set-asides for people from the correct groups.

On fiscal and monetary policy, I haven't really moved at all. I'm basically a modern neoliberal by any reasonable definition.

[Karfal]

I'd be clear about what you're saying.

For example, the political compass splits left and right into an economic perspective and then puts another scale on whether or not you're a libertarian or authoritarian. Too often, the left is associated with extreme liberalism which hampers the strong economic arguments that it might otherwise put forward. The right (economically speaking) is often, perhaps unfairly, associated with authoritarian viewpoints, no more obviously when people discuss the "extreme right" that is populated by fascists, racists and other difficult people.

The compass, therefore, puts people into four categories:

Left-libertarian.
Left-authoritarian.
Right-libertarian.
Right-authoritarian.

The problem, particularly in the United Kingdom and United States, is that all of the major political parties (those that can hold power, anyway) are right-authoritarian; just to slightly differing degrees... And I do mean slight. What compounds this issue is state-sponsored media coverage and biased journalism that reinforces this narrative, in subtle ways discussed at length by Noam Chomsky.

So if you believe in things like universal healthcare, or higher taxes to pay for public services, then you're doggedly socialist in viewpoint. These are the types of economies you'll see in places like Scandinavia (high wage, high tax, high service) where salaries for flipping burgers are, unbelievably to Americans or Britons, living wages. Special interest groups and identify politics have nothing to do with socialism, but are consistently wrapped up with it.

I hope that helps.

Ya see you don't understand American politics.

[baskev]

So for most of my life I would have identified as been fairly left leaning and open to moat things. But i have felt in the last few years that the left is just not for me anymore. Special interest groups, identity politics and lack of direction has turned me off. Now I do not identify with the right either and feel I am closer to the center.

I am for universal healthcare and taxes to pay for services and infrastructure. But i do not like how both the right/left continue to make laws to protect us from ourselves. I am also angry about the right and left are invading our privacy.

Have your politcal prefernces changed recently as parties change and become seemingly more extreme?

I do not think you have been turned off by the left. I think (both party's) right wing or left wing ( depending on party) have become more extreme. So what used to be medium to very left ( or right) has become central or very light left ( or right).
But they are also tainting both party's...for instance...people call sjw : sjw liberals....
Sjw's are something very different then liberals...but if you say you are a liberal then you are automatic ( according to most right people) a sjw. ( or visa versa on the right side).

But your bit of text

Special interest groups, identity politics and lack of direction has turned me off. Now I do not identify with the right either and feel I am closer to the center.

You are kidding right??? 95% of both party's are filled with or sponsored by interest groups, identity politics, lobbyist, my way or the high way people, and my truth and nothing else people...it has been for quit some time now.

So in short...you think you have become more right ( or some republicans think they have become left). But the truth is...both party's have moved their outer sides of there party to the extreme....

- - - Updated - - -

I'd be clear about what you're saying.

For example, the political compass splits left and right into an economic perspective and then puts another scale on whether or not you're a libertarian or authoritarian. Too often, the left is associated with extreme liberalism which hampers the strong economic arguments that it might otherwise put forward. The right (economically speaking) is often, perhaps unfairly, associated with authoritarian viewpoints, no more obviously when people discuss the "extreme right" that is populated by fascists, racists and other difficult people.

The compass, therefore, puts people into four categories:

Left-libertarian.
Left-authoritarian.
Right-libertarian.
Right-authoritarian.

The problem, particularly in the United Kingdom and United States, is that all of the major political parties (those that can hold power, anyway) are right-authoritarian; just to slightly differing degrees... And I do mean slight. What compounds this issue is state-sponsored media coverage and biased journalism that reinforces this narrative, in subtle ways discussed at length by Noam Chomsky.

So if you believe in things like universal healthcare, or higher taxes to pay for public services, then you're doggedly socialist in viewpoint. These are the types of economies you'll see in places like Scandinavia (high wage, high tax, high service) where salaries for flipping burgers are, unbelievably to Americans or Britons, living wages. Special interest groups and identify politics have nothing to do with socialism, but are consistently wrapped up with it.

I hope that helps.

yup very good points...but i would add this:

SJW
Left-libertarian.
Left-authoritarian.
Right-libertarian.
Right-authoritarian.
Extreme right

[Slant]

So for most of my life I would have identified as been fairly left leaning and open to moat things. But i have felt in the last few years that the left is just not for me anymore. Special interest groups, identity politics and lack of direction has turned me off. Now I do not identify with the right either and feel I am closer to the center.

I am for universal healthcare and taxes to pay for services and infrastructure. But i do not like how both the right/left continue to make laws to protect us from ourselves. I am also angry about the right and left are invading our privacy.

Have your politcal prefernces changed recently as parties change and become seemingly more extreme?

Just because the political streams shift their position doesn't mean that you did. If you haven't changed your political stance, perhaps - as unlikely as this sounds - the rest have gone insane instead?

[Pua]

Ya see you don't understand American politics.

In what way? I'm Scottish, so you might be right, but dismissing an entire post without a sliver of explanation is both pointless, and rude.

yup very good points...but i would add this:

SJW
Left-libertarian.
Left-authoritarian.
Right-libertarian.
Right-authoritarian.
Extreme right

The "extreme right" is well catered for by the authoritarian description. Amusingly, they can be economically to the left or the right.

"SJW" (assuming you mean "social justice warrior") is a meaningless pejorative, almost exclusively used on Internet communication vehicles.

[Spectral]

I don't know why people think posting a formal looking chart is actually some sort of evidence of anything meaningful. The only thing these sorts of charts are evidence of is that one can draw up on Overton Window more or less however they want and then just position a bunch of mainstream politicians as actually totally right-wing. If your politics are far to the left of the mainstream, this is a pretty useful framing, but it's still just an unevidenced claimed, even if the graphic used for it is colorful and professional looking.

In reality, any chart that places Hillary Clinton so far to the right that there's barely any space between her and Pinochet is concealing more than it illuminates.

[Deletedaccount1]

I don't know why people think posting a formal looking chart is actually some sort of evidence of anything meaningful. The only thing these sorts of charts are evidence of is that one can draw up on Overton Window more or less however they want and then just position a bunch of mainstream politicians as actually totally right-wing. If your politics are far to the left of the mainstream, this is a pretty useful framing, but it's still just an unevidenced claimed, even if the graphic used for it is colorful and professional looking.

I think you and I are both aware of Kling's Three Axis model. That remains my favorite.

[Karrotlord]

In what way? I'm Scottish, so you might be right, but dismissing an entire post without a sliver of explanation is both pointless, and rude.



The "extreme right" is well catered for by the authoritarian description. Amusingly, they can be economically to the left or the right.

"SJW" (assuming you mean "social justice warrior") is a meaningless pejorative, almost exclusively used on Internet communication vehicles.

SJWs are the left equivalent of the religious right. They are left authoritarians that use social issues as a means to gain control of others. It's most definitely not meaningless.

[Machismo]

One can still be left leaning, and still despise other liberals. It seems strange to change political stances, just because others with whom you agree on issues act like assholes. All you really need to do, is be consistent with your beliefs, and nothing else really matters. Sure, it may mean that you don't vote for the main candidate you are 'supposed" to, but that doesn't really matter in the long run. What doesn't make sense, is turning around and supporting something completely different, just because people piss you off. As someone who is libertarian-ish, I'm not going to vote for Donald Trump or Bernie Sanders, just because I find Hillary to be despicable.

I have seen people drastically shift in political beliefs in a matter of months. When I see people like that, it makes me realize that they never really held those beliefs to begin with. Something changed them, and the catalyst is often due to ignorance.

[Spectral]

I think you and I are both aware of Kling's Three Axis model. That remains my favorite.

Yeah, that is an example of a model that I think is actually revealing. I think it does a much better job of predicting people's positions on emergent issues than the right-left model or the economic/social compass model.

It also has the virtue of not having connotative labeling of positions to the same extent that people associate "authoritarian" with being bad.

- - - Updated - - -

I have seen people drastically shift in political beliefs in a matter of months. When I see people like that, it makes me realize that they never really held those beliefs to begin with. Something changed them, and the catalyst is often due to ignorance.

Hell, I've seen a crowd change their opinion on Jim Comey in the matter of about 45 seconds when they're told by Colbert what they're supposed to cheer and boo (this clip). It really lays bare how much of politics is "boo outgroup boo!".

[yurano]

well typically as people get older, get a job, and work for a living, they become more and more conservative.

Fiscally conservative, as it has more to do with taxes and spending than anything else.

Conservatives in the US want more than just lower taxes and reduced welfare. They also want some ridiculous things to control your life, like an abortion ban (which would raise welfare), immigration ban (aka preventing people legally allowed to be here from crossing the border), bans on gay marriage etc.

A friend put it aptly, Democrats want your money, and Republicans want to control you. So you don't want Democrats to touch your money, and you don't want Republicans to touch your laws.