Lets say l support right wing policies about “free market” but left wing about ownership/property ownership/guns.
Or none of my beliefs are radical, is more correct.
Does that make me a centrist or indecisive?
In my country, centrist parties just mean “rightwing but will support a bill from a leftwing ruling party if that party gives us a ministry or gov department to run”
A pure centrist is someone who is able to evaluate the philosophies of both of the political parties and see multiple ways than they are projected by either party. The most important role of a centrist, is to decide for themselves what they personally think is right. I think Centrists have gotten bastardized and demonized thanks to bad actors who treat it as just a way to sit in the middle until they decide to pick which party they align with.
That’s not the purpose of being a centrist.
The fact that so many people do not know or care of the roles of independent and centrist beliefs is embarrassingly sad.
Unfortunately, like the libertarians, centrist have been co-opted by ashamed conservatives/gop members and have ruined what it actually is to be a true centrist.
There are very different interpretations of the term. Left and right in general is supposedly just economics. Right wing is free market. The basic tenets of left wing politics posits that eventually, we will move past the need for markets in a post scarcity society and once society has matured to a certain point. The only way to avoid an oligarchy is for the common people to own the means of production.
Most countries in the world currently do not agree with far leftists that we are at that point that communism should take over, or that there ever will be that magical moment. Opinions are shifting with Ai and such, but still. However, purely free markets has historically gone very badly. Regulationis needed, as well as a strong social safety net. Also, in many countries, unions are common or mandatory, with strong worker protections. These are all left wing policies, despite not really even approaching the ideal of communism. We could go further without going full communism, such as eliminating the gambling system that is the stock market, or forcing companies to pay shares to the common workers to encourage unified growth.
So in many ways, most developed countries in the world are “centrist”. Even most “communist” countries like China are mixed economy in actuality.
if you ask some right wing Americans, the above policies are godless communism and insane to even suggest. So thr Overton Window is something to consider when deciding what “center” is.
Personally, I don’t really believe in labels so much in politics, but if you wanted to label me as a radical centrist, that wouldn’t be totally inaccurate. I believe political issues have a very clear answer as being right or wrong a lot more than people want to admit, and even when they don’t have a clear answer, it is imperative to fully commit, otherwise it will end in a worse result. I don’t think radicality comes necessarily from going too far left or right. I feel very strongly about my positions on many topics.
If you think “none of my beliefs are radical,” then you’re a conservative. You don’t want change.
A two party system doesn’t allow for nuance or dissenting opinions. I consider myself very liberal in most things. But I don’t strictly fit in the American liberal box. I think a gay couple should be able to get married, buy a machine gun, buy any drug they want at a corner store, see a doctor at no cost outside of tax, do whatever they want to their bodies, a robust support system should exist for their children, own land, do whatever they want on their land, open a cash business and do a whole bunch of other conflicting things. The world isn’t black and white.
You seem pretty reasonable to me
depends on which countries political centrism. in the us, its mostly Center right as the "middle.
In a two-party system, having a collection of positions that does not align well with either makes you an independent, not necessarily a centrist.
Centrist is often used to describe someone who is aligned with a party, but holds mild or compromised versions of that party’s positions. It can also describe someone who wants things to stay mostly as they are with any changes being incremental, but one might reasonably describe that position as conservative.
Context and culture dependent.
In the US today, I take it to mean a Republican who is too embarrassed to associate with Trump any longer but still too brainwashed to express any criticism about the political party their parent(s) raised them in.
Centrist means you’re right leaning
Labels are an over-simplification of the real world. This post sounds like you are trying to shoehorn a complex reality into a simple label, like the label really means anything.
You got it backwards. You are a complex being with complex beliefs.
I’d describe myself as a centerist because I’m sick to death of all this manufactured right vs left divisive bullshit.
The real problem is the ultra-rich hoarding all the wealth and imposing their psychotic beliefs on everyone else. I don’t see that as a leftist POV, I see it as a realistic take on a real social problem.
The real problem is the ultra-rich hoarding all the wealth
That’s the whole point of the actual political left. So, not the US democrats who are right wing, but actual lefties.
Pretty much all our problems are rooted in this. What you may perceive as identity politics is just attacks the right orchestrates on some minority to distract us so we do not realize they are robbing us of everything the have. Be it abortion, be it trans rights, be it whatever other topics where liberals seem to have an opposite opinion compared to republicans, that’s all distraction.
The rich don’t actually believe that gay people or trans people or immigrants or women who have an abortion are a problem. Because somehow, none of those things are a problem for them if one of them is gay or trans or an immigrant or has an abortion. That’s how you know it’s all horse shit. And people? People gobble it all up because they foolishly believe it makes them part of the in-group that they will never belong to.
Basically, the differences between the democrats and the republicans are mostly artificial. The topics they “argue” about are topics they could not care less about, it just keeps you distracted. Literally Kang and Kodos. Now don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that it doesn’t matter what you vote for, because as horrible as the US democrats are, they are less horrible than the republicans. But really, what needs to happen is that people start to understand what is happening to them and to tear down this whole system and build a new and better one.
Rich people are the problem, and rich people are relying on the right to keep making them richer.
A centrist is someone that’s too afraid to admit they’re a conservative.
Centrist means you have no strong feelings one way or another.
