this post was submitted on 22 Mar 2025
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Getting everyone's basic needs met is more of a centre-left ideology.
Many centre-right parties believe in things like public healthcare, because it has a net-benefit to the economy.
Centrists don't sit in the middle of every issue or make an exact 50/50 compromise on everything. That's a really poor strawman argument from someone who clearly doesn't understand global politics.
I guess you're confused with people in the U.S who think having views somewhere in-between those of democrats and republicans makes you a centrist.
That U.S-specific 'centrism' is really just right wing politics.
The biggest party in the Netherlands is called the freedom party, their mainly anti-immigrant and against the freedom of religion and the freedom of education. Totally agree they're great at marketing (though it's more about being loud and talking about social problems than it is about having ideas of how to solve them). They're considered to be far-right populist, their leader (Geert Wilders) is aligned with Marine Le Pen and Georgia Meloni. The left has lost their working class-base traditional base to them because of them being more relatable (and less high-brow) than the labour party, the socialists and the greens.
Wait... checks news how the fuck did that happen. I knew we had plenty of racists here but I didn't realize the vote swung that way.
The word you're looking for is pluralism.
You mean to tell me endless purity tests and screaming "you're a literal nazi" at everyone who disagrees slightly with your position aren't effective tactics to change someone's mind? No waaaaaaay.
I seriously don't understand how fucking difficult this is to understand. It's why I largely ignore political discussions on Reddit/Lemmy/all social media.
I don't look at one person saying "Murdering 5 year olds is bad", look at another person saying "Murdering 5 year olds is good!" and try to find a way where both are right.
This is literally what centrists all over the world (well, the parts that show up in English-language news anyway) think about Palestine, though.
And you missed the entire point. Centrism isn't about trying to find a perfect middle ground to every individual subject.
Of course there will be centrists that support Israel carpet bombing everything. There are other centrists that don't support them. There are some that will support them with conditions. I know someone who is broadly centrist who thinks Israel should be dissolved entirely.
It's not a fucking hivemind.
It's not a hive mind, but centrist parties almost invariably have pro-Israel/"it's complicated" positions. There will always be individual variation, but the pattern is clear.
Now do it with gazans
You are right, that centrists don't actually sit as a 50/50 middle. But that means that "centrists" always actually side with fascists and the far right when forced to take a position. If you aren't fully willing to confront capitalism, it means that you will side with fascism before even mild socialism.
Am I understanding you right that you are saying that all centrists will side with fascism over socialism? Because I have some news for you in that case.
Actually, it sounds like I have news for you if you don't think that's the case.
Fascism is not the same as capitalism. For capitalism to work properly, it is required that market power is minimized and that companies cannot influence politics. The fact that they have been able to do so is not capitalism.
Milton Friedman – In Capitalism and Freedom (1962), he argues that government intervention should be minimal and that businesses should focus on profit rather than lobbying for special advantages. While he doesn’t explicitly state that capitalism requires private companies to stay out of politics, he warns against corporate influence leading to cronyism.
Adam Smith – In The Wealth of Nations (1776), he warns against “the merchants and manufacturers” using their influence to gain monopolies and special privileges, which distort free competition. He emphasizes that capitalism works best when businesses do not manipulate laws in their favor.
James Buchanan (Public Choice Theory) – Buchanan and other public choice theorists (like Gordon Tullock) argue that when businesses influence politics, they engage in rent-seeking, which distorts market efficiency. They emphasize that government should limit corporate lobbying to prevent economic inefficiencies.
Luigi Zingales – A more recent economist, Zingales argues in A Capitalism for the People (2012) that corporate political influence undermines free markets and leads to a system of “crony capitalism,” where economic power translates into political power.
That's your opinion, not a fact.
And the issue with that is you're only seeing it as two sides and a fence-sitter.
Centrists form their own views and positions, independent of the parties on either side.
There's no forcing them to take a position, they already have one.
And when they have to vote for/against legislation changes, they'll side with whichever option aligns most closely with their views.
US pseudo-centrism is right wing though, which might be what you're confusing real centrism with.
In practice, they just capitulate every time.
far left and center left are relative to your own position anyway
They are relative to global politics which most Americans know nothing about, it seems.
Republicans have always been pretty hard right and as of the Trump administrations they are pretty much extreme right. Democrats seem to randomly oscillate between centre right and right.
Pro-Oligarchy vs Fascists, IMHO.
Some issues are not relative or negotiable. Rape, murder, war crimes, pedophilia, etc. If you want to be soft on that stuff then you lose my vote, period. Now and in the future. If that means we collectively burn this place to the ground, well if thats what it takes, thats what it takes-- lets get it over with.