Why do Democrats always insist, without evidence, that they're the party of "centrism?" Even when they push deeply unpopular (often illiberal) positions on immigration, free speech, DEI, policing, women's spaces, masculinity, lockdowns, election security, abortion limits, and so on, they always pretend that they represent polite consensus and label the actual mainstream positions "fringe."
If centrists voters compare you against "right-populists" and struggle to decide which is worse, maybe you should spend more time figuring out where the center actually is.
Exactly! What is liberal about the German Merz government prosecuting people for mocking politicians or criticzing mass immigration? What is liberal about the UK ( just a few days ago) banning a rapper from entering the country because he has expressed anti-Zionist views? The list is endless.
Speaking as a female Trump voter and former Democrat, I need to point to a contradiction at the heart of populism. I would identify as a "populist" - meaning power for the people rather than elites, the experts, the corporate overlords. Populism, like all successful big political movements means different things to different people. But there is also a big difference between the continenal European version and the American version
American populists have a strong libertarian bent, most of us want less government and smaller government. We are against mass immigration, and believe in borders, and proudly patriotic.
But they are against foreign interventions - against "internationalist" foreign policy ( in spite of Trumps betrayal of this value.
So its unfair to paint populists as aggressive, pro war "nationalists". ( what is the opposite of a nationalist? - an internationalist?). It is more useful to see populists as an anti-elite movement - and that logically suggests they favor more individual rights, less government bossiness.
Linker uses the term "liberals". But the "liberals" in terms of center left and center right have hardly stood up for liberty and freedom. Whether it was insane covid regulations, vaccine mandates, DEI purity tests, or censoring criticism of immigration or Ukraine, one can hardly claim that the "liberals" are liberal.
Everyone has a responsibility to do something to better our future. May I guide you to “a third way” path? Please, join me at EthicalGovtNow.org. Only $12 annually (3.3 cents a day). Our Republic is in a much more complicated place than most of us think. We need a longer view of solutions to our inherited societal and political complexities and need to look for them with priorities. CLICK to delve into: EthicalGovtNow.org; aggregate by joining today or, what we are experiencing, our grandchildren are very likely to inherit.
Why do Democrats always insist, without evidence, that they're the party of "centrism?" Even when they push deeply unpopular (often illiberal) positions on immigration, free speech, DEI, policing, women's spaces, masculinity, lockdowns, election security, abortion limits, and so on, they always pretend that they represent polite consensus and label the actual mainstream positions "fringe."
If centrists voters compare you against "right-populists" and struggle to decide which is worse, maybe you should spend more time figuring out where the center actually is.
Exactly! What is liberal about the German Merz government prosecuting people for mocking politicians or criticzing mass immigration? What is liberal about the UK ( just a few days ago) banning a rapper from entering the country because he has expressed anti-Zionist views? The list is endless.
Speaking as a female Trump voter and former Democrat, I need to point to a contradiction at the heart of populism. I would identify as a "populist" - meaning power for the people rather than elites, the experts, the corporate overlords. Populism, like all successful big political movements means different things to different people. But there is also a big difference between the continenal European version and the American version
American populists have a strong libertarian bent, most of us want less government and smaller government. We are against mass immigration, and believe in borders, and proudly patriotic.
But they are against foreign interventions - against "internationalist" foreign policy ( in spite of Trumps betrayal of this value.
So its unfair to paint populists as aggressive, pro war "nationalists". ( what is the opposite of a nationalist? - an internationalist?). It is more useful to see populists as an anti-elite movement - and that logically suggests they favor more individual rights, less government bossiness.
Linker uses the term "liberals". But the "liberals" in terms of center left and center right have hardly stood up for liberty and freedom. Whether it was insane covid regulations, vaccine mandates, DEI purity tests, or censoring criticism of immigration or Ukraine, one can hardly claim that the "liberals" are liberal.
Everyone has a responsibility to do something to better our future. May I guide you to “a third way” path? Please, join me at EthicalGovtNow.org. Only $12 annually (3.3 cents a day). Our Republic is in a much more complicated place than most of us think. We need a longer view of solutions to our inherited societal and political complexities and need to look for them with priorities. CLICK to delve into: EthicalGovtNow.org; aggregate by joining today or, what we are experiencing, our grandchildren are very likely to inherit.