>It used to be that I was the one furthest to the left in any newsroom, occasionally causing strain in story meetings with my views on issues like the housing c

>It used to be that I was the one furthest to the left in any newsroom, occasionally causing strain in story meetings with my views on issues like the housing crisis. I am now easily the most conservative, frequently sparking tension by questioning identity politics. This happened in the span of about 18 months. My own politics did not change. The whole left/right division has completely lost its point. You can see it if you list the typical points of disagreement, order them from most discussed to least discussed, and look at stances from left to right: COVID vaccines: mandate -> encourage -> offer for all -> offer for vulnerable -> ignore Climate Change: ban plastics/meat/kids -> subsidize solar/wind -> promote nuclear -> work on mitigations -> declare hoax Race: discriminate majority -> be color-blind -> discriminate minorities Homeless + petty crime: tolerate -> prosecute -> punish progressively Homeless + mental issues: tolerate -> offer treatment -> force treatment -> imprison LGBT: set quotas + role model for kids -> allow with no special benefits -> frown upon -> criminalize Immigration: allow arbitrarily -> set quotas -> allow high-skilled only -> ban Abortions: allow -> allow for medical reasons -> ban Housing: increase density -> ban foreign capital/increase rates -> develop new areas -> do nothing What typically happens is a vocal person holding a specific opinion on a specific topic declares everyone left from them "communist" or everyone right from them "far right", implying that they have the leftmost/rightmost stances on all other topics. So people that would normally agree on some middle-ground solution for most topics end up at the opposing sides of the artificial division. We must resist it and look at specific problems and specific solutions and call bullshit on anyone trying to generalize and alienate someone based on their affiliation. P.S. Note how impactful topics like interest rate, retirement, corporations taking place of middle class owner-operated businesses, etc. are not even on the radar.