4 ms·

>They don't hide it. I think that they are pretty clear about their agenda to be honest. E.g. they explained and even gave a name to their stance ("extreme cent

>They don't hide it. I think that they are pretty clear about their agenda to be honest. E.g. they explained and even gave a name to their stance ("extreme centre") My point exactly, that's anything but clear and honest! Calling their views, which are objectively right-wing neoliberal capitalist, calling them "centre" or "moderate" is part of an attempt to naturalise (if that makes sense) their worldview into something that is objective, common-sense, and neutral.

chinchilla2020 5y ago
Is hackernews turning into twitter? This seems like a comment from reddit or twitter.
- andrepd 5y ago
  Ironically yours is the most unsubstantive in this whole thread.
mastazi 5y ago
> right-wing Ask a few self-professed conservatives if they agree with the Economist and see what they say.
kelp 5y ago
I don't think there is objective agreement that the Economists views are right-wing neoliberal capitalist. AllSides rates them as "Leans left": https://www.allsides.com/news-source/economist https://www.allsides.com/news-source/economist They've endorsed Democrats for US President since 2004. Ad Fontes also rates them slightly left leaning: https://adfontesmedia.com/the-economist-bias-and-reliability/ https://adfontesmedia.com/the-economist-bias-and-reliability...
- eyelidlessness 5y ago
  [flagged]
- tsimionescu 5y ago
  As in an old joke that rings true to anyone living outside the US, in US politics you have, on the one hand, an extreme right-wing party, far to the right of anything in other countries; and on the other hand, you have the Republican party. It's absolutely true that on cultural issues (particularly rights of minorities), the Democratic party and even the Economist is actually left or even far left compared to many world countries. But on economic matters, the Economist's positions, and indeed Democratic party positions, are indeed far right-wing of what you'll see virtually anywhere else (maybe other 5-eyes countries are getting closer?). Also, on foreign policy, the media and political parties in the US almost speak with a single voice, which is often, again, far outside mainstream opinion in the rest of the world.
  - padraic7a 5y ago
    Or as the other joke goes; America is a one party system - the War Party. It's just that as per typical American extravagance they've got two of them.
- Lascaille 5y ago
  [flagged]
  - ubercore 5y ago
    It's pretty cynical to say something like access to abortion is a "minor semantic detail".
    - Lascaille 5y ago
      It's a minor semantic detail when you consider their scope of authority.
Talanes 5y ago
It's fine to be upset about the Overton window of American politics, but I don't think it's too egregious that an American publication describe their politics within the usual political language of their country. Or, at the very least, it's not deceptive to call themselves "centre" as neoliberals in a country where the majority understand "centre" to mean "neoliberals" (even if they don't actually know what "neoliberals" means.)
- inopinatus 5y ago
  The Economist is a British publication.
  - Scharkenberg 5y ago
    This is peak HN discussion.
- Pamar 5y ago
  When you say "an American publication" you mean The Economist? They are not exactly Americans, though: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Economist https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Economist
dnissley 5y ago
Could you clarify what you mean without using the words right, left, or neoliberal? All of which are extremely vague.
- onethought 5y ago
  Not the OP but, Right: conservative. Policy designed to preserve corporate interests and wealthy elite. Often masquerading as “looking after the middle class” - when really at best they get some trickle down benefits. Selfishly You should be right leaning if you are a significant owner of capital or have a very high chance of that (they will convince you that everyone has this chance). Left: Progressive (in that it looks to reform the existing structure). Policy design to assist the working class (wage earners). It typically looks to take from corporates/wealthy elite and redistribute. Selfishly You should be left leaning if you don’t own significant capital and derive most of your income from wages. Unselfishly you should err on the side of the left as it is aiming for a “greater good”.
  - refurb 5y ago
    This seems to the world view of the Democratic Party as described by the Democratic Party.
    - onethought 5y ago
      Not American, so I wouldn’t know. But from outside the Democratic Party looked more right than left. Though I guess it’s mostly left of the republicans.
  - Auracle 5y ago
    That’s a pretty biased interpretation.
    - QuercusMax 5y ago
      Care to elaborate? Seems pretty accurate to me.
inopinatus 5y ago
It's an effort to distance themselves from those left/right labels that are so thoroughly debased as to afford little meaning[1]. The term "extreme centre" is far from new. It was used in 1955 by Geoffrey Crowther, editor at the time, when he said "the extreme centre is the paper's historical position" [1] https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2013/09/02/is-the-economist-left-or-right-wing https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2013/09/02/...
saberience 5y ago
The Economist is absolutely not "right wing." In fact, it's anything but right wing. So that you say that is obectively true makes me wonder about your agenda here and whether you're making these statements in good faith.

chinchilla2020 5y ago

Is hackernews turning into twitter? This seems like a comment from reddit or twitter.

andrepd 5y ago
Ironically yours is the most unsubstantive in this whole thread.

mastazi 5y ago

> right-wing Ask a few self-professed conservatives if they agree with the Economist and see what they say.

kelp 5y ago

I don't think there is objective agreement that the Economists views are right-wing neoliberal capitalist. AllSides rates them as "Leans left": https://www.allsides.com/news-source/economist https://www.allsides.com/news-source/economist They've endorsed Democrats for US President since 2004. Ad Fontes also rates them slightly left leaning: https://adfontesmedia.com/the-economist-bias-and-reliability/ https://adfontesmedia.com/the-economist-bias-and-reliability...

eyelidlessness 5y ago
[flagged]
tsimionescu 5y ago
As in an old joke that rings true to anyone living outside the US, in US politics you have, on the one hand, an extreme right-wing party, far to the right of anything in other countries; and on the other hand, you have the Republican party. It's absolutely true that on cultural issues (particularly rights of minorities), the Democratic party and even the Economist is actually left or even far left compared to many world countries. But on economic matters, the Economist's positions, and indeed Democratic party positions, are indeed far right-wing of what you'll see virtually anywhere else (maybe other 5-eyes countries are getting closer?). Also, on foreign policy, the media and political parties in the US almost speak with a single voice, which is often, again, far outside mainstream opinion in the rest of the world.
- padraic7a 5y ago
  Or as the other joke goes; America is a one party system - the War Party. It's just that as per typical American extravagance they've got two of them.
Lascaille 5y ago
[flagged]
- ubercore 5y ago
  It's pretty cynical to say something like access to abortion is a "minor semantic detail".
  - Lascaille 5y ago
    It's a minor semantic detail when you consider their scope of authority.

Talanes 5y ago

It's fine to be upset about the Overton window of American politics, but I don't think it's too egregious that an American publication describe their politics within the usual political language of their country. Or, at the very least, it's not deceptive to call themselves "centre" as neoliberals in a country where the majority understand "centre" to mean "neoliberals" (even if they don't actually know what "neoliberals" means.)

inopinatus 5y ago
The Economist is a British publication.
- Scharkenberg 5y ago
  This is peak HN discussion.
Pamar 5y ago
When you say "an American publication" you mean The Economist? They are not exactly Americans, though: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Economist https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Economist

dnissley 5y ago

Could you clarify what you mean without using the words right, left, or neoliberal? All of which are extremely vague.

onethought 5y ago
Not the OP but, Right: conservative. Policy designed to preserve corporate interests and wealthy elite. Often masquerading as “looking after the middle class” - when really at best they get some trickle down benefits. Selfishly You should be right leaning if you are a significant owner of capital or have a very high chance of that (they will convince you that everyone has this chance). Left: Progressive (in that it looks to reform the existing structure). Policy design to assist the working class (wage earners). It typically looks to take from corporates/wealthy elite and redistribute. Selfishly You should be left leaning if you don’t own significant capital and derive most of your income from wages. Unselfishly you should err on the side of the left as it is aiming for a “greater good”.
- refurb 5y ago
  This seems to the world view of the Democratic Party as described by the Democratic Party.
  - onethought 5y ago
    Not American, so I wouldn’t know. But from outside the Democratic Party looked more right than left. Though I guess it’s mostly left of the republicans.
- Auracle 5y ago
  That’s a pretty biased interpretation.
  - QuercusMax 5y ago
    Care to elaborate? Seems pretty accurate to me.

inopinatus 5y ago

It's an effort to distance themselves from those left/right labels that are so thoroughly debased as to afford little meaning[1]. The term "extreme centre" is far from new. It was used in 1955 by Geoffrey Crowther, editor at the time, when he said "the extreme centre is the paper's historical position" [1] https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2013/09/02/is-the-economist-left-or-right-wing https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2013/09/02/...

saberience 5y ago

The Economist is absolutely not "right wing." In fact, it's anything but right wing. So that you say that is obectively true makes me wonder about your agenda here and whether you're making these statements in good faith.