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If one only cares about democrats vs dems (or left vs "far right" in Europe) one also doesn't REALLY care about politics. Caring = caring to understand how the

If one only cares about democrats vs dems (or left vs "far right" in Europe) one also doesn't REALLY care about politics. Caring = caring to understand how the system works and how the incentives work for participants in it. If I'm super generous I would guess maybe 0,1 percent of the population cares by that definition.

jfengel 2y ago
I think you're a little too harsh in that judgement. I'd say it's at least 1%. Possibly even 5%. It still means that they are massively, massively outweighed by loud tribalism.
tim333 2y ago
There's a problem that if you care, as an average person, it's hard to do much with it. Every few years you can vote left or right, which unless you happen to live in a marginal constituency or swing state, has no effect.
- nobody9999 2y ago
  >Every few years you can vote left or right, If you're talking about the US, you can vote center-right (Democratic) or far right (Republican). There is no viable left wing party in the US.
  - rsa4046 2y ago
    This can't be said often enough. We have two right wing parties in the US. That's it.
  - Wyoming23 2y ago
    These posts are tiresome. They all boil down to "my view should be the middle". You could just as well claim the Democrats are far left and the republicans center left.
    - kbelder 2y ago
      This is often done by contrasting the US with Europe, as if Europe is a political gold standard.
    - rixed 2y ago
      The political "spectrum" is not a range of subjective opinions, it's a range of objectively documented ideas. I don't know how well they can fit in a unidimensional scale though.
    - nobody9999 2y ago
      >These posts are tiresome. They all boil down to "my view should be the middle". I don't claim that my views are, or should be, "the middle". In fact, I didn't share my views at all. Rather, I contrasted the US Republican Party with the US Democratic Party through the lens of the political spectrum. Perhaps you think your views are "middle-of-the-road" and maybe they are. I have no idea what you think or believe. But making the claim you did added absolutely nothing to the discussion, nor did it address anything I wrote. And more's the pity.
  - I_am_uncreative 2y ago
    From whose perspective and what are we considering right and left? The Democratic party is left of center on social issues, even compared to Europe.
    - immibis 2y ago
      [flagged]
      - immibis 2y ago
        [flagged]
    - nobody9999 2y ago
      >he Democratic party is left of center on social issues, even compared to Europe. Actually, the Democratic Party is mostly libertarian (or classically liberal, if you like, which is, inherently right wing) on social issues -- preferring to allow people to make their own choices WRT their bodies rather than seeking government control of reproductive health and other forms of bodily autonomy. Individual rights and personal agency are not "left wing," except in the eyes of the authoritarian far right (or far left) who seek control over all else. So no. The Democratic Party has a solidly center-right agenda/ideology -- no collectivism, individual rights not curtailed by the state, freedom of thought and religion, etc. Despite what some folks may say, there are no Marxists in the US Democratic Party. That's not to say that the Democratic Party is the ideal. Far from it. But to place them on the absolute "left" is ridiculous on its face. It's only "left wing" as compared with the far right (read: evangelical christians, white nationalists, xenophobes, etc.) Republican Party who want to limit women's reproductive choices, force the religious doctrines of the Christian church down everyone's throats and spout xenophobic and long debunked genetic tropes related to melanin content.

jfengel 2y ago

I think you're a little too harsh in that judgement. I'd say it's at least 1%. Possibly even 5%. It still means that they are massively, massively outweighed by loud tribalism.

tim333 2y ago

There's a problem that if you care, as an average person, it's hard to do much with it. Every few years you can vote left or right, which unless you happen to live in a marginal constituency or swing state, has no effect.

nobody9999 2y ago
>Every few years you can vote left or right, If you're talking about the US, you can vote center-right (Democratic) or far right (Republican). There is no viable left wing party in the US.
- rsa4046 2y ago
  This can't be said often enough. We have two right wing parties in the US. That's it.
- Wyoming23 2y ago
  These posts are tiresome. They all boil down to "my view should be the middle". You could just as well claim the Democrats are far left and the republicans center left.
  - kbelder 2y ago
    This is often done by contrasting the US with Europe, as if Europe is a political gold standard.
  - rixed 2y ago
    The political "spectrum" is not a range of subjective opinions, it's a range of objectively documented ideas. I don't know how well they can fit in a unidimensional scale though.
  - nobody9999 2y ago
    >These posts are tiresome. They all boil down to "my view should be the middle". I don't claim that my views are, or should be, "the middle". In fact, I didn't share my views at all. Rather, I contrasted the US Republican Party with the US Democratic Party through the lens of the political spectrum. Perhaps you think your views are "middle-of-the-road" and maybe they are. I have no idea what you think or believe. But making the claim you did added absolutely nothing to the discussion, nor did it address anything I wrote. And more's the pity.
- I_am_uncreative 2y ago
  From whose perspective and what are we considering right and left? The Democratic party is left of center on social issues, even compared to Europe.
  - immibis 2y ago
    [flagged]
    - immibis 2y ago
      [flagged]
  - nobody9999 2y ago
    >he Democratic party is left of center on social issues, even compared to Europe. Actually, the Democratic Party is mostly libertarian (or classically liberal, if you like, which is, inherently right wing) on social issues -- preferring to allow people to make their own choices WRT their bodies rather than seeking government control of reproductive health and other forms of bodily autonomy. Individual rights and personal agency are not "left wing," except in the eyes of the authoritarian far right (or far left) who seek control over all else. So no. The Democratic Party has a solidly center-right agenda/ideology -- no collectivism, individual rights not curtailed by the state, freedom of thought and religion, etc. Despite what some folks may say, there are no Marxists in the US Democratic Party. That's not to say that the Democratic Party is the ideal. Far from it. But to place them on the absolute "left" is ridiculous on its face. It's only "left wing" as compared with the far right (read: evangelical christians, white nationalists, xenophobes, etc.) Republican Party who want to limit women's reproductive choices, force the religious doctrines of the Christian church down everyone's throats and spout xenophobic and long debunked genetic tropes related to melanin content.