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Billionaires shifted the overton window by pouring money into extreme right-wing media outlets and social media platforms. Every other existing institution now

Billionaires shifted the overton window by pouring money into extreme right-wing media outlets and social media platforms. Every other existing institution now appears "left-wing" by comparison. That's not universities' fault.

lmm 2y ago
Not true, at least on social issues, which is what the universities are getting burned for. Policy positions that were mainstream in 2000 are now painted as far-right.
- jhbadger 2y ago
  That's how society progresses though. Before 1865, slavery was mainstream and abolitionists were weird radical crazies. Before 1965, "Jim Crow" laws that said non-whites had to use different bathrooms and drinking fountains were mainstream, and people who opposed them were seen as unreasonable.
  - lmm 2y ago
    And back in the 1960s a planned economy was normal and reasonable, and many progressives openly called for normalisation of sex with teenagers. Sometimes shifts in attitudes are progress. Sometimes they're just a random walk. Sometimes the left is right, sometimes the right is.
    - Duwensatzaj 2y ago
      Eugenics as in forcible sterilization of the “unfit” was similarly Progressive back in the early 20th.
    - jhbadger 2y ago
      I'm not sure either of those are particularly progressive -- the current president seems to be a fan of tariffs, a form of planned economy popular in the 19th century (and condemned by most economists since, who favor free trade). And child brides are a common feature of many right-wing religious groups, argued on the grounds that that people (particularly female) traditionally married in their teen years.
- PaulDavisThe1st 2y ago
  > Policy positions that were mainstream in 2000 are now painted as far-right. Such as?
  - jibe 2y ago
    gay marriage?
    - PaulDavisThe1st 2y ago
      Presumably you mean opposition to gay marriage?
      - jibe 2y ago
        Yes, opposition to gay marriage was so mainstream that even Barack Obama campaigned supporting Clinton's Defense of Marriage Act. Even in the Democratic primaries, as late as 2008, being pro gay marriage was seen as a liability.
        PaulDavisThe1st 2y ago
        I don't know that it's painted as far right as much as conservative (which it is) and by some as bigoted. The Overton Window moves. Upper marginal tax rates above 90% were not just a position but the actual law in USA during the 1960s, but now are seen here as "far left". Seatbelt requirements were initially felt to be over-intrusion by government, and are now seen by almost everyone as just common sense. And so on and so forth.
- ath3nd 2y ago
  > Policy positions that were mainstream in 2000 are now painted as far-right. Painted? Historically, there is a bunch of groups that were opposed to homosexual rights. I wonder how do you think those organization are "painted" on the political spectrum? - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_homosexuals_in_Nazi_Germany https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_homosexuals_in_... - https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9780230294158_9 https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9780230294158_9 - https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-00994-6 https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-00994-6 > Policy positions that were mainstream in 2000 are now painted as far-right. Maybe that speaks something about a country that still has the KKK, and allowed its African American population to vote in 1965, not even 40 years before 2000. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_segregation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_segregation - https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/white-supremacist-ideals-of-ku-klux-klan-still-active-in-us-historian/2974843 https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/white-supremacist-ideals-o...
gedy 2y ago
Honestly man since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the left in the US threw their whole weight into pushing the Overton window on identity politics/intersectionality to the point that "real" old time leftists and communists (like my father) were treated like some sort of conservatives, lol. They went way past the sustainable point.
- xracy 2y ago
  I feel like the people who say things like "communists were treated like some sort of conservatives because of identity politics" are telling on themselves. If you look at the people on the actual political left in the US (Bernie, AOC, etc) are they talking about identity politics? Last time I checked they were talking about the problems that impact non-billionaire Americans: Healthcare, Social Security, Raising Minimum Wage, and other efforts to improve quality of life for Americans. The only times I ever hear about identity politics is when I listen to conservatives describe what people on the left are talking about.
  - nosianu 2y ago
    > If you look at the people on the actual political left in the US (Bernie, AOC, etc) are they talking about identity politics? Great example! So... what happened to Bernie in the Democratic party?
    - xracy 2y ago
      I'm saying that the problem isn't identity politics, but that the American right is terrified of actual policies from the American Left. And they're so terrified they have to make a bid deal of the more divisive social policies (characteristic of the term "identity politics") rather than their economic policies that are incredibly popular. The majority of the Democratic party is the group being actually shifted by the Overton window away from the actual political left. They are mostly centrists, and not leftists. Frequently they are conservatives. I wish Harris suggested half of the policies that got ascribed to her, but she was honestly to the right of Clinton.
  - 2y ago

lmm 2y ago

Not true, at least on social issues, which is what the universities are getting burned for. Policy positions that were mainstream in 2000 are now painted as far-right.

jhbadger 2y ago
That's how society progresses though. Before 1865, slavery was mainstream and abolitionists were weird radical crazies. Before 1965, "Jim Crow" laws that said non-whites had to use different bathrooms and drinking fountains were mainstream, and people who opposed them were seen as unreasonable.
- lmm 2y ago
  And back in the 1960s a planned economy was normal and reasonable, and many progressives openly called for normalisation of sex with teenagers. Sometimes shifts in attitudes are progress. Sometimes they're just a random walk. Sometimes the left is right, sometimes the right is.
  - Duwensatzaj 2y ago
    Eugenics as in forcible sterilization of the “unfit” was similarly Progressive back in the early 20th.
  - jhbadger 2y ago
    I'm not sure either of those are particularly progressive -- the current president seems to be a fan of tariffs, a form of planned economy popular in the 19th century (and condemned by most economists since, who favor free trade). And child brides are a common feature of many right-wing religious groups, argued on the grounds that that people (particularly female) traditionally married in their teen years.
PaulDavisThe1st 2y ago
> Policy positions that were mainstream in 2000 are now painted as far-right. Such as?
- jibe 2y ago
  gay marriage?
  - PaulDavisThe1st 2y ago
    Presumably you mean opposition to gay marriage?
    - jibe 2y ago
      Yes, opposition to gay marriage was so mainstream that even Barack Obama campaigned supporting Clinton's Defense of Marriage Act. Even in the Democratic primaries, as late as 2008, being pro gay marriage was seen as a liability.
      - PaulDavisThe1st 2y ago
        I don't know that it's painted as far right as much as conservative (which it is) and by some as bigoted. The Overton Window moves. Upper marginal tax rates above 90% were not just a position but the actual law in USA during the 1960s, but now are seen here as "far left". Seatbelt requirements were initially felt to be over-intrusion by government, and are now seen by almost everyone as just common sense. And so on and so forth.
ath3nd 2y ago
> Policy positions that were mainstream in 2000 are now painted as far-right. Painted? Historically, there is a bunch of groups that were opposed to homosexual rights. I wonder how do you think those organization are "painted" on the political spectrum? - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_homosexuals_in_Nazi_Germany https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_homosexuals_in_... - https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9780230294158_9 https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9780230294158_9 - https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-00994-6 https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-00994-6 > Policy positions that were mainstream in 2000 are now painted as far-right. Maybe that speaks something about a country that still has the KKK, and allowed its African American population to vote in 1965, not even 40 years before 2000. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_segregation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_segregation - https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/white-supremacist-ideals-of-ku-klux-klan-still-active-in-us-historian/2974843 https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/white-supremacist-ideals-o...

gedy 2y ago

Honestly man since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the left in the US threw their whole weight into pushing the Overton window on identity politics/intersectionality to the point that "real" old time leftists and communists (like my father) were treated like some sort of conservatives, lol. They went way past the sustainable point.

xracy 2y ago
I feel like the people who say things like "communists were treated like some sort of conservatives because of identity politics" are telling on themselves. If you look at the people on the actual political left in the US (Bernie, AOC, etc) are they talking about identity politics? Last time I checked they were talking about the problems that impact non-billionaire Americans: Healthcare, Social Security, Raising Minimum Wage, and other efforts to improve quality of life for Americans. The only times I ever hear about identity politics is when I listen to conservatives describe what people on the left are talking about.
- nosianu 2y ago
  > If you look at the people on the actual political left in the US (Bernie, AOC, etc) are they talking about identity politics? Great example! So... what happened to Bernie in the Democratic party?
  - xracy 2y ago
    I'm saying that the problem isn't identity politics, but that the American right is terrified of actual policies from the American Left. And they're so terrified they have to make a bid deal of the more divisive social policies (characteristic of the term "identity politics") rather than their economic policies that are incredibly popular. The majority of the Democratic party is the group being actually shifted by the Overton window away from the actual political left. They are mostly centrists, and not leftists. Frequently they are conservatives. I wish Harris suggested half of the policies that got ascribed to her, but she was honestly to the right of Clinton.
- 2y ago