Hey, you sensible people... Why don't you just can it. Permanently.

[BainsBane]

115. I wish people would talk about something other than labels

People seem to think if they call themselves left enough times it means something, or if they call someone else centrist or Third Way it means something. It says nothing about any issues, and the main purpose seems to be to create an us. vs. them divide.


I think 99 percent of the discussion of the election on this site has been vapid and meaningless, largely because we don't actually have candidates or defined issues to discuss. People who want to vote Democrat will, and people who want to vote Republican will. No one is going to force you to vote for anyone you don't want to, and you are going to be able to force others to quit arguing their positions.

What label people call themselves or others means nothing. I see people who I consider to the right to the average American claiming they are "the left." The original use of the term relates to socialism and Marx, which has no influence on the political views of most here since most have never read Marx. As far as I can tell, people use the labels exclusively to attack others and create their own in-crowd. The more I read, I increasingly think that is what is most important, and I think that is why we see so many threads attacking Democratic voters. Few discuss any issues in the context of the election, and when they do it is entirely projection and has virtually nothing to do with any issues the potential candidates have taken.

Two things I'm fed up with: empty references to center, left, third way, etc...and the inane focus on individuals, pretending it means anything. The end result seems to be what people really care about, creating their own clique that excludes others. What none of it has anything to do with is the well being of the nation. That seems to be the last priority.

I'm not talking about you here, Flying Squirrel, but my general reactions to seeing these terms bandied around.

I can conceive of no understanding of leftism that doesn't seek a more equitable society. Therefore when I see people who insist they are too ideologically pure to vote for the Democratic nominee if it isn't their choice, and then see them turn around and argue positions that actively promote inequality and special treatment for the chosen few, like Julian Assange, or backing a right-wing autocrat like Putin and making excuses for his annexation of the Ukraine, I don't see signs of what I consider leftism or principle. Left and right had clear meanings during the Cold War. They do not anymore, and without an ideological fulcrum people are left rudderless, unable to conceive of a conception of politics or truth outside their own egos. My conception of leftism remains based on Marxism, and I am unable to understand how people who promote a society where only a few benefit at the expense of the many can be considered leftists, no matter how many times they repeat the term. In fact, I think if they truly believed in equality or social justice, they would have something to talk about besides labels and their contempt or worship for one individual or another.