All too Human : The Myth of the Moderate or Centrist...or how to get off your knees.....

Tuesday 31 July 2018

The Myth of the Moderate or Centrist...or how to get off your knees.....

If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality. Desmond Tutu

Over the last few months i have seen certain `moderates` claim that the far right is the same as the radical left and that their postion as centrists is the only valid position. I have seen it claimed ny Peter Nash as well as Gareth Handford in a few cases. I have evn had one Chris Edwards of Neath claiming moderation by thinking that `free speech` should apply to Nazis marching through Jewish areas. so I have put this together as a complete refutation of this inadequate and spurious claim

I grow increasingly tired of the whines of the moderate or centrist What does it really mean to describe yourself that way? I guess it simply means that you are satisfied with your lot and the form in which society finds itself. What does it mean in practice. During the coalition period it meant support for neoliberalism and austerity.. it meant support for benefit cuts and it meant the lack of ability to deeply critique society and it's economy. Political change does come from a centrist position it comes from those who see new possibilities. A long time ago George Bernard Shaw commented that all change really comes from the person who does not accept the status quo. The centrist is a dry dull statistical average of acceptance and prejudice. They are someone who is not ever becoming and dare not dream or act practically to challenge how things are. It risks narcissism and the inability to step outside the self. It's boring and stagnant. It risks and has risked in the support justification for slavery and to deny votes for women. But most of all today it risks the reality of alliwing the far right to peddle it's hate. It also excuses the abject lie of the equivalence of the anti fascist and the anti fascist.

Let's remember it was the centrist party in Weimar that backed Hitler's Enabling act giving him power. The Far right can not be opposed from a centrist position. In fact it was Blair's New Labour that were the midwives of the far right and of UKIP. It was the blunting of a critical socialist ideology that has allowed this equivalence to be claimed. It was this allows the far right to claim that hate speech is free speech and that Tommy Robinson is a the same as the Suffragettes A left winger is a centrist who has got off their knees. A centrist prays to a statistical average of prejudice and ignorance. A right winger prays to a past that never was seen through a mirror tempered by the illusion of self . Only the left winger has got off their knees and sees the future. That's the difference.

The Radical Left and Far Right are as Different as Night and Day.

Different hard-wiring.

Psychologist have determined that liberal and conservative brains literally function quite differently. For example, an examination of the possessions of liberal and conservative college students revealed that the former had more books and travel-memorabilia, while the latter had more items relating to cleaning and organization. This investigation suggested key differences in conservative and liberal mindsets – with one emphasizing self-discipline and order, and the other leaning toward the discovery of new experiences. This hard-wiring gives rise to dramatically different value systems – systems that view the basic ideas like fairness, equality, and even right and wrong in radically different terms.

History is in the eye of the beholder.

The far right and far left have dramatically different interpretations of the past – interpretations which dictate their political stances and calls to action. The far right expresses nostalgia for the past, and actively works to preserve their history, regardless of what that might mean in today’s context. For right-wing Southerners like the members of Save Southern Heritage, this means protecting statues of famous Confederates, and decrying the removal of the Confederate flag from public buildings. Conversely, the far left (and in this case, many liberals) associates the past with its ills – slavery, sexism, and other injustices. History and its institutions are not to be preserved and cherished, but rather, an embarking point from which to begin reform.

Superficial similarities.

When two groups utilize similar tactics, it does not necessarily mean that the groups are one and the same. The Antifa and white nationalist movements exemplify key ideological differences that should not be overlooked. While Antifa and white nationalist movements both express distaste for the government (and even a will to overthrow it), their reasons for these sentiments are rather opposite. Antifa, whose members also frequently identify as anarchists, view government as an instrument of inequality, while white nationalists express hostility toward government because they believe it facilitates equality – a notion that offends those whose identity is built upon a defined racial hierarchy.

All too Human

Tuesday 31 July 2018

The Myth of the Moderate or Centrist...or how to get off your knees.....

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