"Centrism"

[Samurai Waki]

Left - right, Conservative-Liberal get bandied about too much these days. Both are equal means to the same end of your wallet.

[LittleGrizzly]

I think people like seeing themselves as centerists as they can think of themself as some pragmatist who takes the best ideas from each side, which infers that the people on either side of them or incapable of coherent thought and just blindly follow thier dogma...

Of course there are those on each side who do blindly follow thier sides view, and then of course there are those that are actually centerist...

But the big clamour to be seen as a centerist is partially to make yourself look pragmatic partially so you can be more convincing in arguments to both sides...

The last part is true for me... if someone i agree with often takes a position contary to mine it makes me question myself more... if its someone i usually disagree with it would reinforce my position if anything (though i don't intentionally the effect could be there and i am blind to it...)

[HoreTore]

I think people like seeing themselves as centerists as they can think of themself as some pragmatist who takes the best ideas from each side, which infers that the people on either side of them or incapable of coherent thought and just blindly follow thier dogma...

Yeah, I've heard some nice things about that "third way".....

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[Husar]

Yeah, geologically speaking Hitler was a centrist...

[Kadagar_AV]

Left and right is dead in our generation...

"our generation" is a broad term, I know... But it goes between 14 yo to older people who are up-to-date enough to follow the mainstream internet....

As an example, last time I checked the poll-bot... I found that my two closest political parties were the very left wing and the very right wing.. However, I had nothing in common with the center parties...

What do I get out of that?

I am.... right wing on some questions and left wing on others... It all boils down to common sence.

However, I could never vote either right or left as either would vote against me in the majority of questions...

This is the new generation...

Our grandparents would or will vote for some ideology, while in fact, ideology is dead. The new generation are more interested in specific issues, than ideology at large...

So let's tackle each topic as it comes, shall we?

[CountArach]

Our grandparents would or will vote for some ideology, while in fact, ideology is dead. The new generation are more interested in specific issues, than ideology at large...

I wouldn't say that. Ideology is alive and well, but it is changed. Now we have various shades of Conservatism against various forms of Social Democracy in the mainstream. Further there are many ideologues amongst the youngest generation.

[Idaho]

We are coming out of a very apolitical age. The disintergration of the soviet union and the failiures of various left movements, combined with widespread economic growth and prosperity. Most people had abandoned the notion of political solutions and instead been prepared to accept that market capitalism was as good as it got, and politicians are merely different mechanics tinkering with the same engine.

We just have to wait to see if we are facing a long term downturn and global shift in economic realities - which will challenge these assumptions. Or if the current troubles are just a speed bump on capitalism's steady march onward.