Is there a such thing as a moderate?

Cainkane1

Philosopher
Cainkane1
Joined
Jul 16, 2005
Messages
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The great American southeast
While I am conservative on many issues I'm very liberal on others. Is there a way of making this known without making both sides think you are wishy washy and causing hard feelings.
 
Carefully considering the issues and taking a position based on that process rather than blindly following the party line seems to be the ultimate political sin these days. I suggest stocking up on ashes and sackcloth, and when you leave the house don't forget to ring a bell and call out "Unclean! Unclean!"
 
Cainkane1 said:
While I am conservative on many issues I'm very liberal on others. Is there a way of making this known without making both sides think you are wishy washy and causing hard feelings.
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It's worse than that - you're both wishy-washy and extremist, for clearly only an extremist could seriously believe <insert viewpoint here>. I mean, you're obviously not dumb because you also believe <insert another viewpoint here> and yet you make the obvious mistake of <insert 3rd viewpoint here>.

Slightly more seriously - having a set of views that doesn't line up with either of the traditional sides of the political spectrum doesn't make you a moderate. You're a moderate on individual issues if you fall between the traditional positions.

Though I'll allow a fair amount of moderate-cred to anyone who simply acknowledges that there is some merit to opposing viewpoints.

Of course, I wouldn't go so far as to consider opposing viewpoints to <insert 4th viewpoint here>, because anyone who doesn't agree with that is clearly either <insert derogatory here> or <insert a different derogatory here>.
 
At best you may get someone able to juggle enough balls at once that a slim majority identifies with him enough to consider them a 'moderate', but everyone else will rate them anything from pinko to Nazi.

There possibly was a time when American politics had a middle of the road option, but until their is some kind of drastic shift it's basically two opposing camps, and you're either on a side or in no mans land :(
 
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I'm the same way, although I lean toward the conservative end of things. Take away the religious aspect and I'd probably be classified as a Republican.

On my Facebook profile under political views I wrote "Depends on the issue", and I'm pretty comfortable with that.
 
Seems like in America we get off on how independent/moderate/against-the-two-parties we are. I mean, 43% of Tea Party goers labelled themselves Independent. And for politicians they are against the "entrenched forces on both sides in Washington".

And we especially enjoy the myth of "vote the person, not the party".

In my experience, moderates really do have a preference, they just don't like admitting it, or their preferences are so outside the mainstream that they might as well not even have them.
 
dasmiller said:
It's worse than that - you're both wishy-washy and extremist, for clearly only an extremist could seriously believe <insert viewpoint here>. I mean, you're obviously not dumb because you also believe <insert another viewpoint here> and yet you make the obvious mistake of <insert 3rd viewpoint here>.

Slightly more seriously - having a set of views that doesn't line up with either of the traditional sides of the political spectrum doesn't make you a moderate. You're a moderate on individual issues if you fall between the traditional positions.

Though I'll allow a fair amount of moderate-cred to anyone who simply acknowledges that there is some merit to opposing viewpoints.

Of course, I wouldn't go so far as to consider opposing viewpoints to <insert 4th viewpoint here>, because anyone who doesn't agree with that is clearly either <insert derogatory here> or <insert a different derogatory here>.
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Tsukasa Buddha said:
Seems like in America we get off on how independent/moderate/against-the-two-parties we are. I mean, 43% of Tea Party goers labelled themselves Independent. And for politicians they are against the "entrenched forces on both sides in Washington".

And we especially enjoy the myth of "vote the person, not the party".

In my experience, moderates really do have a preference, they just don't like admitting it, or their preferences are so outside the mainstream that they might as well not even have them.
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Sigh...
 
Politics is just like everything else when it comes to categorizing people: inexact. It's probably very rare for two different people to agree on everything. Choosing a particular political party would necessitate compromise on a lot of things. You just have to decide what's most important to you, and whether it's worth letting lesser issues go.

Personally, I have trouble relating to either of the two major parties in my country because some of my positions are located in extremes neither party is willing to represent. So like everybody else I have to vote for the jerk who comes closest to what I want, even if they're still way far off.

I find it especially irritating that so many people assume these parties are truly representative of anybody, and that to agree slightly with someone on a few issues is the same as supporting everything absolutely.
 
I think most people are moderate, but it doesn't seem that way because the people who speak up and get the attention are the extremes. This is due to the duel factors that the extremes are more motivated to speak up and also that the media gets more exciting coverage in presenting them.
 
Cainkane1 said:
While I am conservative on many issues I'm very liberal on others. Is there a way of making this known without making both sides think you are wishy washy and causing hard feelings.
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Cainkane, as I get older the gray area widens. I have learned, at least with myself; the more opinionated I am on any particular topic, the less experience I actually have with it. I could care less of someone else thinks I am wishy washy, just because I can identify more than the black and white in any situation and I don't recommend you caring either. The older I get, the more independant I feel from any political affiliation. I think the more we learn about humanity; behaviors/experiences, the more we learn about the many fields of science, the more obsolete party lines should become. Like others have mentioned, blind loyalty to an outdated idea is counter-productive.
 
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