Their response to this old classic ( https://thenib.com/centrist-history/ ) was really something too.
You have pretty wild ideas what a centrist is, I'll go through the panels individually:
i guess this one is accurate, in my eyes the issue is not that nazis say what they think, but rather that they think what they think. If anything it is better if you know someone to be a nazi, rather then them hiding among the population. The way to combat extremism shouldn't be to prohibit extremist thoughts, but a good system of education that highlights the atrocities commited by extremist governments in the past (and present). Centrism does NOT mean favoring blind compromises between any two sides. In this panel you have extremists on the left and centrists on the right. Of course I would side with the people on the right, human rights apply to all humans. Advocating for wars is an inherently extremist thing, its the culmination of refusing to compromise , and to deny other humans the right to live. Which doesn't mean I am a pacifist. It can't be right to just surrender to any aggressor. The idea that centrsist are apolitical is just absurd. I hold many opinions, even on topics that don't immediately affect me. However, as a centrist I advocate for democracy. Its not perfect, humans are ultimately slightly smarter chimpanzees in my eyes. But as JFK once said: "Freedom has many difficulties and democracy is not perfect, be we have never had to put a wall up to keep our people in."
Hm, I don't think we mean the same thing when we talk about centrism. I don't constantly look to the political left and right, find the middle and make that my opinion, honestly I doubt anyone does that. Instead, my general stance could probably more fittingly be summed up like this: As humans we always feel that our opinion is right and more valid than that of anyone disagreeing. I accept that my opinions might be wrong, regardless of how I feel about them. And I believe that the more people disagree with me, the more likely I am to be wrong. It follows that forcing my will on everyone else is not the right way and that instead it would be best to find the solution that the most people can agree on.
Of course, humans are ultimatley only slightly smarter chimpanzees, so this does NOT guarentee we actually agree on the best solution, but its our best bet. What would be ideal would be some higher, benevolent intelligence ruling over us, just like a parent would. But that isn't going to be Hitler, Stalin or any other human that decides that they know better than anyone else what society needs. 👶
Also, I don't really get your point about feeling superior. I never said that my opinion is any more valid than anyone elses, quite the contrary. If anything, thats more the vibe I'm getting from your response.
What would be ideal would be some higher, benevolent intelligence ruling over us, just like a parent would.
Welcome to the Church of the Robot Mommy Godhead
Being ruled over by SHODAN would probably be an improvement over the current status quo of being ruled over by a bunch of slapfighting "DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DOOOOOOOOO" libertarians that are trying to get the high score while burning the planet down with their apocalyptic business practices.
Yes, I said it. Baby-brained unexamined theory-free "anarchism" (where the poor are bound by obligation under threat of violence but the rich truly can do whatever they please, because who the fuck is stopping them? Certainly not their fellow baby-brained unexamined theory-free "anarchists") is worse than a dictatorship and does more damage on a global scale for less of a purpose.
Yeah, Ancaptopia is basically a worst-case scenario. Anything else at least has the benefit of not implicitly centering exploitation as its nihilistic substitute for a goal
Hell, I'd even call the robot mommy godhead from the I, Robot short stories a pretty good outcome among autocrats - benevolent, competent, and immortal - but that sort of thing usually just slots into Longtermism as an alleged (and plainly implausible) goal or into naked ancappery as a sweeping dismissal of pro-people governance as unrealistic
Interesting how neoliberals and other centrist types always want their leaders to be like parents. Wonder if there's some of that "all politics is sexual pathology" shit going on there.
humans are ultimately slightly smarter chimpanzees in my eyes
What a stupid misanthropic thing to say. Kind of shit I would say in my teens thinking I was the most clever person ever born. Tbf I was also a centrist in my teens as well and did it mostly to be an annoying contrarian cos I was miserable amd didn't believe in anything.
I value non-human life enough to also sense the implication of "chimp = stupid therefore human slightly smarter than chimp = slightly less stupid" smugposting which is so very, very common among cryptofascists. The entire "bored apes" NFT grift continuum, from its "Yuga labs" reference to "Kali Yuga," another cryptofascist fascination topic onward, was a steaming pile of nihilistic reductionistic presumptions from the start.
I've never been friends for long with anyone that uses human-animal (or even meat) comparisons to rhetorically reduce everyone into comfortably nihilistic units for someone to devalue and dismiss at their leisure.
