• naught101@lemmy.world
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    17 hours ago

    But left and right aren’t absolute positions, they change in time. E.g. democrats now hold a lot of similar positions to what the republicans held in the 1980s (and also a lot of different ones).

    Left and right are also a unidimensional approximation of a multidimensional value space… E.g. most people on the left disagree with nearly everything Marjorie Taylor Greene says, but they agree with her that the US should not be supporting Israel’s war on Iran.

    There are also people on the left AND the right that oppose global economic liberalisation, but what is often called the “centre” supports it - clearly not a “middle” stance.

    So how can you meaningfully define what is led and what is right, for the purpose of your reading?

    • Arkouda@lemmy.caOP
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      17 hours ago

      But left and right aren’t absolute positions, they change in time.

      What do you think that means for the center?

      • naught101@lemmy.world
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        15 hours ago

        That it also changes in time and is not absolute. And also, in many ways, that it does it does not exist (in the sense that the “centre” in one dimension might be correlated with extremes in another)

        • Arkouda@lemmy.caOP
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          5 hours ago

          If the center, right, and left change over time how do you expect me to define “center” beyond that which is situated between left and right?

          • naught101@lemmy.world
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            3 hours ago

            I just showed you an example of where “centre” as commonly defined is not between left and right, but opposed by both…

            I guess the point is, I think those definitions are deficient, and using them as a guide to understanding what is good or true is probably a flawed methodology. It’s kind of reminiscent of Fox News’ old “fair and balanced” slogan (which never was, but also just missed the point of what journalism is supposed to be about, which is truth).

            • Arkouda@lemmy.caOP
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              3 hours ago

              I just showed you an example of where “centre” as commonly defined is not between left and right, but opposed by both…

              The plural of anecdote is not data.