I hold opinions that will piss off both sides. I agree with both sides on certain issues. Both sides are awful picks in general, I want neither. Problem is, if I dont pick one, both sides will hate me and say I support the other side.
What people get wrong about the middle is that they think it is a non-stance. No, I just refuse to dichotomize every issue into right or left and I sometimes have stances that neither side illustrates. I’m moderate in so much as I don’t submit to an all-or-nothing philosophy.
Fair enough, let’s get into the compass. My problem with it is methodological. The two-axis model is assumed, not derived, and the test has never been validated as a psychometric instrument. The items are double-barreled, vague, and loaded, with no neutral option. Worse, it averages your answers, so someone with weak views on everything lands in the same spot as someone with strong views that don’t line up with one side. The test can’t tell those people apart. Proposed as a research measure, it wouldn’t survive peer review. Political psychology has multidimensional models for a reason.
As for a stance: healthcare. The US has some of the best medical capability in the world, but the outcomes don’t follow, and a big part of that is how we pay for it. Administrative costs are estimated at up to a quarter of total health spending, which is insane. Billing codes should be consolidated across institutions, administration cut back, and quality control applied consistently nationwide. I also think the public option should be expanded and streamlined for people with no or weak coverage, and private insurers held to better coverage standards. But I don’t want to blow up the private system or the research and drug-development pipeline that makes US medicine what it is, especially for rare diseases.
The left is right that leaving people without care is indefensible. The right is right that the system is buried in bureaucracy and what works shouldn’t be torn down. I want both problems addressed.
I stopped interacting with political discussion on Reddit a long time ago, ever so often a thread will pull me in, but for the most part its people dismissing viewpoints in favor of talking towards extremes. I've had the same experience as you it seems.
There are political topics that I agree with more based on the general right take on the issue, and political topics that I agree more with the left on.
Political affiliation is more so looked at as a sports team now, and people who look at political issues as one holistic issue instead of being cognizant of any individual issue and how to resolve it simply look silly.
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u/memecut 1d ago
I hold opinions that will piss off both sides. I agree with both sides on certain issues. Both sides are awful picks in general, I want neither. Problem is, if I dont pick one, both sides will hate me and say I support the other side.
Nuance isnt allowed irl anymore either.