The more the Far Right gains influence, the more this average Canadian is labelled a "Leftist". Funny how that works when my core principles and views haven't changed. Moderate views are being gaslit - don't let anyone label you. You don't need to be some stereotype. #cdnpoli
You should stop being such a massive chicken shit and start adopting actual leftist views if you really want to stop fascism. Otherwise it’s just a roll of the dice.
I don't respect those who hurl emotional pejoratives to describe me or provoke a response but I will say that I don't "adopt" the views of any person, group or label, I form and adapt my views independently based on the best information I can find. Those who know me know this.
Centrism is just another word for coward. You might as well loudly announce you got yours and don’t care at all about anyone else. Enjoy it. You’re the reason we’re here.
Canada is not the US.
Wow thanks Sherlock
We didn't make your mess.
I agree. I despise labels.
IKR? This is the problem with news aggregator Ground News. It characterizes Politico as “left-leaning.” It’s not. It’s center-right. It characterizes NewsMax - NEWSMAX! - as “right-leaning,” when NewsMax is full-on Nazi batshit crazy.
I'm getting more progressive without even trying! Suck it tankies!
This is happening in the US too. It’s just another way to try and divide people up…label and then demonize them. The fascist playbook.
I get it. I consider myself a conservative liberal meaning I have progressive values but I have some conservative views. Now I’m considered radically left.
Fun fact: this is called the Overton Window. Alberta's has been simultaneously shifting rightward and shrinking since 2015 ...
Yep. I witnessed some of this window movement in the media when a bothsideism approach in a News show had evidence-starved anti-vaccine advocates debating vaccine experts in a soundbite format that did not allow the full weight of scientific evidence to be shared. X is another window mover.
In other words: they are following the Fox model of platforming the rational scientific person and the crazy irrational loon and giving them equal weight which follows the Asimov complaint: “my confident pie-in-the-sky ignorance is just as good as your studied empirical evidence”
Thank you for bringing this up. They are trying to fit us into an American reference frame (values) because they like how compliant Americans are. We are not Americans, do not share all their values, and don't fit into the same reference frame. /2
2. It doesn't help that the World Values Survey is so paywalled that my library can't even find it. I will keep trying though. End
Same experience for me in Italy...
Americans who just want children to live have experienced being called extremists and even terrorists for years. It’s an emotional and mental rollercoaster—but the center never changes and we get to define ourselves even in the face of dishonesty
I haven't really changed my politics at all, but certainly according to the absolutely crazy nuts here in the USA I'm a 'libtard commie anti-gun nut who exists on money George Soros' pays me. Actually, I'm just an American who isn't a fascist. Huh.
Yep, I’ve always believed that people should be paid a living wage, healthcare is a right, voting should be as easy as possible, college ed should be free, and homelessness shouldn’t exist, to start. That shit hasn’t changed. What I’ve been called for having though views continues to change though.
Call me a leftist. I don’t give a fuck what these fascist nut bags think. I’m autistic. I haven’t given a fuck what pedestrian right wing non thinkers’ bloviating, wrong, selfish opinions are for 45 years. In fact a young conservative tends to be a maladaptive misfit.
MAGA parents: You’re obviously far left. I’m not far left, you guys drank so much koolaid you think normal is far left. You think pointing out lies and wrong doing is far left. You think caring about right vs wrong is far left.
In the US the right has gone so far to the right, if you believe in facts and science you are a pretty far lefty... as they say "reality has a left leaning bias"...
I think there are a lot of Canadians who want to be supported in being successful thru efficient use of taxes, wish others to be successful, and want the world to be a better place in which we can travel or work freely. Focusing our frustration on that goal versus each other, progress would be great
The U.S news media has found a cash cow in aiming the cameras and giving the microphones to the loudest craziest people on both ends of the spectrum and telling the rest of us "See, that is what the other side is like!" Mistrust and misinformation all for a few dollars more. Journalism be damned.
Likewise. In the US, Center/left to radical left or antifa. I have stiffened my positions, but they are the same as before. I appreciate my Northern neighbors. Elbows up.
So true.
So true!
twenty years ago i would revel in telling americans there is no actual right wing in Canadian politics then the Reform Party & Harper totally effed up the Conservatives into MapleMAGA Make Conservatives Progressive Again CPC does not represent Canadian Values .. Pierre can move South if he wants
SAME here in the UK and of course in the USA
Canada following the US STILL, and it's getting ridiculous.
Three things are known knowns: 1) the majority of younger Canadians rely on online sources for news, 2) many of these sources are unregulated as far as providing reliable information, 3) foreign and domestic actors amplify disinformation on these platforms and sources.
Talking the economy and things at the pub, pointing out a few facts, one of them says "you sound like a Liberal." Guess so.
Left-wing does not automatically translate into Baader–Meinhof Gang. In many countries, Left means standing up for human rights. For example, it was the Left that toppled Apartheid. North America is unduly twitchy about the Left. It does not mean communist. Or Terrorist.
Beware the "S" word down south..... *socialist* AAAAAH RUUUNNN!!!
Leftist generally applies to those further on the left and not centre-left.
To differentiate from liberals.
Yeah I think the gaslighting has succeeded in many ways. I think the same has happened to terms like "globalist", "liberal" and "progressive". The thrust of my post was to not generalize a person's multivariate beliefs and views to a single word. Stereotyping is unhelpful.
Very well said!!! I have been called a Radical leftist,woke—called stupid by some family members for watching news on networks RDI/CBC and not getting the facts right. It’s unfortunate this is happening in Canada. Are part of my tax contributions going to politicians that also call me stupid/woke?
That's exactly what happened in the US, producing a dissonance between what one believes and its association with an extreme position. Into that confusion flew propaganda to stoke self-doubt and weaken resolve. As a result, wildly popular programs haven't been enacted, because money can prevent it.
You can call me Canadian though.
Proudly I'm sure! (Agree 100% with what you said above re: the right-wing stereotyping the rest of us, btw.)
The same has happened in the US. When I was a young man, my current views were considered "left-leaning." Now I'm considered a radical leftist. The left keeps compromising as the GOP shifts farther right. A centrist now used to be the far right.
They've been doing this to the Democrats for 50 years. Dems have not changed much from their basic principles for decades -- but the right has gone off the right-wing deep end. Pfft.
Can we start a wave...a return to respectful conversation around ideas? If the disagreement is respectful, enjoy. When the labels, slurs, and slogans come out, starve them of oxygen. Hit the snooze botton emoji.😴😴😴. Silence will extinguish. (Don't then go back and look. The point is silence.)
Respect? OK, I’d very respectfully walk over hot coals before I’d ever vote for the CONservatives or the UCP Clowns in a Canadian or Alberta Election.
Don’t let them demonize the words liberal and leftist. What’s inherently wrong with being generous, open minded, fair minded and empathetic? Next time Say: so? Is it wrong to be a leftist? Why is it wrong? Do you know or are you one of Pavlov’s dogs salivating at the ringing of the bell?
We can have respectful conversations but in the meantime we should clear some things up before hand like non negotiable rights to choose and non negotiable complete vetting of our political candidates. Conservatives don't generally keep their word so let's put some blocks in place before we talk.
