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submitted 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) by PM_ME_VINTAGE_30S@lemmy.sdf.org to c/goodoffmychest@lemmy.world

The only thing that centrists really stand for is decorum. Anything is permissible as long as it is done legally in "norm-respecting" ways within the framework of liberal democracy.

So when a centrist is rude to you, they are telegraphing the fact that they don't see you as human. Humans deserve decorum, in fact it's all they deserve in the establishment centrist view, so you can infer that a rude centrist has decided you are no longer human.

So frankly if I ever blow up at you on Lemmy, this is probably why, because I have less than zero patience for rudeness from people whose literally only virtue is decorum. If you treat me like a person, then we can get along. Posting this so I have something to link to next time if happens 😆

Edit: I tell people politely but explicitly when they're being rude and give them a chance to correct their course...but if they double down on being rude, then I gotta quintuple down on being exponentially more rude because that's the only language they'll listen to.

Furthermore, this also doesn't apply if you have literally any more principles than maintaining decorum.

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[-] MyBrainHurts@piefed.ca 7 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

This is utter ridiculousness on so very many levels.

Edit: for politeness' sake...

A) it's a nonsensical caricature of centrists.

B) Someone being rude to you does not mean they think you are less than human, it generally means you aren't worth being polite to which is very different.

C) just, ugh.

[-] PM_ME_VINTAGE_30S@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 3 days ago
[-] MyBrainHurts@piefed.ca 1 points 3 days ago

Ha, just edited, but to repost:

A) it’s a nonsensical caricature of centrists.

B) Someone being rude to you does not mean they think you are less than human, it generally means you aren’t worth being polite to which is very different.

C) just, ugh.

[-] PM_ME_VINTAGE_30S@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

A) it’s a nonsensical caricature of centrists.

It's really not. Centrists seem to have no serious desire to change the status quo, only the people who run them and the things they say. For example, centrists usually don't oppose ICE deportations, e.g. all the ones done under the Bush and Obama and Biden admins; they simply oppose the openness and brashness of how they're being done.

Like this is just what every centrist I have ever encountered or read has said to me in many more words. Sorry that I've been paying attention I guess 🤷

B) Someone being rude to you does not mean they think you are less than human, it generally means you aren’t worth being polite to which is very different.

It's not just someone being rude; it's someone whose only principle in politics is that anything is permissible if it is done with decorum. Then, coupled with the occasion that said person is being rude, I can infer that they think of me as less than human.

Put simply: centrists only view humans as pawns in the perfect game of liberal democracy. Humans have no other birthright; otherwise, centrists would be fighting for a better system.

C) just, ugh.

Same to heck

[-] MyBrainHurts@piefed.ca 5 points 3 days ago

It’s really not. Centrists seem to have no serious desire to change the status quo, only the people who run them and the things they say. For example, centrists usually don’t oppose ICE deportations, e.g. all the ones done under the Bush and Obama and Biden admins; they simply oppose the openness and brashness of how they’re being done.

This is just you disagreeing with their positions and saying that means their only value is decorum! That's utterly silly.

It'd be like saying "Lefties only care about minorities etc so if you are white, you can infer a Leftie thinks you are less than human.

[-] PM_ME_VINTAGE_30S@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 3 days ago

This is just you disagreeing with their positions and saying that means their only value is decorum!

I demonstrated for one particular position that it boils down to standing only for decorum. I.e. the only thing that makes centrists complain about the Trump administration's ICE deportations is the lack of decorum. I merely implied before, but now I'm spelling out explicitly: if you pay attention to all the things centrists get upset about, it very quickly becomes apparent that all the arguments devolve into an objection about decorum.

It'd be like saying "Lefties only care about minorities etc so if you are white, you can infer a Leftie thinks you are less than human.

You'd need to add that the Leftie is being rude to you for this metaphor to track.

In which case, it's still not equivalent.

  1. You can choose to benefit from white privilege if you pass as white, but you ultimately don't choose to be white. In contrast, you can choose not to be rude or a centrist.
  2. Left-wing ideas and right-wing ideas are simply not equivalent in correctness or utility. We don't give Flat-Earthers the same platform as round-Earthers because they are obviously wrong. And we don't compromise with the Flat-Earthers when we design engineering artifacts that depend on the shape of the planet because they are obviously wrong. So why on Earth am I expected to compromise with right-wingers on the most important engineering artifact in all of history: human society? The difference here is: capitalists now believe that the round-Earth model is useful, so round-Earth ideas are (correctly!) featured in our media. Similarly, right-wing (including centrist) ideas are useful for capitalists, which is why all capitalist media invariably pushes right-wing and centrist ideas as equivalent to left-wing ones. (Actually, they don't even give actual anti-capitalists a platform, so really they give right-wing ideas more credence than left-wing ideas.)
[-] MyBrainHurts@piefed.ca 5 points 3 days ago

Yeah, this is just nonsense.

You've decided that you dislike centrism and thus it can only stand for decorum and then built a weird theory around this bizzare perception.

If you really chalk going through due process, respecting asylum laws and not deporting innocent, possibly American people to El Salvador as "decorum" that says more about you and your lack of understanding than it does about centrism.

This isn't going to be an interesting or enlightening discussion. Whether you feel that means I think you're less than human, well that's up to you.

[-] PM_ME_VINTAGE_30S@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

If you really chalk going through due process, respecting asylum laws and not deporting innocent, possibly American people to El Salvador as "decorum" that says more about you and your lack of understanding than it does about centrism.

Maybe it does. Because I don't just oppose American citizens being deported or possibly sent to El Salvadorean torture prisons (which, as an American citizen, I absolutely do oppose), but I equally oppose anyone being deported or possibly sent to El Salvadorean torture prisons, regardless of citizenship status. In short: Americans are simply not more or less deserving of rights than migrants in my view.

I actually do think this is related to decorum. Because my issue isn't who is being deported or the manner of deportations; it's deportations as a systemic practice. Even if we follow all the existing procedures surrounding deportations, even if we change the laws to be more humane, even if we deport people in a way that respects the Constitution, even if we use the softest kiddy gloves and nicest words when people are deported, deporting people is bad and therefore should not be done.

And yeah I simply have absolutely zero respect for or interest in following the law. I literally do not care what asylum laws say, we should just do the right thing above and beyond the law, namely ending deportations and making it easy for migrants to get documents, and ideally changing society so documents are simply not needed. And if I was put into power by some freak accident, I would 1000% be willing to break the law and do illegal stuff as a politician to right the situation as fast as possible. The norms are simply unimportant.

Whether you feel that means I think you're less than human, well that's up to you.

If it means anything, you haven't been rude to me, and you seem to have actual principles based on your recent posts, so the inference in my post doesn't apply. If you consider yourself a centrist, I think you're selling yourself short.

[-] MyBrainHurts@piefed.ca 1 points 3 days ago

Because I don’t just oppose American citizens being deported or possibly sent to El Salvadorean torture prisons (which, as an American citizen, I absolutely do oppose), but I equally oppose anyone being deported or possibly sent to El Salvadorean torture prisons, regardless of citizenship status.

Okay, so surely you can see how people can disagree with this while having more values than decorum? Right?

[-] PM_ME_VINTAGE_30S@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 3 days ago

Honestly, not really, no. Like if one disagrees with this now but not back before Trump (and still maintains that it was justified back then, i.e. I'm not including the case where someone's opinion on pre-Trump deportations has been changed because of Trump-era deportations) then yeah, it's about the "neatness" of the process and not the existence of the deportation process itself.

[-] MyBrainHurts@piefed.ca 1 points 3 days ago

Again, you're confusing due process and asylum laws with "neatness" or "politeness."

To put it another way, we are probably both against rape and okay with putting rapists in jail. But, if police started jailing anyone they thought looked a little rapey, and those jailed had no due process, I would hope we would both be against that. Not because it wasn't neat or polite but because that is a fundamentally dangerous thing for a state to do.

I think a country should be able to control its borders, thus you need a mechanism to remove people, which is deportation.

However, due process is essential (whole asylum laws are required to meet international law + treaty/moral obligation) and without it, it's super dangerous.

This isn't about neatness or politeness, it's about a fundamental and essential check on state power.

[-] PM_ME_VINTAGE_30S@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

I think a country should be able to control its borders, thus you need a mechanism to remove people, which is deportation.

I don't. Countries literally should not exist. I oppose deportations however they are being conducted. That's kinda my point: from my perspective, you're practically with the right wingers on this issue, because some people ultimately get deported.

[-] MyBrainHurts@piefed.ca 1 points 2 days ago

I don’t. Countries literally should not exist. I oppose deportations however they are being conducted.

That's fine, oppose deportations etc but you're completely missing the point, which is that it's not about politeness or decorum, there is something fundamentally different about the lack of due process.

To put it very bluntly, did you fail to understand the difference between jailing rapists after due process versus jailing anyone whom any police officer thinks is a rapist? Or is one just an impolite version of the other?

this post was submitted on 22 Oct 2025
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