The problem is that I don’t respect “conservatives” if they continue to substantially support abusive politicians, organizations, and groups. I don’t care if you’re respectful and not personally bigoted; there’s no excuse for supporting disrespectful and bigoted actions. Unless you admit your sins and agree to not support Nazis anymore, then your sympathy will never be enough.
Just because American conservatives are Nazis now doesn’t mean that all conservatives everywhere are as well. I feel like that word, and fascism, get diluted way too much these days and all it does is increase political polarisation. For example, it scares me the number of Gen Z Aussies that that believe our centre-right conservative party are Nazis and that we’re “one step away” from becoming the US. I mean I don’t like those conservatives, I think they’re fluffheads, but they respect the rule of law and wouldn’t try to overturn an election!
These worries about increasing political polarization seem reasonable on the surface, but political polarization is only a symptom of underlying problems. If you want to worry about polarization itself, the demand must be equally applied to both extremes.
If no shared values and boundaries are agreed to, there’s nothing to stop one party from pushing the window of acceptable ideas to favor their own clan. As one side takes a step forward towards reconciliation, the other can shift the entire conversation in their favor by simply taking a step back. Complaining about the two sides drifting farther apart as a problem in itself only hurts the side less willing to further radicalize themselves.
I don’t know Australian politics, but I do know that most liberal democracies are only a step away from fascism. Some like the UK are already doomed. This is because unchecked capitalism breeds increasing wealth inequality, shrinking wages and opportunities, and causing an increase in people wanting to fundamentally change society in some way. Fascists offer easy answers in the death of liberalism, as many liberal politicians are unable to deliver or even promise substantial change.
The only way to preserve liberal democracy (the rule of law, civil liberties, a social contract) is to protect the working class from capitalism. Even if you think we need capitalism and can never live without it, capitalism causes societal instability by redistributing wealth from workers to the wealthy. Unless the state and workers can limit or reverse this trend, it will destroy the system by making people believe it can never serve them. Liberal democracy is incompatible with unchecked capitalism for this reason.
The problem is that I don’t respect “conservatives” if they continue to substantially support abusive politicians, organizations, and groups. I don’t care if you’re respectful and not personally bigoted; there’s no excuse for supporting disrespectful and bigoted actions. Unless you admit your sins and agree to not support Nazis anymore, then your sympathy will never be enough.
Just because American conservatives are Nazis now doesn’t mean that all conservatives everywhere are as well. I feel like that word, and fascism, get diluted way too much these days and all it does is increase political polarisation. For example, it scares me the number of Gen Z Aussies that that believe our centre-right conservative party are Nazis and that we’re “one step away” from becoming the US. I mean I don’t like those conservatives, I think they’re fluffheads, but they respect the rule of law and wouldn’t try to overturn an election!
These worries about increasing political polarization seem reasonable on the surface, but political polarization is only a symptom of underlying problems. If you want to worry about polarization itself, the demand must be equally applied to both extremes.
If no shared values and boundaries are agreed to, there’s nothing to stop one party from pushing the window of acceptable ideas to favor their own clan. As one side takes a step forward towards reconciliation, the other can shift the entire conversation in their favor by simply taking a step back. Complaining about the two sides drifting farther apart as a problem in itself only hurts the side less willing to further radicalize themselves.
I don’t know Australian politics, but I do know that most liberal democracies are only a step away from fascism. Some like the UK are already doomed. This is because unchecked capitalism breeds increasing wealth inequality, shrinking wages and opportunities, and causing an increase in people wanting to fundamentally change society in some way. Fascists offer easy answers in the death of liberalism, as many liberal politicians are unable to deliver or even promise substantial change.
The only way to preserve liberal democracy (the rule of law, civil liberties, a social contract) is to protect the working class from capitalism. Even if you think we need capitalism and can never live without it, capitalism causes societal instability by redistributing wealth from workers to the wealthy. Unless the state and workers can limit or reverse this trend, it will destroy the system by making people believe it can never serve them. Liberal democracy is incompatible with unchecked capitalism for this reason.