Reply #51: A tricky one, this. [View All]

[Taxloss]

In terms of core left-wing principles, such as redistribution of wealth, state ownership, free-market disciplining, taxation of the rich etc., I would consider myself hardline left in DU terms, far to the left of many if not most posters here. However, DU is not a competition to see who is the most classically left-wing, and there are certain areas that appear to be accepted as orthodoxy by the majority of DUers, if not the site admin. In these terms, I am a moderate. For instance, I reject MIHOP and LIHOP - this tends to be enough to be called a freeper nowadays, for some reason. Similarly, some people who the consensus has annointed are considered beyond criticism, so my personal profound dislike for George Galloway, for instance, does not go down well. Again, this is no a quick way to make friends.

Maybe in some of these cases it is a silent majority against a shrill minority, but it is very uncomfortable to be attacked as a freeper simply for disagreeing with a point of doctrine. I do not find it difficult to accept that many intelligent people on the left hold markedly different views to me, although my time at DU has been a learning curve in how to phrase responses so as to not cause offence. I also do not see the bulk of the right as a satanic horde hell-bent on destruction. It contains many intelligent and humane individuals. They just happen to be very, very wrong.

I can understand that some people treat DU as a sanctuary away from the deluge of idiocy that presently swamps American civil society, and this might make them touchy about being confronted with differing opinions. But to build a return of the left in America, these things must be recognised, confronted and debated. Shouting "troll" and hammering the alert button whenever you see something you don't agree with is not a consensus-building tactic, it is a route to marginalisation.

That's my $0.02, anyway.