this post was submitted on 15 Aug 2024
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Leaning of political system would be measured in degree of proposed changes. The center shifts, but even without accounting for that, democratic socialism is still not a centrist political system by any measure. Democratic socialism proposes radical changes, as it attempts to dismantle capitalist estabilishment, eradicate class structure and all that. Those changes are touching fundamental aspects of the current system, which make them, by definition, radical. As opposed to centrist position of mantaining the status quo.
I thought you had some sort of insight about democratic socialism being actually a centrist position, and wanted to hear it out, but it seems you're either unwilling or unable to engage with that topic. Suit yourself.
The centrist position isn't to maintain the status quo. If anything, that's just the "normal" conservative stance.
Centrism (as opposed to moderates, liberals, or conservatives) seeks to choose the best options from what is currently politically available. That is, there is a recognition of the fact that progressives/conservatives, liberals/authoritarians, Democrats/Republicans do, by nature, often take extreme positions. Sometimes those are helpful, sometimes harmful. We vote accordingly.
Perhaps we'll manage to increase incidence of rank choice or similar voting structures, so that we can increase the number of parties and the range of expressible opinion. But in the mean time, we're a balancing force that (for example) will typically vote against fascists and against other problematic social dynamics, while voting for policies that further individual freedoms and are collectively good.
This is why you often see centrists (in other nations) playing the role of glue between otherwise disparate parties. Here in the US, it's more difficult currently to foster communication between parties, because the left doesn't see it's own authoritarian bent (nor how closely the ostracism of other ideologies tilts them towards fascism), and the right doesn't see how morally corrupt they have become (where they don't even care that they are following a leader who could lead them into fascism).