Why do you lean left?

[Dave.]

If there's any left leaning users on this site, I'm curious to know why you lean this way. No hatred from me and no I'm not accusing you of any of the actions that have happened recently in America, I'm curious what policies you agree with and why.

 

[Peter Ballons]

I like blue better than red thats why

 

[Syaoran Li]

I'm not left-leaning anymore, but I am liberal and used to vote Dem and it's because the Right generally fucking sucks, especially the social conservatives, the "traditionalist" edgelords who sperg about "hurr durr what r we conserving?" and LARP as an autistic Catholic recolor of the Protestant fundie rednecks of yesteryear, and the neocons who bankrolled said fundie rednecks of yesteryear.

I've jokingly referred to myself as a centrist, but that's mainly because I don't fit in with either right or left or even the center as they currently exist. At most, I'd be a centrist by default but I'd say the proper term would be "politically homeless"

The Yahwehists, neocons, Q Tards, unironic incels, and wignats on the Right are a total embarassment and are just the equally stupid and malevolent but more impotent and less powerful counterpart to the atheists, communists, anarchists, socialists, radfems, femcel dykes, troons, Injun savages, Wiccans, urban bugmen, beardos, dangerhairs, woke punks, and black supremacists on the Left.

I'm not even fond of the center either, to be honest.

 

[starborn427614]

I don't really care what others are doing with their lives so long as it's not hurting anybody, so it's the one that makes the most sense to me. I'm center-left though so I can't really agree with those too far left on a number of issues.

 

[L50LasPak]

Before I gave up on trying to have a recognizable political position altogether, I "leaned" left because it seemed to me, for the most part, being conservative required you to uphold a certain set of values and uphold all of them. This was before the days where having any one random conservative opinion made you an evil Nazi who wants to repeal abortion. Even if you had say, 2/3rds conservative opinions, actual conservatives still wouldn't give you the time of day because you had to really tow the line if you wanted to fit in.

This dynamic led a lot of people (including myself) to identify as liberal or left-leaning. I don't think a lot of people have really re-examined that stance, and for a lot of younger people like millenials you're bound to find something you disagree with in the oldschool conservative rhetoric that is still going to turn you off all of these years later.

 

[Subtle]

I don't just lean left, I am a socialist. My reasons are simple. Neo-Liberalism is an autistic system that benefits the few through the sweat of the many. Recent events such as COVID-19 has simply exacerbated the growing divide between the ultra-rich and everyone else. Whole cities have become inhospitable or too expensive to live from policies going as far back as Reaganomics, with highly educated people having to two or three jobs just to survive. It's an immoral, unjust and impractical state of affairs that's vindicated only by lib-cucks or the highly privileged whose biggest issues usually revolve around not being able to date Alexa.

 

[Kenya Jones]

If there's any left leaning users on this site, I'm curious to know why you lean this way. No hatred from me and no I'm not accusing you of any of the actions that have happened recently in America, I'm curious what policies you agree with and why.

All of them left when the IP leaks happened.
Posts in the lolcow.farms thread on KF almost 3 years ago.

 

[Reverend]

The left is full of insane people who want the gov't to run everything for them because they can't think for themselves.

The right is full of insane people who want Lord God Jesus to run everything for them because they can't think for themselves.

Introspection is lost on fanatics.

 

[Dave.]

I don't just lean left, I am a socialist. My reasons are simple. Neo-Liberalism is an autistic system that benefits the few through the sweat of the many. Recent events such as COVID-19 has simply exacerbated the growing divide between the ultra-rich and everyone else. Whole cities have become inhospitable or too expensive to live from policies going as far back as Reaganomics, with highly educated people having to two or three jobs just to survive. It's an immoral, unjust and impractical state of affairs that's vindicated only by lib-cucks or the highly privileged whose biggest issues usually revolve around not being able to date Alexa.

The concern I have with Socialism is how do you address the big elephant in the room being 'human behavior'? Humans naturally want to accrue as much resources as possible and more and they hunt for incentives that will benefit them and them alone. Do you try to rewire human nature? Because I don't know if that's possible unless you're talking the eastern countries which base themselves on religion like Confucianism (and even then).

 

[The Last Stand]

To add what @Syaoran Li said:

Remember when the Religious Right took over every aspect of life in the 70s and 80s? The 90s were a counterculture to that control. Not even "left-leaning" per se, just people were tired of being told what and how to act.

Bush mainly inspired me that the GOP were war-mongering criminals and the DNC were sane. Not to mention that many right-leaning people are older White people where "conservatism" meant "keep other races at a distance."

Having said that, the Left now is damn near unrecognizable from the 2000s. Corporate bootlicking, social justice, de facto segregation of race and sex, political censorship, outright cancel culture dictating who is "good" or "evil."

I considered myself left-leaning as a counterculture AND equal opportunities for all. My principles still remain more or less the same, but they don't universally fit in one box anymore.

So what AM I?

 

[Rorschach Test]

I identify with the left, far outside of the spectrum acceptable within US politics. I hold elected Democrats in as much (if not more) contempt than Republicans.

The primary “logical” reason I identify with the left is because capitalism is an insanely bad system. It’s sending us into climate catastrophe, it’s insanely wasteful, and it has most people squandering their talents working 40-hour weeks to make some rich asshole even richer. The “emotional” reason is probably a deep-seeded, visceral dislike of unfairness. Injustice pisses me off.

I think everyone has a mix of “logical” and “emotional” reasons for their political leanings. We may not always have a comprehensive understanding of what the major reasons are, but we can probably make a decent guess.

 

[Dave.]

To add what @Syaoran Li said:

Remember when the Religious Right took over every aspect of life in the 70s and 80s? The 90s were a counterculture to that control. Not even "left-leaning" per se, just people were tired of being told what and how to act.

Bush mainly inspired me that the GOP were war-mongering criminals and the DNC were sane. Not to mention that many right-leaning people are older White people where "conservatism" meant "keep other races at a distance."

Having said that, the Left now is damn near unrecognizable from the 2000s. Corporate bootlicking, social justice, de facto segregation of race and sex, political censorship, outright cancel culture dictating who is "good" or "evil."

I considered myself left-leaning as a counterculture AND equal opportunities for all. My principles still remain more or less the same, but they don't universally fit in one box anymore.

So what AM I?

One thing I find interesting is the left of yesterday is the right of today. Right leaning people (at least the ones on YouTube) are equal opportunity and equity and anti-censorship and the far left of today are pro-censorship and more equality for others. It's odd how people throw away principles of old and instead adopt the more 'popular'. Adaptive politics, is that a real term?

 

[The Last Stand]

One thing I find interesting is the left of yesterday is the right of today. Right leaning people (at least the ones on YouTube) are equal opportunity and equity and anti-censorship and the far left of today are pro-censorship and more equality for others. It's odd how people throw away principles of old and instead adopt the more 'popular'. Adaptive politics, is that a real term?

Here's another reason that makes more sense. I wanted to make friends and make a tangible difference. So I just went along with it.

 

[Subtle]

The concern I have with Socialism is how do you address the big elephant in the room being 'human behavior'? Humans naturally want to accrue as much resources as possible and more and they hunt for incentives that will benefit them and them alone. Do you try to rewire human nature? Because I don't know if that's possible unless you're talking the eastern countries which base themselves on religion like Confucianism (and even then).

The entire shtick of market-oriented policies is that they pre-suppose what human nature is and incentivize certain behaviors (e.g. cupidity.) to the detriment of other human traits. I don't believe everyone is predisposed to accumulating wealth, nor that anyone has to "re-wire" their so-called "human nature" considering that a lot of their behavior is socially conditioned, not innate.

 

[OfficerBagget]

Weve gotten to a point where anyone considered centrist is considered left leaning.

I'm all for guns right.
And I'm all for pro choice.
I'm open for gays and trannies to go through legally binding marriage.
And I'm open for the right of anyone to express their opinion about it.

Theres a picture painted about the left as hyper screeching and canceling but when it comes to policy they can be more willing to make compromises when you break down each individual on the left.

 

[Sperghetti]

One thing I find interesting is the left of yesterday is the right of today. Right leaning people (at least the ones on YouTube) are equal opportunity and equity and anti-censorship and the far left of today are pro-censorship and more equality for others. It's odd how people throw away principles of old and instead adopt the more 'popular'. Adaptive politics, is that a real term?

It’s lead me to realize that many people didn’t sincerely hold those principles in the first place, at least not in any real capacity. They claimed to hold them, but in reality, they weren’t actually concerned about the meaning of those principles as much as they were concerned about being seen as “a good person” to others. When the criteria for “good person” changed, so did their principles.

 

[Clown Baby]

Because gays should be allowed to get married and women should be allowed to have abortions. But I'm also pro-gun, against government handouts for insert oppressive reason, and think about 3/4 of trans people are just mentally ill. People on both sides would say I'm a "fence sitter," which really means I'm someone who can think for myself.

 

[Shield Breaker]

I don't know what I am anymore. I used to be able to say I was a southern democrat, and it was clear: socially conservative on a personal level, but liberal on an economical and interpersonal level. Now I'm told I am a right-wing chud because I think the left has shit the bed. They've become what we hated back in the 90s: pro-war, pro-corporations, and pro-censorship. I'm also a bigot because the idea of a huge dude sharing the bathroom with me or my daughter freaks me out.

women should be allowed to have abortions

Abortion is like a microcosm of the modern left. It used to be understood you supported the right to do it, but it was a necessary evil, so to speak. Now, they're fucking giddy about doing it.

 

[LargeChoonger]

I don't know. It just kind of hangs that way when it's flaccid and I can't do anything about it

 

[The Last Stand]

I was considered anti-gun for a time. That failed Texas church shooting some time ago changed my mind.