To think all this left wing vs right wing stuff is escalating?

[rubydoobydoo]

I've always been of the opinion that I don't care about a person's politics, all I care is if they're a twat or not. I've always had non-twatty friends with various political leanings which has never been an issue but recently things seem to have changed and you either have to be one or the other - and it's turning previously non-twatty people into compete twats!

I don't identify as either, but recently it suddenly seems to be causing massive divisions with lots of people when it just never came up previously!

Has it always been like this and I've been living in a world of my own until now? It's like the right wing people think all left wing people are one block who think exactly the same about everything and vice versa and I just don't get it?

I'm probably not articulating well here but I've seen so many arguments lately that I'm sure never would have happened about ten years ago and society seems to be getting so much more divisive.

Two things. I think we are more divided than we have been in a long time. I dont think we have come close to working though the Brexit result which seriously divided us into two camps with very different views on the world and either side has come close to compromising

Secondly social media gives a platform and a voice - and an authority - to people with very strong and divisive views which gives the impression that they have more authority and credibility than they actually have

Finally we have had a generation of politicians who do the opposite of bringing people together. The reason we have a generation of populist politicians like Trump and Johnson is because we collectively vote for them and spurn the middle ground. Corbyn in very different policy terms was a dramatic move away from consensus

The BBC are as left as you get.

How far right of a direction do you need to be coming from to think that the BBC is left wing

It's like on every single issue, (from statues to Brexit, trans rights to lockdown) there is a "right wing position" and a "left wing position". And you don't need to think for yourself - just go with whatever position your side is on and angrily defend it.
No nuance.

So if you think Churchill was anything less than a hero in every way, then you are a disgusting unpatriotic hater of Britain.
If you think Churchill was not a complete villain then you also think black lives don't matter.
If you voted leave then you are a knuckle dragging racist.
If you voted Remain you hate Britain, secretly despite the working class, and are a member of the smug elite.
etc etc....

I think SM also means that many people who previously would not have engaged with politics are now doing so in a very surface level way that doesn’t actually involve much research or critical thinking.

These are the type of person who 10yrs who wouldn’t have had a political opinion at all because they didn’t follow current affairs, read history or newspapers etc. Now they can see an inaccurate or pithy meme on Facebook and repost it without a second thought. They can follow what everyone else is thinking with minimal effort and evaluation. I don’t mean this as an insult to those people or to imply that they shouldn’t be able to engage in politics and in many ways it’s a good thing that people are now able to engage with politics easily but I think it does he reduce level of understanding and thought behind a lot of social media reactions

I think it started with Brexit which was such a massive, equal split that the country seems to have been polarised ever since.

I agree though, there seems to be a lot more strong opinions and rows about it lately. When it comes to politics I can quite happily remain friends with someone even if I don't support their opinions. As much as I hate the tories I can see that there are elements within their policies that would appeal to certain people I know and that's their choice to make.

However I think what you're referring to recently is the BLM protests which have seen massive rows and clashes both online and in the protests. I can totally see why people have to be on one side or the other with this. You can't be 'just a little bit racist' you either support the movement and understand why it's happening or you dont. I have fallen out with close friends over it because when it comes down to racism and human rights I truly believe we all should take a stand.

YANBU. There's nothing more annoying than saying you think Boris is completely and utterly useless, to be met with "But Corbyn!" when I didn't vote for either of them!

Yup, it's escalating very quickly. Almost like the media have been told to egg everyone on, like they want to start a war . It's been very noticeable and blatant.

You're not wrong. It seems you can only be a far right fascist or a woke over-woke liberal leftie. There are plenty of people in the middle or just either side of that but their views aren't listened to because they're not extreme enough and don't meet any political, social or media agenda.

@garino

Yup, it's escalating very quickly. Almost like the media have been told to egg everyone on, like they want to start a war . It's been very noticeable and blatant.

Yes because they are selling attention and when you are angry you pay a lot of attention.

@sst1234

There was always a moderate and extreme right wing. Most people would just laugh at the extreme right and ridicule them, still true today. There was a moderate left but now an extreme/hard left has sprung up and they are hijacking every cause they can, BLM for instance. This hard left is aggressive, and hides behind causes so they can’t be called out. If they are called out for being hard left, they will make it about one of those causes and accuse you of berating feminism or some other form of equality. This prevalence of the extreme left is doing the most damage to equality and society, that will be seen in decades to come.

This

The fact a thread about how most people are centrist has been taken over by those on the right wittering nonsense about the left being extremists really says it all.

How dare people want everyone to have a fair chance in life, eh?

🙄

The BBC are as left as you get. They should be defunded

If the BBC in general were embodied in a person it would be Ken Clark!
Somewhere on the centre right.

BBC News is firmly Conservative supporting. I recall when Theresa May was looking for a press secretary to replace Lizzie Louden every single person shortlisted was a BBC news person. In addition Robinson and Paxman are conservatives and Norman Smith never bothered to hide his dislike of Corbyn on many occasions. It shouldnt matter if they are doing their job properly though the current crop seem to find it harder to disguise than in previous years. Like I said it shouldn't matter but please spare me the idea that the BBC still aren't right ing enough for you

Stereotypes.

The prevailing political climate would see all of us being reduced to rigid stereotypes and simply doesn't allow for nuances or for people who might agree with the Conservative view on one subject but the Labour view on another subject, without screaming insults at them.

I suspect quite a lot of people felt politically homeless at the last general election and in the end, had to pick the issues, or possibly even two issues, that were the most important to them - while sacrificing the rest. That's never a comfortable position to have to take but in many cases, there was little alternative and that feeling of being politically homeless hasn't receded.

In any case, screaming at people for being class traitors or evil scum or...well, whatever the latest insult is, doesn't exactly inspire people to open their minds, listen and engage.

@bananaontoast1

The fact a thread about how most people are centrist has been taken over by those on the right wittering nonsense about the left being extremists really says it all.

How dare people want everyone to have a fair chance in life, eh?

🙄

That is possibly part of the problem {smile}. We tend to think that we are the moderates and everyone else are extremists!!

@sedlescombe

It’s a shame that many of those who lean to the right are unable to see that those on the left aren’t all rabid protestors...

Unfortunately it’s become trendy to be hateful nowadays, a trend made legitimate by Brexit.

(This thread will now just become this fight. Everyone else will slope off. )

I was thinking much the same, Kojolo. It's a pity. It started off as a promising thread with some much-needed level-headed views from the centre who are sick of the circus.

@BigBadVoodooHat

The madness of crowds is fantastic o finished it in two days very well written and so relevant

There’s no fight - I was merely pointing out that this thread had, by page 1, become the usual “lefties are all terrorists!” crap that is so prevalent all over the internet.

However, as that’s apparently good and acceptable and anyone pointing it out is stoking for a fight, I’ll just piss off back to my day.

Have fun, girls.

Personally I would put the BBC in the left wing catergory. Probably a 5 on my scale below.
From Right to Left
1 - Gerald Batten / Farage ( Far Right)
2 Michael Portillo (Right wing)
3 Ken Clarke - (Centre Right)
4 Tony Blair (Centre)
5 Andy Burnham (Centre Left)
6 Kier Starmer ( Left)
7 Jeremy Corbyn (Far Left)

There was always a moderate and extreme right wing. Most people would just laugh at the extreme right and ridicule them, still true today.
There was a moderate left but now an extreme/hard left has sprung up and they are hijacking every cause they can, BLM for instance. This hard left is aggressive, and hides behind causes so they can’t be called out. If they are called out for being hard left, they will make it about one of those causes and accuse you of berating feminism or some other form of equality. This prevalence of the extreme left is doing the most damage to equality and society, that will be seen in decades to come.

I agree and the real concern is that failure to capitulate 100% to the hard left agenda will have you branded a nazi so people who hold moderate views will end up being pushed to the right because the far right, unlike the far left, are not trying to silence and deplatform people with opposing views. I've also noticed antisemitism creeping into the agenda of almost every social justice cause which should be a concern for us all.

There’s no fight - I was merely pointing out that this thread had, by page 1, become the usual “lefties are all terrorists!” crap that is so prevalent all over the internet.

It really had not

But you've proven the OP's point very neatly.

[quote Warsawa31]@BigBadVoodooHat

The madness of crowds is fantastic o finished it in two days very well written and so relevant[/quote]
Thanks @Warsawa31, looking forward to reading it

It's mostly a social media thing (including MN). Some of the Cummings threads on here among others, were deranged. I don't know anyone who thinks like that in real life or if they do, they don't express it in social situations.

I came off FB and Twitter years ago so don't get into any on-line 'debates' or arguments with friends.

It’s an awful issue that’s paralysing society at the moment. Part of the problem is that nothing unites us any more. Remember when we only had 4 TV channels, so people would all watch the same programmes, and in doing so would see a healthy debate and different points of view? And then all discuss it together the next day. Now, we have a million different TV channels, so Bob sits there watching car programmes every night whilst berating the “lefty” BBC and avoiding any kind of news programme.

Then he gets his news from his mates on Twitter/Reddit/FB, blocks anyone who disagrees with him and only chats online with people who share his views.

Honestly, it’s terrifying for future generations. It also fuels issues such as terrorism.

I have genuinely been thinking about setting up an educational charity which goes into schools to teach kids about evaluating primary and secondary sources of information and teaches them to debate and think about others’ point of view. Anyone with me?!