Correct meaning that we would prefer the outcomes of their policy suggestions to the outcomes of other policies, or I guess generically that their values are an effective mechanism for generating good policies.
Traditional as in not the radical left or any post-neocon positions. Socialism. Approximately the position of the leftmost of the two biggest political parties in a typical western-european country.
In the typical Western-European country, the leftmost of the two parties has abandoned Socialism and instead espouses the politics of Social Democracy or the Third Way.
I downvoted you because I mostly agree—depending on how broadly you mean broadly. I suspect this is a not uncommon position here, and I would not even be surprised if it were a plurality position.
That’s fine. In some recent threads I’ve taken what I felt was a mainstream if leftist position, written (IMO) reasonable, positive arguments—and been downvoted for it, to the extent that I’m entertaining the hypothesis that LW is full of libertarians who are strongly opposed to such views. Confirming that out one way or the other is useful information.
I also have the general impression that in the past few months there has been an uptick of uncharitable tinman-attacks on progressivism by libertarians in the LW comment threads. Curiously, there seems to be less overt hostility between reactionaries and progressives, even though they’re much further apart than libertarians and progressives (although this might be because the more hostile Nrx were more likely to exit after the creation of Moreright).
I take the downvotes Imm is getting for (informative, clear, concise) answers to requests for clarification—and the number of downvotes his original perhaps-contrarian statement is getting (a larger fraction than any of the others I checked) -- as evidence that, in accordance with Imm’s hypothesis, there are people on LW who regard holding left-wing views as an offence that requires punishment.
(I dare say there are people who feel the same way on the other side, but I haven’t seen any sign that they engage in the same sort of punitive downvoting.)
[EDITED to add: I checked some more top-level comments here, and found a few more with a larger fraction of downvotes than Imm’s, but not many. Those others weren’t obviously political.]
[Please read the OP before voting. Special voting rules apply.]
Politically, the traditional left is broadly correct.
Correct meaning what? I’m interpreting “the traditional left” as a value system instead of a set of statements about the world.
Correct meaning that we would prefer the outcomes of their policy suggestions to the outcomes of other policies, or I guess generically that their values are an effective mechanism for generating good policies.
“Traditional” left meaning what? Communism? Socialism? Democrats?
Traditional as in not the radical left or any post-neocon positions. Socialism. Approximately the position of the leftmost of the two biggest political parties in a typical western-european country.
In the typical Western-European country, the leftmost of the two parties has abandoned Socialism and instead espouses the politics of Social Democracy or the Third Way.
The Old Left of labor unionism? The New Left of student activism?
I downvoted you because I mostly agree—depending on how broadly you mean broadly. I suspect this is a not uncommon position here, and I would not even be surprised if it were a plurality position.
That’s fine. In some recent threads I’ve taken what I felt was a mainstream if leftist position, written (IMO) reasonable, positive arguments—and been downvoted for it, to the extent that I’m entertaining the hypothesis that LW is full of libertarians who are strongly opposed to such views. Confirming that out one way or the other is useful information.
I also have the general impression that in the past few months there has been an uptick of uncharitable tinman-attacks on progressivism by libertarians in the LW comment threads. Curiously, there seems to be less overt hostility between reactionaries and progressives, even though they’re much further apart than libertarians and progressives (although this might be because the more hostile Nrx were more likely to exit after the creation of Moreright).
I’ve had the same feeling. I suspect there are loud reactionary and libertarian minorities and a large number of liberal quiet people
I take the downvotes Imm is getting for (informative, clear, concise) answers to requests for clarification—and the number of downvotes his original perhaps-contrarian statement is getting (a larger fraction than any of the others I checked) -- as evidence that, in accordance with Imm’s hypothesis, there are people on LW who regard holding left-wing views as an offence that requires punishment.
(I dare say there are people who feel the same way on the other side, but I haven’t seen any sign that they engage in the same sort of punitive downvoting.)
[EDITED to add: I checked some more top-level comments here, and found a few more with a larger fraction of downvotes than Imm’s, but not many. Those others weren’t obviously political.]