• @Grass@sh.itjust.works
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    24 months ago

    By my understanding, radical left for Americans and also slightly less so but also Canadians is kinda center right for the rest of the world. I’ve also heard people start calling politicians radical when they bait and switch even though that’s not really how that word works.

    • KillingTimeItself
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      64 months ago

      radical right/far right, is pushing neo nazi territory. Radical left/far left, is people who like socialism and communism.

      • @Soggy@lemmy.world
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        -14 months ago

        “Radical” just means “outside the status quo”. “Extremist” is more the term you want there.

        • The Snark Urge
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          54 months ago

          Radical has a customary meaning in this context - someone calling for systemic change

          • @Soggy@lemmy.world
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            34 months ago

            That is a better way of putting it, thanks. Not just outside the status quo but pushing to change it. I still think it carries a milder connotation than neo-Nazis or Anarchists and different language should be used for the fringe than just further-than-mainstream politics.

            • The Snark Urge
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              34 months ago

              I don’t know many honest people for whom the current system is working great, so I’d warrant that not being some kind of radical might be the more extreme position

              • @Soggy@lemmy.world
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                24 months ago

                You wouldn’t be the first to float some form of “centrism is an extreme position” and I can’t say I disagree.

        • KillingTimeItself
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          24 months ago

          if we’re talking extremists we’re talking our boy the unambomber, and uh, the people that bombed abortion clinics, maybe.

          I dont actually have a good second handle for extremists on the right lol. I guess hate criming nazis? That kind of shit.

            • KillingTimeItself
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              14 months ago

              i was thinking explicit actions, more so than vague terms, kind of defeats the whole point of describing “radical right/left wing” if we simply go back to using another vague term doesnt it?