Spectrum of Fallacies

The idea of a one dimensional political spectrum is utterly inaccurate. Contemporary democrats, republicans, and libertarians are not centrist, moderate, center left, or center right. Contemporary democrats support conservatism on economic issues, a mixture of Marxism and neoconservatism in foreign policies and religious issues, cultural Marxism on ethnoracial issues. Republicans and libertarians in practice are not much different except for endorsing more neoconservatism and economic conservatism. None of the above makes them good or somewhere near some imaginary middle. A better term for the major political parties is triple totalitarianism--militarism, robber baronism, plus cultural Marxism. Is it anywhere near as bad as Mao's China, North Korea, the Soviet Union, or Hitler's Germany. No. But soft totalitarianism is not centrism.

Third Wayers subscribe to the faulty idea that if it were not for Republican obstructionism and rotten ideas, democrats would do right things. We saw in 2009 and 2010, when democrats controlled the federal government, that democrats were an ethical disaster (not as bad as Republicans but still a disaster). In case anyone forgot, the main democratic pushes in 2009 and 2010:

1. escalating the quagmire in Afghanistan (apparently so democrats would appear tough).
2. tokenistic financial reforms.
3. reappointing the disastrous Ben Bernanke.
4. not punishing financiers.
5. bailing out financiers for their financial crimes.
6. letting the super rich get away with almost all manner of crimes.
7. austerity: a miniscule stimulus, a fraction of the six percent of GDP required to make up for the shortfall in demand.
8. the "grand bargain," cuts to retirement programs and even more austerity.
9. ever more cultural Marxism.
10. maintaining Bush's policies on civil liberties.
11. globalism.

Sure, the democrats did good things on numerous minor issues, issues where no unethical, powerful interest would make major sacrifices, issues with a fraction of the importance compared to the big issues. But on all the big issues, the democrats did wrong things.

Democrats conveniently forgot most of the things democratic voters thought they were voting for.

Democrats work to redistribute income to the top. President Obama has presided over a massive increase in inequality, worse than some Republican presidents. But democrats do not redistribute to the top in all the ways republicans do. Democrats will not push for massive tax cuts for the rich because doing so would send huge numbers of  democratic voters to third party. Instead, democrats redistribute to the top using subtle and indirect methods:

1. letting the rich and others devoted to rent seeking get away with crimes.
2. maintaining high levels of unemployment, so workers have less bargaining power.
3. tolerating legalized bribery and other forms of legalized corruption.

Some democratic politicians may not even be consciously aware of the consequences of democratic actions. As Democrats pursue pro rich ideas and cash flows in, it becomes easy to regard well-reasoned reforms as "risky" and "dangerous extremism."