Quote:
Originally Posted by Griff
If someone really is a "consensus" liberal or conservative they are ending up in the same place out of necessity. To claim that one's own position is more centrist is natural and wrong-headed. It means we're pretending the other side is all extremists therefor we don't have to reach consensus with them. It also means we probably don't spend much time listening to the other parties moderates about what their values are.
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I disagree
Consensus means commonly held. I base it on public opinion, widely accepted policies and practices, etc.
There is a commonly held position, i.e. consensus, that a woman should have the right to chose, with limited exceptions. An extreme position is to deny those rights under any circumstances. Or, the current Republican candidates' focus on Sharia law as a threat to the US is not based on any evidence that such a threat exists.
A system of progressive taxation is the consensus system because it has been widely accepted as the "fairest" system since the income tax was first introduced 75+ years ago and is widely accepted in every industrial nation in the world. A flat tax system is extreme.
But, I dont characterize the two extremes in the same manner. The first is extremely intolerant of the rights of others. The second is just an extreme departure from current policies and practices.