Looking for an update about Mr. Sklansky's new book, I noticed the Publisher's Note by Mr. Malmuth. I believe Mr. Malmuth unknowingly states the problem.

"... we have never been so evenly divided with such hateful rhetoric since the years leading up to the Civil War of the 1860s... any rational observer has to see that the Left and Right in America are screaming the most vile accusations at each other all the time. We are fully polarized -- if you accept one idea that sounds like it belongs to either the blue or the red, you are assumed -- nay, required -- to espouse the entire rest of the package, even though there is no reason why supporting the war against terrorism should imply you're in favor of banning all abortions and against restricting the availability of firearms; no reason why being in favor of keeping government-imposed limits on the free market should imply you also are in favor of giving legal status to homosexual couples and against building nuclear reactors. These issues are not remotely related, and yet if you hold any of one group's views, you are hated by the other group as if you believed them all; and if you hold most of one group's views, but not all, you are treated as if you were a traitor for deviating even slightly from the party line." - excerpt from the afterward of "Empire" by Orson Scott Card

It's not that the "liberal point of view has dominated". Or that "being more welcoming to conservative posters is exactly what this forum needs." The problem is accepting that these cookie-cutter "conservatives" and "liberals" are legitimate sources of informed opinion. Spouting the party line and the latest talking points is just drivel. Or worse, being so convinced of their views and policies that they are sure anyone who opposes them must either be stupid and deceived or have some ulterior motive. In other words fanaticism.

The extremists on both the left and the right are bringing us closer to another civil war. Meanwhile the majority in the middle are more interested in when the latest electronic gadget will be available. Or what the latest Kardashian drama is. SMH. We deserve everything that will happen to us.

No

lol a member of the alt-right talking about the silent middle.

Christ.

LMAO. I am a dark-skinned man of cuban descent.

Was referring to Mason.

That was his article, no?

Ah.. a case of TLDR. The quoted text is clearly attributed as an excerpt from the afterword of a novel by Orson Scott Card. If you're speaking about the article I alluded to.. take a bother and read it before forming an opinion. Oh wait, that might break the cookie cutter.

.

I think he makes a lot of really good points.

They aren't the silent middle. They are politically apathetic. People in the center are as repulsive to the left and the right as they are to each other and as they are to the center.

All the many splendored things that combine to make the nuanced conservative.

If they identify enough with right-wing politics and conservatism to have that detail emblazoned in the sigil of their vanguard, that's enough knowing for me

Isn't that true

Like these F-in clowns that say they are undecided and waiting to watch the debates or something. They might be more repulsive lol

People say 'left', 'right', 'centrist', 'liberal', and 'conservative' without even knowing what they mean by those terms let alone making sure they are talking about the same thing when they discuss it.

And it's a pretty tough for a civil war to happen with all these people living in the same places, often in the same economic classes, hardly identifiable, not going to meetings etc.. Mason may be a student of the civil war and think that it was "brother against brother", but it was more like 3rd cousins fighting and if you lived in South Carolina you were on one side and if you lived in New York you were on the other.

Now the right has a solution to the problem of forming easily identifiable groups of friendlies and enemies. They do it by the color of your skin and they do want a civil/race war. At least the ones that participate in marches of fine people.

Pretty sure the actual problem is just half of the population inventing and believing bull**** theories that have no basis in reality.

What exactly are people in the middle of?

Are you in the middle on putting immigrants in cages?
Are you in the middle on calling neo-nazi/white Supremicists good people?
Are you in the middle on taking human/civil rights away from lgbtq and minorities?
Are you in the middle on doing everything you can to let poor people die?
Are you in the middle on politicians so corrupt they commit obstruction on twitter?

Probably not. Most “middle” people are on the right/republican side of these but want to still try and call themselves good people.

links to lefties talking about civil war? i've only ever seen right wing *******s frothing about it

The extremist left is scary asking for healthcare, a cleaner environment and not putting kids in cages.

What's with this style of posting where you reference something you can't bother to link for others and then condescend them for not doing homework to reply to your thread? It's like half a step above posting a 15 minute video and just telling everyone to watch the video instead of bothering to discuss anything.

@ otatop I was on the twoplustwo magazine site. My apologies for not making that clear.
https://www.twoplustwo.com/magazine/

Mason Malmuth seems like one of those guys who thinks Tucker Carlson is 'a little much for my tastes' but Ben Shapiro is 'a smart guy with a lot of interesting ideas'

This. As a progressive I disdain centrists even more than conservatives. Centrists are akin to the “i don’t know honey, where would you like to go to dinner” weak husband archetype.

They stand for nothing, try to appease everyone, and cannot make a decision. **** centrists.

The "majority" or "middle" or whatever you want to call it tends to be relatively silent because they tend to be relatively satisfied with the country and relatively indifferent to political outcomes until the wingers (left or right) come out and begin to threaten the status quo.

Do you even know any people?

I don’t believe this. They just don’t pay attention.

Ask your average “centrist” or “middle” voter how they feel about:

1) Campaign finance
2) Gun background checks
3) Current health insurance system/system prior to ACA
4) Criminal justice system
5) Military intervention/military funding levels
6) Government surveillance

I guarantee a small minority are actually supportive of the status quo. They just can’t connect the dots or understand why our current system is the way it is. Sure they hate big change, but on an issue-by-issue basis they want things to change. If they spent a day actually researching candidates they’d stop falling in love with Biden/Beto/Etc.

If there has not been a better article describing how insane the left is right now, I present you with outright racism

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/29/s...hes-white.html

You're showcasing how insane you are.