Are extreme right/left political leanings a sign of/form of mental illness?

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Are extreme right/left political leanings a sign of/form of mental illness?

A Buttery Pastry: Sep 4, 2011; Delicious and Informative!

Jenner posted:

If Liberalism and socialism are opposed then why is almost every liberal politician called a socialist by the Right?

Because "the Right" is even more right wing (or right wing about more stuff), and socialism is associated with the USSR.

# ¿ Oct 4, 2016 05:34

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# ¿ May 15, 2024 05:15

A Buttery Pastry: Sep 4, 2011; Delicious and Informative!

Jenner posted:

It's interesting because traditional Liberalism has kinda been pushed to the center right (note: may not be a factual statement this is my perception.)

Traditional Liberalism is center right, though the political spectrum it first arrived into meant it was left wing in relative terms, what with being aligned against absolute monarchies backed by religious hierarchies.

# ¿ Oct 4, 2016 19:24

A Buttery Pastry: Sep 4, 2011; Delicious and Informative!

Jeza posted:

Because the Venn diagram of veganism, alternative medicines, extreme left wing views, and strange, fey beliefs overlap pretty hard.

Is this actually true? And not just some tired stereotype about hippies dusted off for the next generation?

# ¿ Oct 7, 2016 16:24

A Buttery Pastry: Sep 4, 2011; Delicious and Informative!

DeusExMachinima posted:

I'm going to explain to you how mammalian human beings from the Planet Earth process priorities. See, if I don't want Turkey joining the EU, and thus making it easier to Turkish people to come to my country, and I value this above the exchange rate value of the pound sterling, it's completely logical to prioritize leaving the EU, even if it carries some downsides with it. Logic is just a measuring stick for consistency. You don't need to be mentally ill or genetically damaged somehow to believe something like that. And in fact that's kind of an insult to genuinely mentally ill people who are dealing with actual problems they didn't choose to have but who still manage to not hate foreigners.

Kind of a dumb example, since Turkey is never joining the EU. The belief that they would indicate either being significantly misinformed, or straight up believing the EU is a conspiracy designed to flood Europe with Muslims, or some combination of the two.

# ¿ Oct 8, 2016 22:24

A Buttery Pastry: Sep 4, 2011; Delicious and Informative!

steinrokkan posted:

The belief that Turkey is never joining the EU by design is straight up a conspiracy theory by people who believe the EU is exploiting its neighbors in exchange for nothing.

Turkey can join, has been supported in its candidacy by European institutions, and would be able to join if not for 1) Erdogan 2) Unwillingness to sort out diplomatic conflicts with Greece and Cyprus.

On top of it still having a bunch of things it needs to fix politically before it can even be allowed to join, it also needs the consent of every state in Europe. Good luck getting that anytime soon, if ever. Hell, even if Turkey itself wasn't majority Muslim, the fact that it'd put the frontier of Europe in the Middle East could probably be a deal breaker in itself. Plus the whole Armenian Genocide business, which is definitely going to be dragged up until Turkey acknowledges it. No conspiracy needed, just a bunch of divergent interests, between countries, and national politics vs EU politics.

# ¿ Oct 8, 2016 23:01

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