“Historians have a word for Germans who joined the Nazi party, not because they hated Jews, but because out of a hope for restored patriotism, or a sense of economic anxiety, or a hope to preserve their religious values, or dislike of their opponents, or raw political opportunism, or convenience, or ignorance, or greed.
That word is “Nazi.” Nobody cares about their motives anymore.
They joined what they joined. They lent their support and their moral approval. And, in so doing, they bound themselves to everything that came after. Who cares any more what particular knot they used in the binding?”
-Julius Goat

Nah, moderates are the worst because they enable the right-wing extremists and give them a cover without actually oppsing them

You’re being muted because the conservative party has openly admitted to being a bunch of bigoted shit heads. Being a sensible conservative would mean realizing any conservative support is also support for bigotry.

When I was becoming politically aware, in the late 1970s, early 1980s, the difference between Republicans and Democrats was generally explained as something like “rugged individualism and personal responsibility” vs “working together to achieve community goals.” Ideally, I think that striking a balance between those two positions is an approriate and noble aim.

However, I have to disagree that “MAGA folks have hijacked the game.” The hijacking began at least when the Republican party embraced the “Moral Majority” to elect conservatives through the 1980s. Even Goldwater, in 1994, recognized this hijacking going on.

Even prior to that, the Republican party was actively racist (think Nixon’s “war on drugs,” largely intended to convict minorities of new felonies, effectively removing their voting rights, and opposition to civil rights through the 1960s), going back to at least around the Eisenhower administration.

The Republican party was hijacked by shitty people, yes, but it was hijacked by conservatism.

Don’t worry, I’m against sensible inequality too!

How has maga muted the dems?

I hope I hear more of your voices on Lemmy. That’s one thing I severely miss from Reddit. Even if the whole site was left leaning, I could see controversial comments, or periodically visit /r/conservative to see their views. Lemmy seems to be even harder left leaning than Reddit, and there are no conservative viewpoints here. I try to avoid an echo chamber, so hope you talk more about your views even if it’s not welcome. I’ll always upvote such comments whenever I see one (as long as it’s not hate speech) to bring balance to the discussions.