An older acronym for the same thing, BSABSVR
Both Sides Are Bad So Vote Republican.
this post was submitted on 07 May 2025
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Both Sides Are Bad So Vote Republican.
God, growing up, I heard the equivalent of that so often from the less-lead-poisoned of my conservative community.
"Well, you don't really know what's true, and both sides lie. Really, both parties are just out for themselves. There's no difference between them."
"So you aren't voting?"
"Oh no, I'm definitely voting Republican."
Oh yeah, "The Smaller Of Two Evils" - they said in 2016. A few years later I asked: "how did that work out for you?" - embarrassed silence. One of the best I-told-you-so-moments I ever had.
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I run into this on dating apps. “Centrist” and “apolitical” are both code for “conservative.”
I've heard that many men do this because they've realized, in some capacity, that outright admitting they're right-wing limits their opportunities. In my circles, I've noticed this "I'm actually a centrist/apolitical" trend is also found among popular developers and tech influencers.
Saying you're anti-woke gets you shunned and surrounded by horrible people, but saying you're just apolitical gets you the blessing and protection of self-proclaimed centrists. When you, for example, marginalize LGBT folks and get called out, countless will gather to complain about people "dragging politics into tech." Bryan Lunduke will come out of his cave and write a piece about how the trans fetish is trying to kill open source.
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The problem is those "Centrists" are the mainstream Democratic party. There is no left-wing in national politics. The left has no one to vote for.
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"Both sides bad, bit aT leAsT tRuMp iS hOnEst aBoUt iT!"
The Honesty:
"You won't have to vote anymore"
"Dictator on day one"
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I have never met a "centrist" on social media who wasn't. Same with the horseshoe theory.
Let's take America: are you for democracy or against it? - "I can see both sides" - wtf? Fascist enabler, at best.
Proponents of horseshoe theory argue that the far-left and the far-right are closer to each other than either is to the political center. Seems like a theory a right-winger would create to save face.
I will say, some far leftists have ideas that seem more libertarian on a surface level, like dismantling the state, but it's for different reasons, and generally far-lefts aren't common. What Americans consider "far left" is just advocating for common decency
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Funny how there's a bunch of people in the comments essentially just unironically repeating the meme: "Well this must be wrong because I believe this and I'm actually a centrist!!!"
That's the point, buddy. You're the butt of the joke. The idea that the far-left and far-right are equally bad or warrant the same amount of scrutiny and criticism is a right-wing belief.
To make the point more obvious instead of using "left" and "right" look at specific political beliefs that the far-left and far-right have:
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Equality across social and demographic groups vs. State-enforced racism, sexism and other kinds of bigotry
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Abolishment of bourgeois property and money vs. Complete privatization, oligarchy and corruption
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Globalization, peaceful relations and a right to live where you want vs. Complete isolationism and xenophobia
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Right to self-governance and no government with a monopoly on violence vs. State sanctioned violence against those considered undesirable or traitors
Hopefully I don't need to explain which one is obviously worse. To equate what the far-left and the far-right advocate for one must misrepresent the left, so both-sides-ism inherently has a right-wing slant.
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Even if they're not a right-winger and don't claim to be a centrist, "both-sides"ing things is a waste of time, at best.
Like, when Jon Stewart came back to the Daily Show. I think it was his first show back, but it might have been his second... And his main talking point was about how both Biden and Trump were old. I know he's just a comedian on a comedy show, but it still felt like a betrayal. At the very best, it was a waste of a chance to say something that could have actually made a difference.
He pointed out that they are the oldest candidates ever to run, beating the previous record of…the same two old white guys 4 years prior. Seemed pretty germane to mention that we have a serious lack of younger and diverse representation
I agree 100% with everything you said. Just like you said, it was a good point and definitely worth a mention. My problem is that it was the main segment of his first show back. Just like I said, a waste of time when there were much more important things to talk about.
I mean, they are both old, I don't think that's a perspective that should be discounted. That's not a discussion on policy or who one should vote for as much as it is the understandable concern about whether either of them would still be alive for their entire second term.
I like Jon, but TDS has done more harm than good for the left.
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It just normalized the Republican CRIMINAL behaviour by making fun of it and laughing, like it was no big deal
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It made an entire generation complacent becuase people though watching TDS and jucking along was actually doing fuck all to actually fight Republicans or help Democrats.
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And finally, like you said they'd frequently have both sides segments that the right loved to echo on their propaganda networks
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There's also:
"Leftist" insisting on "both sides".
-mask pull-
Russian bot
On the other hand, the kneejerk of labeling every even remotely centrist viewpoint as inherently dishonest is pretty annoying. My own views lean SocDem and I've found voicing any opinion which is neither solidly left-wing or solidly right-wing, especially if it does not align with very American-centric views of the political spectrum, often elicits unpleasant reactions. Nuance is hard, I guess.
As an anarchist. The seething hate I've received for pointing out. That the genocide in Palestine is truly an appropriate both sides thing. That it wasn't just Biden or just Harris. That it was our senators, our Congress people, and the executive branch.
That it was going to be a Republican or a Democrat that won the presidential election. And we all would definitely prefer it wasn't for the Republican. Or that if Fox News covers you without wildly editorializing or smearing you. You done fucked up. You could be forgiven for thinking I had just strangled their grandmother's from the reaction.
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Nuance is inconvenient to radicals and fundamentalists.
The US has little nuance. Your dominant parties are Fascist and Far-Right Neoliberals with some token LGBT rights.
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I'd rather have a politician who does absolutely nothing than a fascist.
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Both sides exclude me for holding my particular set of opinions. I'm on my side, fuck you!
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As long as you're amoral and self-serving, you can only be a "right winger", whatever that means. It's only when you dispel the myth of moral relativism and believe that, yeah, some things ARE wrong (and we should avoid and condemn them, of course), that you can start becoming a person worth existing and worth listening to. And if you're not very smart nor very brave you might be a "non radical" "leftist" but hey, your heart is probably in the right place so I'm not gonna hate (too much).
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They’re not political, they just wantt to see common sense policies on immigration (for brown people) and crime (for brown people).
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This is some crazy doublethink shit. It's clear just looking at the inconsistent interpretation from all the top-level comments that 'centrist' is a blanket term that both describes 'centrist' positions and also 'left/right radicals'. The only consistent is whether the subject is subjecting the in-group to criticism
The same user constantly harps on 'far-left' progressives complaining about democratic positions, and calls himself a centrist.
This is just standard 'out-group' gatekeeping. "If you're not with us, you're against us" shit.
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As a centrist, I approve with this message. An actual centrist does not compromise with nazis.
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