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Culture War Roundup for the week of December 12, 2022

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Sometimes simple comments say broad things for trends. In a group chat for a mixed group someone posted the Biden energy guy who likes stealing bags. I said if the Dems ran on their current platform in 2008 they would get 10% of the vote. I got a reply “truth”.

I can go back in time and pull up Joe Biden being very anti-gay marriage. Would it be fair to say if Joe Biden went in a coma in 2008 and woke up in 2022 he would be one of the most ardent Maga extremists? And a bunch of Republicans just voted for gay marriage.

The question I’m asking is it fair to say the left made a giant leap in roughly 15 years and the extremists today are just normal people not that long ago. I know this is meme. But is this factual?

Would it be fair to say if Joe Biden went in a coma in 2008 and woke up in 2022 he would be one of the most ardent Maga extremists?

2008 Joe Biden would be a touch conservative for a 2022 Democrat, but he wouldn't even be a liberal Republican, never mind a hardcore one.

Because of economics? There are literal communists out there being smeared as far-right reactionaries because they're not on board with the progressive agenda.

If you know anything about internecine conflict among Communists, you know that was true in 2008 as well. And in 1998, 1988, 1978, 1968, 1958, 1948 ... stop me when we get to the day after the Communist Manifesto was published.

You are probably talking about infighting between the far left. I am talking about liberals attacking communists for being reactionary, because they don't think Marx' class analysis is applicable to race.

That sounds to me like "infighting on the far left", since I don't think it's the center-left doing the attacking, and "actual communist" is further left than it's possible to go without someone saying that Actually They Are Not True Leftists, We Are True Leftists And They Are Heathens.

since I don't think it's the center-left doing the attacking

From my experience the center-left is not any more reasonable than the far left. There are no mainstream center-left spaces that would have let you criticize BLM, the narrative on trans issues, Critical Race Theory, etc. They're just as quick to call you a far-right/nazi/reactionary as the far left is.