A recent guest (historian) made that point on the Triggernomitry podcast.
Stalin, Mao, Castro, Hitler- they were all 'idealists.'
They were in it to improve the human (or some subset thereof) condition. And they weren't going to let anyone get in their way of making things better!
Which is why it's so fun to see American leftists and rightists get at each other throats, while they share the common denominator of authoritarianism and are more similar than they would like to admit.
And there's the Nolan Chart: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nolan_Chart which is even more confusing. The word "liberal" is not used in New Zealand much, although perhaps the US meaning is taking hold. Also centrist here is unclear so the Nolan Chart makes no sense to me.
there is not one intelligent credible person on planet earth who endorses horseshoe theory. It’s utter nonsense designed to try and discredit anyone outside of a narrow neoliberal window.
Had exactly the effect that I’d expect. Hollowed out every aspect of society and helped lead to exactly the sort of extreme government you don’t want.
I think the obvious conclusion from my post is that I don’t find any of those people credible. At all.
I’d go so far as to say I think anyone peddling horseshoe theory is a politically illiterate fool regardless of their supposed qualifications.
It’s funny that you want me to read the imitation though.
“ Several political scientists, psychologists, and sociologists have criticized the horseshoe theory.[3][4][5] Proponents point to a number of perceived similarities between extremes and allege that both tend to support authoritarianism or totalitarianism; political scientists do not appear to support this notion, and instances of peer-reviewed research on the subject are scarce. Existing studies and comprehensive reviews often find only limited support and only under certain conditions; they generally contradict the theory's central premises.”
No, because I'm an extreme libertarian, not an authoritarian leftist. But I would describe many tankies as borderline fascist or worse, yet I cannot deny that their economic platform is left-wing.
Authoritarianism is the common denominator; only the details vary.