Given your political views I find it puzzling that you call yourself a centrist. What exactly separates you from conservatives? I suppose in the US where the Republican party is drifting further and further into fascism, it may be tempting to distance oneself. But then it isn’t you who became a centrist but they who became extremists.
You said the right hated you…. For what exactly? Not being a big enough bigot and not embracing conspiracy theories?
Your views on society seems to driven entirely by selfish considerations. Your argument that one should not care about the system or society is because you can personally hustle your way out of whatever position you are placed in?
You think those of us who care about society do it for our own benefit? If I only cared about my own material well being, then there is a high chance I would have settled in the US.
Do you think Paul Krugman wants a welfare state because he cannot pull off getting health insurance at the moment? Of course not. We care, because we care about fellow citizens. But for me it is also a question of honoring the memory of my grandparents generation who fought to create social democracy. As my grandfather said: “the Labour Party created a society were the common man no longer had to hold his hat out and ask for crumbs”
Secondly, I don’t view myself as a superhero. I can get into an accident, get sick, have skills which become entirely obsolete. Anything can happen which I cannot easily fix myself. Thus a system designed to help others today, could also help me in the future.
Sure people can make it in any society. The first Qing emperor was a common peasant who through cunning become the emperor of China. Imagine him berating the poor peasants for complaining about their situation by replying: “Anybody can make it in China. Look at me! You just got to work and stop complaining. The system is not at fault, you are!”
Would that seem reasonable to you? Sure you can mock this but reality is that e.g. the US is a country with relatively low levels of social mobility in a Western context. To actually give equal opportunity, you need to give everybody a stronger starting position. In the US as it exists today, people don’t have start positions even remotely similar to allow everyone a fair chance of winning. Various anecdotes like “I made it or my parents did, ” doesn’t change that. That isn’t data. Just a datapoint.
No country in history has ever pulled as many people out of poverty as China. Does that mean Chinese people have nothing to complain about? That they should not desire changes to the system? Get more freedoms?
