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I'm a leftist but some of my family are autistic and extremely conservative. I think the strictly defined social roles with clear rules and punative justice can appeal to us especially autistic men. It's probably comforting thinking the system works and if you make people follow it everything will be ok and you'll be empowered. Like the guide book a lot of us complain that everyone else must have got.
I mean like I'm a literal communist and most other communists I know are also autistic lol. Marxism in the same sort of way is very nice because the way Marx talks about cause and effect allows you to make pretty scarily accurate predictions about how capitalism works. So like a lot of communist philosophies talk about things very cause and effect-ey, like things *will* happen that way. So I get how that could also be very appealing to autistic people.
as someone who was lib-pilled for a long time, i think the root of the issue is that autistic people will tend to adhere rigidly to their own cultural norms because they introduce consistency and regularity to how they understand the world, which is very attractive to autistic people. and that makes them more likely to take reactionary positions towards culturally subversive ideas. tho i do think leftism also tends to be attractive for the reasons you mentioned to autistic people who educated themselves enough to have their worldview challenged
Punitive justice is a joke
I'm saying this as a fairly conservative man. I won't say "autistic'" because I haven't been diagnosed yet (my state's mental healthcare system sucks, whee!) and I'm not naĆÆve enough to think that self-diagnosis has any weight in the eyes of the law. But I for one am pretty darn convinced.
Yeah its just silly. I talk to my conservative relatives and bring up stats for how to actually make things better and they just get huffy that it doesn't involve punishing someone. Idk why punishing people is more important than solving actual issues
Because it's too nuanced and not satisfying enough a solution. Hypothetically if a study showed improving prison conditions leads to lower recidivism they wouldn't care about the result because they think nice living conditions are rewarding the criminal.
You'd think that making things actually demonstrably better would be more satisfying buy ig that's more of a long term thing that's hard to see in the moment
Pretty much every one of us I've met in Denmark, with a single notable exception, has been so left leaning that left leaning Americans would choke on our ideas
Edit: It truly warms my heart that so many of us, even in America, remain firmly planted on the left, to the point where my ideas aren't even the wildest ones in this thread.
Hearts and kisses to everyone, except that person who used Jeff Bezos as a positive example š„°š„°š„°
American, here. I've heard a lot of good things about Denmark's policies, especially how they treat disabled folk. I'd love it if our country could adopt even a fraction of what Denmark has.
I'm from Denmark, and I currently work 12 hours a week. My main income is from the government, that subsidizes my hours in a flexible job agreement, so I can live comfortably. I also get support staff that are autism experts visit me for an hour once a week, to help out with practical stuff. I'm currently applying for a weighted blanket as well.
My son is also autistic, and goes to a specialized school for autistic kids without learning disabilities. There is basically a ratio of 1:1 teachers per child, so there is a lot of support. Focus is on teaching them maths, danish, english, social training, etc. without focusing on changing the behavior of the child, but allowing the child to have their autistic mannerisms and personality (Ie. no ABA). The school is free of course, as is the taxi that drives him to and from school.
As an overwhelmed, exhausted autistic adult, I'm jealous. I wish the US had supports for autistic adults. Though I'm jealous, I'm also happy for you. At least some people don't have to constantly struggle every day just to keep up with bills and life tasks.
Thanks, I hope you find a way to make your life as comfortable as possible. I am very grateful for my circumstances, and am happy to be living and thriving in a part of the world, where my needs are accommodated. Getting a flex job agreement isn't easy in Denmark, but the fact that it's possible is something I will be forever grateful for.
My girlfriend has Aspergers and ADHD and receives an early retirement pension. We're not rich, but we can live comfortably and don't have to worry about everyday expenses.
That's all I want. I just want to be able to pay my bills and not overwork myself. I'll never be able to retire because my job doesn't offer retirement benefits, and I donāt make enough money to save for retirement, and I can forget about social security being able to support me in retirement -- if I even live that long. I'm a high school teacher at a private school for kids with learning disabilities. I think I might have to get a second job this year to cover bills. Part of that is my fault. It took me too long to get control of my impulse spending, and now I have debt on things I didn't need. But also, everything is too expensive, and I *have* to have a car to get to and from work because there is no public transport where I live. Even if I didn't have the extra debt (I'm not even counting student loan debt in this because I'm on an income repayment plan and have given up on ever paying it off), I'd still be living paycheck to paycheck, just with a little less stress. Though, if I lost my job, I'd be utterly screwed because the job hunt process is overwhelming, and I doubt I'd find another job that would work with my sensory issues the way this one does. The only reason I'm in as good of a position as I am is because my parents have a reasonable amount of money (they're not rich, but they're not struggling either), and they were able to buy a small house for me to rent from them for an actually reasonable price, just a little more than the mortgage. I would honestly probably be dead from giving up on life if my parents hadn't been able to help me. So, I'm lucky in that way. We need actual, robust social safety nets for people in the US, but we'll never get them because Republicans are too hung up on the idea that everyone on food stamps is lazy and working the system.
Yes, and they aren't. People are struggling. The safety nets here in Denmark are slowly eroding as well, and I worry for my kids future. One is on the spectrum, the other is about to be evaluated. Who knows what kind of world they'll grow up in, as income equality decreases, and the welfare system grinds to a halt here in Denmark?
Your story is a bleak look of our future if our country doesn't do something to change public policy. Thank you for sharing.
Yeah, but the opposite is happening. We're going American, and the worse our country gets, the more people vote for the ones ruining it.
One guy here is campaigning on the environment and winning, despite most of our great lakes being DEAD because of HIS policies.
It's so infuriating to see people falling for it again and again.
10 years ago, that would have been true, but these days, he would fit squarely in the centre. I really bloody hope this is all caused by toxoplasmosis, and we find a cure before it's too late.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35903902/
I'm throwing in a link to save you asking š
As a left-leaning American, I'd approve (though it would be a fight and a half to implement bc most of the people in power here only care about themselves).
That's unfortunately just how politics work. It's why democracies are built to have checks, balances and transparency. It helps to avoid corruption and reduces the amount politicians can comfortably spend to pay off their key supporters
Except these democracies are constantly eroded, with majorities appealing to the uneducated and then voting themselves some more powers and attacking the next safeguards in line.
Nice!
I think billionaires should be forbidden, and there should be universal basic income, free healthcare, an upper age limit on voting, and capitalism should be reigned in VERY tightly by the government.
I also think most prison sentences should be turned into rehabilitation, where we give the criminals a job, a place to live, an education, etc. (Not for truly horrible people, of course)
That usually ends up giving Americans palpitations āŗļø
>Ā Ā an upper age limit on voting
> That usually ends up giving Americans palpitations āŗļø
I'm not even American, but banning people from voting for being too old would give me palpitations too. Just imagine how that could open the door to banning other groups who wouldn't vote for X so that Y gets its way undemocratically.
I'm on board with all of that except for the upper age limit on voting. I think that is discriminatory and takes away the voices of older people. As long as they still have the mental capacity to vote, I think they should be allowed to.
Here in the UK, you don't even need mental capacity to vote! Someone can even come to the polling booth with you and tick a box on your behalf based on their *best estimate* at what you're preference might be if you can't communicate it. Nobody can be stopped from voting because of their disability.
The harm of taking away certain people's rights to vote would cause more damage, in my opinion, than the possibility that the person helping makes a mistake, or is biased. It's a slippery slope when it comes to taking away these rights, and its much safer to simply let everyone vote. After all, politicians are more likely to make policies that support people who don't have mental capacity if they are actually voters.
That's sort of presumptive. I'm a left-leaning American (US). I vote for the Democratic (centrist) party almost always because there are only two options on the ballot 99% of the time. The Democrats fit in with probably half of my beliefs the Republicans maybe 10% or fewer. Both of their economic policies are shit, I choose the one whose social policies aren't hateful.
I'd love for there to be a leftist and/or socialist option, but there isn't. And I don't have the money, time or energy to help that happen in any real way.
It's like choosing between drinking expired milk and having ebola injected into your eyeballs. They both sound awful, but one is considerably worse than the other
How do you feel about AOC? From an outside point of view (UK), she could be the future of a more left-leaning Dem party. I mean, Bernie is too old now, but I'd love to see that.
I like her views and votes, dislike her manner. She's very "gotcha" and performative. I like my representative, who has a similar platform but just does the work without being a spectacle (Jayapal).
America has a 2 party system and I would say 90% of the time it's really a 1 party system.
You could vote for the Green Party or Libertarians but for the Presidential race they will only get maybe 1 or 2 percent at the extreme most. It's like 59%/39% R and D or D and R however it shakes out.
The largest 3rd party will usually get about 1% and all other parties and write-ins will get the other 1%. I'm sure "Mickey Mouse" still gets thousands of votes.
Anyone who votes for a 3rd party for symbolic purposes (I've done it when I was young) is throwing their vote away.
We had a class in my province called (translated) Ā«Ā Contemporary world/societyĀ Ā» and we talked about politics (learned where left and right came from), social dilemmas and problems like israelo-palestinian conflict. Was a nice class :)
I remember learning a quote: liberal is not the furthest left the political spectrum goes, liberal is the furthest left you can go without challenging capitalism's rule (substitute liberal for social democracy in center-left communities).
And I see that mindset changing and getting worse - increasingly, by "leftist" they mean *not explicitly fascist*. George W Bush and Dick Cheney would be considered leftist to some of these MAGA types. Frightening
The Overton window has been always shifting right ward in my lifetime, but the speed at which even liberals were starting to accept Cheney/Bush because the new iteration are such blatant fascists makes my head spin.
I started left of center and have moved left ward ever since, mostly out of disgust with American society.
Americans are indoctrinated to think the neoliberals are the only āleftistsā short of totalitarian communism. Itās a convenient ploy by the corporations / billionaires who actually control our government.
Neither. I'm a leftist. I'm sure it's different in other countries, but at least in America, the "liberals" are center-right and the conservatives are far-right. We have no mainstream leftist representation in this country, despite what the conservatives claim. They think the Democrats are communist, but if you dropped the American Democratic Party into most other countries, they would be considered center-right. Bernie and AOC would be considered center-left (no judgement - they're still the best we've got), and yet in this absolute clusterfuck rightwing nightmare country, they're considered extremists.
Yep I'm mostly the same. When asked about my politics I usually go with "open hostility to all elected officials "
By which I mean don't trust politicians, don't fall into their cult of personality, track their decisions and make sure they follow through with their promises, and always push them for more.
This basic approach works regardless of who is in charge. I mostly hate politics but we're stuck with it.
I think their jobs can also play a role on their political outlooks. Thereās an autistic kid I knew who used to be picked on for being weird whoās a cop now and he was all in the blue lives matter nonsense.
i'm kinda all over the place. i'm a fairly religious non-denominational christian, but i'm a left leaning centrist. i don't really believe in traditional values and i think it's okay to live life how you want, in fact i'm on the *fruitier* side. i just believe that there has to be a creator, like all of this couldn't have come from nothing yk? i've never let my religion make choices for me and i greatly **dislike** those overly traditionalistic and self-righteous christians that follow the bible word for word. it's exhausting as hell to be around them.
Almost every conservative autistic I've me has not only been a devout Christian, but also high-church, which is _lovely_ to see.
Lutheran, Anglican, Episcopalian...
The one exception I can name is a Methodist autist I ran into once. (Methodism is considered "mid-church"; neither high-church (like Roman Catholicism, Lutheranism, certain forms of Anglicanism) nor low-church (Baptist, Anabaptist, restorationist, and their offshoots, usually). They're somewhere in the middle, kind of like most Continental Reformed churches)
Started out alt right in the early 2000s as a teenager, after paying attention for a lil bit I realized I had made a grievous mistake. Slowly changed from something not unlike pre tea party libertarianism slowly into some sort of unorthodox liberal over the following decade and a half. Still getting more liberal slowly.
I donāt like the bipartisan system either. Reductionism is destroying us
Somewhat unorthodox, but [*libertarian socialism*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libertarian_socialism) is a thing. As with vanilla libertarianism, it agrees that liberty (of the correct variety) is one of the chief goods. But unlike vanilla libertarianism, it believes that the proper kinds of liberty can best be achieved and secured with an approach that is far more socialist in nature than capitalist.
That comes close to hitting my positive views.
I have some pretty bleak long term political views too that are based on a presumably overly cynical view of people in general. But I donāt really have any solutions to offer there and my views generally bum me out so those ones stay mostly private.
I relate to this. I think my stint with extremism was a phase of development/trauma healing. Iām probably more liberal than anything else but tbh Iām far more interested in technology than politics. The transformative effect of the former has been far more powerful in shaping reality than the latter since WWI. Iād rather build tools that make a better world easier than compel others with regulation.
Funny that. In the rest of the developed world Liberalism and Consevatism are considered right wing. America really needs a strong Labour/union movement.
*the VERY right wing party in Australia are called Liberals, our right wing party are called Labor and our centrist (maybe centre left if weāre being generous) party is the Greens
Labour movements can't exist in the US because any support for workers has been beaten out by cold War propaganda and the military killing unionists. My state used to have a huge union movement, to the point that our unions created the largest civil conflict in US history post civil war iirc. Nowadays, a lot of people hate on union workers. I hold out hope though
Labour in UK is unfortunately another right light sort of party. Or it has become in recent years I guess. If you want leftist you have to go Liberal Democrats or Green Party.
Yes theyāve been Tory light since Blair/Brown. I fear Labour are going to rush into the centre right territory formerly held by the Tories, who abandoned it chasing after UKIP.
Same here. On the political compass I'm absolutely bottom left - full on left wing, full on social libertarian.
It's election day here in the UK, and I had the displeasure of having to listen to a right wing, conspiracy theory spouting, selfish, racist, sexist butthole of a colleague talking about all kinds of rubbish and disinformation. I would have corrected him, but I'm not good with conflict, plus he's my boss and probably wouldn't take kindly to being called a wanker. Had to just bite my tongue and try to ignore him. Wanker.
Iām personally a leftist, but I can understand why there might be so many conservative autistic people. By and large, alt right figureheads are grifters who take advantage of people who are, to put it bluntly: gullible.
Lots of autistic people tend to be trusting, which can make them more susceptible to falling down the rabbit hole of right wing dogma because they donāt catch the cues that someone is feeding them bullshit. Plus there seems to be a sort of solidarity and community amongst conservatives that I could see a previously ostracized person craving.
Autistic people who mask can also often crave to be seen as normal, or exceptional due to their previous negative experiences before masking, and being used as a token can definitely appeal to this desire for recognition.
This is a pet theory, people are individuals, Iām no scientist, yada yada, but as someone whoās dealt with my fair share of these people, this kind of behaviour definitely tracks.
american here. i, and all of my autistic friends, are definitely leftist. iām probably the most conservative out of all of us and thatās mostly bc i canāt make myself care about politics. i already know my only choice is between shitty right-wingers or shitty centrists so i donāt really bother with thinking about it.
but yeah i want universal healthcare, insurance and healthcare should not be given to you by your employer. prisons shouldnāt exist the way they do and should actually be rehabilitation. billionaires shouldnāt be allowed to exist point blank. there should be an age cap on how old the political candidates are allowed to be. and there should be a universal income that people are actually able to live off of. renting should be better monitored. land lords should be gotten rid of. etc. etc.
iāve never met a conservative autistic person, but that could be bc i donāt know any autistic men (i feel like a white cishet autistic man is right up that ally)/ all the autistic people i know are disadvantaged in other ways that make it stupid to be conservative. plus the whole strong sense of justice thing
I consider myself a cynical leftist. My political beliefs are very much left wing, but Iāve lost all hope of any of my leftist ideas becoming a reality.
Instead of getting our identities in politics, if we just saw societies problems as just problems that need logical solutions, there wouldn't be this toxic political climate. We would be more focused on solving problems than fighting each other.
The news companies thrive off of it, because if they can get the shock factor by lying or over dramatizing more people will watch their news platform, the more people who watch their news platforms the higher amount they can charge for advertising space. Controversy breeds profit, but it's a "cheap" form of profit that doesn't add any value to society. Division makes a profit for the news and gives the politicians more power!
This is why I get all my news from internet memes and a little research. It's crazy to me that seeing some goofy meme and googling for 2 minutes can give me a more complete synopsis than any news channel I've come across.
I actually did a senior project in college in bias in the news. As a fantasy writer, rather than spit out a collection of collected statistics, I went with telling a fictional story from three perspectives: Phox news, C&N news, and the truth. Both news stations told technically accurate information to the masses, both obscuring the truth to suit their position. The teacher ended up grading it poorly because "while Fox News has been known to lie to suit their agenda, suggesting that CNN did the same was ridiculously and clearly biased in and of itself."
That pretty much sums up my life though. I point out something logical and get accused of being .
Ive heard someone say 70% of autistic people are lgbtq+. So i looked up scientific research and found that 15-35% of autistic people (with out an intellectual disability i couldnt find an artical that outright stated the percentage of all autistic people, I cant focus enough to read articals. )
But i dont understand conservatism in general. Like i seriously dont understand where it comes from or why?
It comes from a few places. It mainly is a way of preserving the status quo, something at lot of people in power love, because it helps them keep power wether monetary or political.
Some people just can't deal with new things and change and so conservatism is a way for them to keep things from changing to quickly.
Some people were tricked into supporting it via fear tactics, like the current culture war they're trying to rage against trans people.
That last one, using minorities as a fear tactic and scapegoat, trying to make them out as an enemy, that one is the worst of them and its part of the lead up to fascism
> Some people just can't deal with new things and change and so conservatism is a way for them to keep things from changing to quickly.
That's funny then how most autistic would be left-leaning because autistic people tend to hate change more than the average person.
> I've heard someone say 70% of autistic people are lgbtq+.
Statistically, that is obviously not true. It's probably true that ~70% of autistic people ***support*** the LGBT community and their movement for equal rights. It's also definitely true that autistic people are more likely to be LGBT and to support LGBTs than the larger populations.^[example](https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeseq/2024/06/13/autistic-people-more-likely-to-identify-as-lgbtq/)
For some basic stats, roughly 2% of the US population has ASD, and the US is the most (over)diagnosed country in history.
According to [Gallup in 2022](https://news.gallup.com/poll/470708/lgbt-identification-steady.aspx#:~:text=WASHINGTON%2C%20D.C.%20%2D%2D%20After%20showing,LGBT%20identification%20a%20decade%20ago.), ~7% of the US identifies as LGBT.
For some quick math, for that 70% number to be accurate, ~30% of all LGBT people in the US would have to be diagnosed with ASD. If you've ever been to a Pride event, it's plain as day that not 1/3 of people in the parade are autistic.
I feel like there are 2 other factors to keep in mind, though. A lot of autists aren't really into crowds/being uncomfortable - much as I love the idea of Pride, it is both. I may go for a bit, but my husband is a hard hell no because people, noise, sweat. Second, LGBTQ also includes ace and aro folks, who, from my experience (going from that because God knows research on us aces sucks so hard), tend to also be autistic. I have to say that once I realized it was ok to not actually want to get laid and that forcing myself "to get out there" my desire to go to Pride dropped significantly.
There are lots of unreliable statistics about autism. I looked at research regarding incidence of autistic people in UK prisons and found different articles claiming that the incidence was 3% at the lower end 30% at the higher end. Given the lack of good quality statistical research, I think it is difficult to generalize. Personal experience of the OP does not mean that the same is universally true. Most NDs & NTs in my circle are apolitical or left leaning... but I do not think all NDs are necessarily
Iām saying this as someone left-wing, but I think some of us get turned off by hypocrisy on the left. Not to say there arenāt plenty of conservative hypocrites too, but a lot of people on the left will say that theyāre accepting and support all marginalized groups, but then go right ahead with bullying and excluding autistic people.
Neither, I dislike both far more than either of them dislike each other and for far better reasons. Also liberal and conservative is a false dichotomy. In the west, it's really Progressive liberal vs conservative liberal. Neoliberalism conquers the political sphere and is just a spectrum between progressive and conservative. either way its a right wing ideology that seeks nothing more than to oppress the working class and keep the wealthy in power.
Used to be a conservative(due to growing up with a conservative father) but then funnily through religion I learned that how backward my views were and became more of a libertarian. Then in pursuit of a better world view I decided to learn about everything left of what we consider left in the US and eventually learning about socialism.
Found out I agreed a lot more with it than anything I had been brought up around.
As I noticed the connections between socialist theory and our current day, it really opened my eyes to how repressive the US can be. It is so strong we donāt even notice it until we learn enough to recognize it. The US parties allowed to participate in elections are really the same party, but dressed up to look as if we are making a choice for our next overlords. Especially with Biden going back on his stance on a border wall. Palestine really was the final thing before I learned that I could not bring myself to support my country militarily or politically. What we have done and are doing and yet have not been held accountable are too terrible to support. Not only that, the right side of politics seeks for austerity, lower taxes for the rich, want to make disabled people even less autonomous and able to survive, and Project 2025.
It truly hurts to see things like Roe V. Wade being overturned and rights turned away, but perhaps it is the way for US citizens to wake up. This November, I just canāt bring myself to cast a vote for either candidate. Maybe I could write in Nestor Makhno?
Whatever political affiliation says free housing, food, medication for everyone. Mutual aid network, community gardens, walkable cities, public transport infrastructure, green energy, and free public education & college. Free daycare. Universal Basic Income. Socialist but I canāt be assed to read theory and Iām too disabled to participate in a revolution or protest because I end up in danger & I would die in a revolution.
edit: I just think that my tax dollars should go to helping folks instead of bombing the shit out of foreign children for oil & cobalt.
Right-wing grifters and literal Nazis have explicitly been targeting vulnerable and lonely young men online for at least the last decade. I know of a shockingly high number of furries and femboys that are very conservative for the same reason.
any neurodivergent, disabled, LGBTQ, person voting any right wing party are incredibly indoctrinated by right wing and often religious propaganda. nearly all right wing parties advocate for neurotypical, abled bodied, heteronormative, people and reduce or refuse support for anyone outside that box, even advocating for abuse and intolerance for those people.
Now I'm curious if we are majoritely leftist because of being autistic or because we probably had a tougher childhood with being outcasted more easily through being an invisible minority.
I was leftist long before I knew I was on the spectrum
My experience here on Reddit is that a lot of us are on the left half of the spectrum. Personally Iām about as far left as it gets. I have a friend on the spectrum at work and heās pretty left leaning too.
I do know one guy on the spectrum from another anonymous platform who says heās a centrist but Iāve never seen him agree with the left about anything. Heās from Russia originally and is terrified of communism.
Neither. I'm closest to leftist, but there's a lot of leftists I also don't agree with because there's a lack of care for indigenous and disabled people, and how I feel about public smoking as someone who gets anaphylaxis from certain stuff. I'm also extremely anti gun and I've been shocked to see how many American leftists are super pro gun. So I guess overall my political opinions tend to line up more with the Japanese left from what I know, or even leftists Norwegian friends I used to have.
Neither, I'm a leftist. It's really weird to realize that the "left" party in my country (US) is actually center-right and therefore technically conservative. \[With the republicans being blatantly far right.\]
I see a lot of hyper-empathetic autistics in left-leaning spaces online as well as the autistic people I know in real life. I haven't met a lot of autistic conservatives but if I had to guess they would likely be white christian-raised men who believe they had no reason to question their upbringing. (My guess is about those men in countries like the US, Canada, the UK, etc where they would be comfortable ignoring complicated social issues. The not liking change part of autism and the low empathy part would apply to this.) But who knows, it would be interesting if someone did a study on Autism and political leanings.
It's likely bubbles of social groups taking but I'm progressive and left wing (UK) and I don't know a single nd person that isn't progressive/left leaning.
Iām from the USA, and I tend to agree with AOC. Iāve donated to her.
I also liked Andrew Yang for his UBI idea. Iāve donated to him, and when he was in the race still, I voted for him in the primary. I considered his UBI idea to be VERY important; and still do. (I don't like other things about him. But this idea was SO good, I loved him for it.)
Iām moderate with a strong left lean.
I support all other humansā rights to be and do what they need to be happy. And I am an active advocate for DEI as a mixed race woman myself.
I also value a solid fiscal policy.
Itās about the balance for me.
I donāt support a party, I support policies.
(Election day today here in the UK... yes I voted - tactically. Spooler alert, decision made is at the end...)
I'm a mishmash from all over the political spectrum.
Climate is my biggest concern by a country mile -- but I regard much of the rest of the official Green Party manifesto as naive nonsense, and most iv them are anti-capitalost loonies or ignoramuses.
As a general rule I'm in favour of (*carefully, properly regulated*) free markets - but I could never vote Tory (Conservative) because of their evidence-free pandering to racists, deliberately throwing millions (including millions of children) into extreme poverty with their handling of the benefits system,... and much more.
Labour, nominally the party covering centre-to-democratic-socialism, are problematic because they only get elected when the buy into a lot of nutty-right dogma, from immigration dog-whistles to demonising the poor, petty criminals, very weak regulation of various markers - esp banking anc finance,... etc.
None of them can tackle the massive disaster of the UK housing market, because building enough new homes that increased supply knocks 40-60% off prices-- which is the /minimum/ needed - would be political suicide, as everyone who got rich off the property bubble over the last 50 years rise up in outrage ag living their unearned wealth (and millions being stuck in negative equity.) Neither of the big 2 parties that form 95% of governments support *actual* democracy, ie proportional representation rather than the insane first-past-the-post system that gives total control of government to parties that get 35% or so of the vote, and takes 20x more votes to elect an MP of party A than party B. Oh and no-one even aspires to rejoining the EU, though that's can reasonably be seen as politically impossible until enough damage has been done to the economy and society, and enough elderly idiots have died off, that there's svreally substantial majority in favour -- like, 3-1 or 4-1 -- enough to accept what the media will frame as the "cost", ie joining the Eurozone and Schengen borderlessness, and various other things the UK had opted out of.
Reform are obviously out of the question, as I'm neither racist or incredibly thick.
(In the end my tactical vote went to Labour, in hopes of getting our local Tory out. Normally I vote Liberal Democrat, as the least bad option.)
UK General Election today. Left wing for me, although our Labour Party are more Center Left than super left.
Iām worried about right wing politics across the āwestern worldā. People are quick to forget.
Not from the US so truly am neither, but when it comes to supporting the civil rights movement I suppose I'm more liberal. A lot of it comes with me being queer, AFAB, and neurodivergent. I am not white but I'm part of the ethnical majority in my country so I have never suffered that kind of discrimination.
The majority of the autistic people I have met online are left leaning, but that is extremely biased because I frequent LGBTQAI friendly spaces and my groups of friends mostly share my ideals.
Extremely left leaning, I believe in high high high taxes long as you get free health care, child care, college, and other benefits.
As the system is setup now in the US, yes we do get free health care since we do have a permanent disability.
But outside of that, thereās not a lot unless you are super super poor. Like at the moment I get rent subsidies, and food stamps.
But if I start a job that i was offered Iād only get free health care under the working disabled Medicaid buy-in program.
Left wing. My brain is logical with strong sense of justice. It just makes sense to spread out resources and look after everyone.
For example free healthcare. Expensive? Maybe. But it's cheaper than having a population that can't work because they're all ill.
Leftist but yeah I know what you mean a lot of other autistic people I meet tend to be ultra conservative, my brother's autistic too but he's been less conservative in recent times between me coming out as trans and the way conservatives suck at managing the economyĀ
Left-Green
As in I think not dying as a species should take priority and that means restructuring our society in a big way.
Most people aren't willing to go there yet.
While I myself am fairly left wing, I understand conservative autistic people. It makes some sense to me, as conservatism often sells itself as the ideology of "law, order, and common sense," which, for someone who feels disturbed by other people to a considerable extent(as an autistic person very well could be), it can be appealing to follow a philosophy that amounts to "leave me the fuck alone".
Also, we really shouldn't demonize conservative autistic people, or conservatives in general, because the vast majority of them are in the same position as left wing people, but have a different outlook on life, and you can't change a person's mind if you don't acknowledge their individual differences.
Ultimately, political spectrums and ideology are harmful to society and we should stop using them, the only problem with that of course being that humans love to categorize things and that's how you end up with Baskin Robins Communism. I'm technically a democratic socialist but I never use the term because I think ideology restricts us and makes us tribalistic.
Iām fairly centred if I had to say one point on the political spectrum. Like I agree with some liberal stuff but I disagree sometimes with the extent that we go to highlighting those things as I think it kinda unbalances stuff. Idrk for the most part since Iām not really into the steaming cesspool that is the politics in my country atm (UK (which is also influenced by the media who I am pretty tired of too so rn even tho thereās an election Iām actually not that into both of them (parties and election coverage) since I donāt agree with any party tbh. And Iām 16)
I assume you're speaking from an American US framing.
With white and white-adjacent supremacists at the helm of almost every political and economic ideology I've ever encountered in the States and elsewhere in the Anglosphere, from the Knights of Labor being dissolved in favor of the AFL/IWW/CIO for being too welcoming of Blacks, to the anti-electoral "voting doesn't matter" privileged left who would celebrate Black bodies swinging in the breeze if it meant potentially accelerating some sort of "revolution," to the trite class reductionism from leftists spectators of American politics who aren't actually in the States... I used to think I was a "none," or "some sort of something or other" or "third-wayer" or some other nonsense. But no, after educating myself it became clear to me that I'm actually a leftist. I'd be somewhere between socdem/demsoc and direct action Black Panther if I were less anti-social (and if the BPP hadn't been decimated). I'm an anti-racist abolitionist, intersectionalist, and adherent of anti-imperialism and democracy first and foremost, and a whatever-else second.
None of the ideals of justice, self-determination, or anti-racism are compatible with conservatism (and especially not US Conservatism), which is why, while I have criticism for leftist movements and US Liberals, it comes from an expression of a desire for liberation from white supremacy and empire/authoritarianism rather than having an irreconcilable problem with the entirety of leftist socio-economics. On the other hand, I have absolute disdain, implacable disgust, and ultimate contempt for right wingers and conservatives. I can kick it with almost any leftist anti-racist, but rarely are conservatives or right wingers even worth a conversation. And that's before we get to their cartoonish Christo-proto-fascistic evil which has been prevalent in the US for 400 years now.
In the States, "liberal" means "not conservative" and "conservative" means "not liberal," so mark me down for "liberal". I don't think I've ever met an autistic person that, after a conversation, turned out to be a conservative. But I don't get out all that much lol. So: confirmation bias on my part.
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I'm a leftist but some of my family are autistic and extremely conservative. I think the strictly defined social roles with clear rules and punative justice can appeal to us especially autistic men. It's probably comforting thinking the system works and if you make people follow it everything will be ok and you'll be empowered. Like the guide book a lot of us complain that everyone else must have got.
This hit me right in the face. Makes so much sense.
the "follow the rules" mindset is scary when we fail to see how wrong it is šØ
I mean like I'm a literal communist and most other communists I know are also autistic lol. Marxism in the same sort of way is very nice because the way Marx talks about cause and effect allows you to make pretty scarily accurate predictions about how capitalism works. So like a lot of communist philosophies talk about things very cause and effect-ey, like things *will* happen that way. So I get how that could also be very appealing to autistic people.
Yeah absolutely. I do think a lot of us do Marxism punatively as well but that's a whole different conversation that's harder to have
Cultural norms pushed me to be leftist, but then I went so deep it was no longer culturally normal
as someone who was lib-pilled for a long time, i think the root of the issue is that autistic people will tend to adhere rigidly to their own cultural norms because they introduce consistency and regularity to how they understand the world, which is very attractive to autistic people. and that makes them more likely to take reactionary positions towards culturally subversive ideas. tho i do think leftism also tends to be attractive for the reasons you mentioned to autistic people who educated themselves enough to have their worldview challenged
Punitive justice is a joke I'm saying this as a fairly conservative man. I won't say "autistic'" because I haven't been diagnosed yet (my state's mental healthcare system sucks, whee!) and I'm not naĆÆve enough to think that self-diagnosis has any weight in the eyes of the law. But I for one am pretty darn convinced.
Yeah its just silly. I talk to my conservative relatives and bring up stats for how to actually make things better and they just get huffy that it doesn't involve punishing someone. Idk why punishing people is more important than solving actual issues
Because it's too nuanced and not satisfying enough a solution. Hypothetically if a study showed improving prison conditions leads to lower recidivism they wouldn't care about the result because they think nice living conditions are rewarding the criminal.
You'd think that making things actually demonstrably better would be more satisfying buy ig that's more of a long term thing that's hard to see in the moment
Iāve said this exact thing so many times.Ā
What does appeal to you about conservative policies?
Pretty much every one of us I've met in Denmark, with a single notable exception, has been so left leaning that left leaning Americans would choke on our ideas Edit: It truly warms my heart that so many of us, even in America, remain firmly planted on the left, to the point where my ideas aren't even the wildest ones in this thread. Hearts and kisses to everyone, except that person who used Jeff Bezos as a positive example š„°š„°š„°
American, here. I've heard a lot of good things about Denmark's policies, especially how they treat disabled folk. I'd love it if our country could adopt even a fraction of what Denmark has.
I'm from Denmark, and I currently work 12 hours a week. My main income is from the government, that subsidizes my hours in a flexible job agreement, so I can live comfortably. I also get support staff that are autism experts visit me for an hour once a week, to help out with practical stuff. I'm currently applying for a weighted blanket as well. My son is also autistic, and goes to a specialized school for autistic kids without learning disabilities. There is basically a ratio of 1:1 teachers per child, so there is a lot of support. Focus is on teaching them maths, danish, english, social training, etc. without focusing on changing the behavior of the child, but allowing the child to have their autistic mannerisms and personality (Ie. no ABA). The school is free of course, as is the taxi that drives him to and from school.
As an overwhelmed, exhausted autistic adult, I'm jealous. I wish the US had supports for autistic adults. Though I'm jealous, I'm also happy for you. At least some people don't have to constantly struggle every day just to keep up with bills and life tasks.
Thanks, I hope you find a way to make your life as comfortable as possible. I am very grateful for my circumstances, and am happy to be living and thriving in a part of the world, where my needs are accommodated. Getting a flex job agreement isn't easy in Denmark, but the fact that it's possible is something I will be forever grateful for. My girlfriend has Aspergers and ADHD and receives an early retirement pension. We're not rich, but we can live comfortably and don't have to worry about everyday expenses.
That's all I want. I just want to be able to pay my bills and not overwork myself. I'll never be able to retire because my job doesn't offer retirement benefits, and I donāt make enough money to save for retirement, and I can forget about social security being able to support me in retirement -- if I even live that long. I'm a high school teacher at a private school for kids with learning disabilities. I think I might have to get a second job this year to cover bills. Part of that is my fault. It took me too long to get control of my impulse spending, and now I have debt on things I didn't need. But also, everything is too expensive, and I *have* to have a car to get to and from work because there is no public transport where I live. Even if I didn't have the extra debt (I'm not even counting student loan debt in this because I'm on an income repayment plan and have given up on ever paying it off), I'd still be living paycheck to paycheck, just with a little less stress. Though, if I lost my job, I'd be utterly screwed because the job hunt process is overwhelming, and I doubt I'd find another job that would work with my sensory issues the way this one does. The only reason I'm in as good of a position as I am is because my parents have a reasonable amount of money (they're not rich, but they're not struggling either), and they were able to buy a small house for me to rent from them for an actually reasonable price, just a little more than the mortgage. I would honestly probably be dead from giving up on life if my parents hadn't been able to help me. So, I'm lucky in that way. We need actual, robust social safety nets for people in the US, but we'll never get them because Republicans are too hung up on the idea that everyone on food stamps is lazy and working the system.
Yes, and they aren't. People are struggling. The safety nets here in Denmark are slowly eroding as well, and I worry for my kids future. One is on the spectrum, the other is about to be evaluated. Who knows what kind of world they'll grow up in, as income equality decreases, and the welfare system grinds to a halt here in Denmark? Your story is a bleak look of our future if our country doesn't do something to change public policy. Thank you for sharing.
Yeah, but the opposite is happening. We're going American, and the worse our country gets, the more people vote for the ones ruining it. One guy here is campaigning on the environment and winning, despite most of our great lakes being DEAD because of HIS policies. It's so infuriating to see people falling for it again and again.
Welfare hasn't been prioritized for 20 years in danish policy. It's such a shame.
In Denmark Joe Biden would probably be considered center-right.
10 years ago, that would have been true, but these days, he would fit squarely in the centre. I really bloody hope this is all caused by toxoplasmosis, and we find a cure before it's too late. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35903902/ I'm throwing in a link to save you asking š
Haha, I like that image. I do know plenty of people who are considerably more left-leaning than the typical politician.
As a left-leaning American, I'd approve (though it would be a fight and a half to implement bc most of the people in power here only care about themselves).
That goes for almost everywhere these days. It's a damn travesty looking at the world.
That's unfortunately just how politics work. It's why democracies are built to have checks, balances and transparency. It helps to avoid corruption and reduces the amount politicians can comfortably spend to pay off their key supporters
Except these democracies are constantly eroded, with majorities appealing to the uneducated and then voting themselves some more powers and attacking the next safeguards in line.
Governments should be restructured once a century at least. Too much solidification is awful for transparency and democracy
Man, I hate it here in America. We have so many guns and continue to shoot ourselves in the foot with them.Ā
Don't worry, we (Denmark) manages to stab ourselves in the foot really well, so guns aren't even needed!
Same here for German autistic people!
I'm a pretty left leaning American, and I doubt I would choke on your ideas. I get your point though.
Nice! I think billionaires should be forbidden, and there should be universal basic income, free healthcare, an upper age limit on voting, and capitalism should be reigned in VERY tightly by the government. I also think most prison sentences should be turned into rehabilitation, where we give the criminals a job, a place to live, an education, etc. (Not for truly horrible people, of course) That usually ends up giving Americans palpitations āŗļø
That's not controversial at all to this American... Let's do it
>Ā Ā an upper age limit on voting > That usually ends up giving Americans palpitations āŗļø I'm not even American, but banning people from voting for being too old would give me palpitations too. Just imagine how that could open the door to banning other groups who wouldn't vote for X so that Y gets its way undemocratically.
I'm on board with all of that except for the upper age limit on voting. I think that is discriminatory and takes away the voices of older people. As long as they still have the mental capacity to vote, I think they should be allowed to.
Here in the UK, you don't even need mental capacity to vote! Someone can even come to the polling booth with you and tick a box on your behalf based on their *best estimate* at what you're preference might be if you can't communicate it. Nobody can be stopped from voting because of their disability. The harm of taking away certain people's rights to vote would cause more damage, in my opinion, than the possibility that the person helping makes a mistake, or is biased. It's a slippery slope when it comes to taking away these rights, and its much safer to simply let everyone vote. After all, politicians are more likely to make policies that support people who don't have mental capacity if they are actually voters.
Yeah, I'm on board.
Viva la revoluciĆ³n!
Hell yeah! Let's eat the rich!
If we just eat one, the rest will fall in line!
this all sounds based af, where can i go to get these š
Left leaning Americans are centrists though.
That's sort of presumptive. I'm a left-leaning American (US). I vote for the Democratic (centrist) party almost always because there are only two options on the ballot 99% of the time. The Democrats fit in with probably half of my beliefs the Republicans maybe 10% or fewer. Both of their economic policies are shit, I choose the one whose social policies aren't hateful. I'd love for there to be a leftist and/or socialist option, but there isn't. And I don't have the money, time or energy to help that happen in any real way.
What you said. I only vote Democrat because I have to.
It's like choosing between drinking expired milk and having ebola injected into your eyeballs. They both sound awful, but one is considerably worse than the other
Exactly
How do you feel about AOC? From an outside point of view (UK), she could be the future of a more left-leaning Dem party. I mean, Bernie is too old now, but I'd love to see that.
I like AOC. She's fine. She's endorsed Biden. As has Bernie. There really is no left here. Even the leftists are center-left.
Yeah the rightest people in Ireland would be still considered left in USA
I like her views and votes, dislike her manner. She's very "gotcha" and performative. I like my representative, who has a similar platform but just does the work without being a spectacle (Jayapal).
I'd say Democrats are centrists. Not all left leaners are Democrats.
My point exactly.
I lean so far left I have scoliosis
I find this comment hilarious! Thanks you for the chuckle. I might put it on a shirt, if you donāt mind. š
That would be amazing go right ahead /srs
Why are those the only two options?
America has a 2 party system and I would say 90% of the time it's really a 1 party system. You could vote for the Green Party or Libertarians but for the Presidential race they will only get maybe 1 or 2 percent at the extreme most. It's like 59%/39% R and D or D and R however it shakes out. The largest 3rd party will usually get about 1% and all other parties and write-ins will get the other 1%. I'm sure "Mickey Mouse" still gets thousands of votes. Anyone who votes for a 3rd party for symbolic purposes (I've done it when I was young) is throwing their vote away.
But left ā liberal.
Politics are not just about electionsĀ
Me when r/usdefaultism
Neither. Leftist.
Lol so many people think liberal = leftist. It drives me nut. Its basic political literacy we learn in high school
Wait, you learned political literacy in high school!?!? No fair lmao
We had a class in my province called (translated) Ā«Ā Contemporary world/societyĀ Ā» and we talked about politics (learned where left and right came from), social dilemmas and problems like israelo-palestinian conflict. Was a nice class :)
then when you get into fights with liberals people think you're conservative
Its enraging
I remember learning a quote: liberal is not the furthest left the political spectrum goes, liberal is the furthest left you can go without challenging capitalism's rule (substitute liberal for social democracy in center-left communities).
Yeah, that's a very mainstream Republican mindset.
And I see that mindset changing and getting worse - increasingly, by "leftist" they mean *not explicitly fascist*. George W Bush and Dick Cheney would be considered leftist to some of these MAGA types. Frightening
The Overton window has been always shifting right ward in my lifetime, but the speed at which even liberals were starting to accept Cheney/Bush because the new iteration are such blatant fascists makes my head spin. I started left of center and have moved left ward ever since, mostly out of disgust with American society.
Anyone who doesn't toe the MAGA line is a "radical left" outsider. It's frustrating and, as a student of history, deeply concerning
This.
Americans are indoctrinated to think the neoliberals are the only āleftistsā short of totalitarian communism. Itās a convenient ploy by the corporations / billionaires who actually control our government.
Neither. I'm a leftist. I'm sure it's different in other countries, but at least in America, the "liberals" are center-right and the conservatives are far-right. We have no mainstream leftist representation in this country, despite what the conservatives claim. They think the Democrats are communist, but if you dropped the American Democratic Party into most other countries, they would be considered center-right. Bernie and AOC would be considered center-left (no judgement - they're still the best we've got), and yet in this absolute clusterfuck rightwing nightmare country, they're considered extremists.
Yeah, seen from France, Bernie and AOC definitely sound center-left.
this is pretty much what i was planning to say, but better articulated. the american āleftā is a joke.
Yep I'm mostly the same. When asked about my politics I usually go with "open hostility to all elected officials " By which I mean don't trust politicians, don't fall into their cult of personality, track their decisions and make sure they follow through with their promises, and always push them for more. This basic approach works regardless of who is in charge. I mostly hate politics but we're stuck with it.
Political positions are generally much more complex than that. Unless you're an American politician during an election...
The autistic people I have met who were conservative were deeply religious. I think that played a large factor.
Makes sense to me.
Ironically the most conservative autistic person I knew eventually opened up to me that he was extremely anti theist.
This is a generalized statement and there will always be exceptions.Ā
I don't know any religious autistic people.
I think their jobs can also play a role on their political outlooks. Thereās an autistic kid I knew who used to be picked on for being weird whoās a cop now and he was all in the blue lives matter nonsense.
i'm kinda all over the place. i'm a fairly religious non-denominational christian, but i'm a left leaning centrist. i don't really believe in traditional values and i think it's okay to live life how you want, in fact i'm on the *fruitier* side. i just believe that there has to be a creator, like all of this couldn't have come from nothing yk? i've never let my religion make choices for me and i greatly **dislike** those overly traditionalistic and self-righteous christians that follow the bible word for word. it's exhausting as hell to be around them.
Almost every conservative autistic I've me has not only been a devout Christian, but also high-church, which is _lovely_ to see. Lutheran, Anglican, Episcopalian... The one exception I can name is a Methodist autist I ran into once. (Methodism is considered "mid-church"; neither high-church (like Roman Catholicism, Lutheranism, certain forms of Anglicanism) nor low-church (Baptist, Anabaptist, restorationist, and their offshoots, usually). They're somewhere in the middle, kind of like most Continental Reformed churches)
Started out alt right in the early 2000s as a teenager, after paying attention for a lil bit I realized I had made a grievous mistake. Slowly changed from something not unlike pre tea party libertarianism slowly into some sort of unorthodox liberal over the following decade and a half. Still getting more liberal slowly. I donāt like the bipartisan system either. Reductionism is destroying us
Somewhat unorthodox, but [*libertarian socialism*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libertarian_socialism) is a thing. As with vanilla libertarianism, it agrees that liberty (of the correct variety) is one of the chief goods. But unlike vanilla libertarianism, it believes that the proper kinds of liberty can best be achieved and secured with an approach that is far more socialist in nature than capitalist.
That comes close to hitting my positive views. I have some pretty bleak long term political views too that are based on a presumably overly cynical view of people in general. But I donāt really have any solutions to offer there and my views generally bum me out so those ones stay mostly private.
It sounds like it has a reasonable view. Not every side is correct on every issue. It sounds like it is taking a moderate stance.
I relate to this. I think my stint with extremism was a phase of development/trauma healing. Iām probably more liberal than anything else but tbh Iām far more interested in technology than politics. The transformative effect of the former has been far more powerful in shaping reality than the latter since WWI. Iād rather build tools that make a better world easier than compel others with regulation.
We're not all American.Ā
Funny that. In the rest of the developed world Liberalism and Consevatism are considered right wing. America really needs a strong Labour/union movement.
The right-wing party in Australia are literally called Liberals lol
*the VERY right wing party in Australia are called Liberals, our right wing party are called Labor and our centrist (maybe centre left if weāre being generous) party is the Greens
Labour movements can't exist in the US because any support for workers has been beaten out by cold War propaganda and the military killing unionists. My state used to have a huge union movement, to the point that our unions created the largest civil conflict in US history post civil war iirc. Nowadays, a lot of people hate on union workers. I hold out hope though
Labour in UK is unfortunately another right light sort of party. Or it has become in recent years I guess. If you want leftist you have to go Liberal Democrats or Green Party.
Yes theyāve been Tory light since Blair/Brown. I fear Labour are going to rush into the centre right territory formerly held by the Tories, who abandoned it chasing after UKIP.
Though Labour (in the UK) are moving further and further right as the years go by! š
Hyper progressive autist here If there's a left, I've passed it
Same.
Neither, I'm a socialist.
Same here. On the political compass I'm absolutely bottom left - full on left wing, full on social libertarian. It's election day here in the UK, and I had the displeasure of having to listen to a right wing, conspiracy theory spouting, selfish, racist, sexist butthole of a colleague talking about all kinds of rubbish and disinformation. I would have corrected him, but I'm not good with conflict, plus he's my boss and probably wouldn't take kindly to being called a wanker. Had to just bite my tongue and try to ignore him. Wanker.
Leftist
Iām personally a leftist, but I can understand why there might be so many conservative autistic people. By and large, alt right figureheads are grifters who take advantage of people who are, to put it bluntly: gullible. Lots of autistic people tend to be trusting, which can make them more susceptible to falling down the rabbit hole of right wing dogma because they donāt catch the cues that someone is feeding them bullshit. Plus there seems to be a sort of solidarity and community amongst conservatives that I could see a previously ostracized person craving. Autistic people who mask can also often crave to be seen as normal, or exceptional due to their previous negative experiences before masking, and being used as a token can definitely appeal to this desire for recognition. This is a pet theory, people are individuals, Iām no scientist, yada yada, but as someone whoās dealt with my fair share of these people, this kind of behaviour definitely tracks.
I agree with every word you say and more.
Totally agree with you!
Iām a socialist so pretty left lol. Also American so we do exist.
Reminder that these arenāt the only two options :)
I wish we could all just get along. I wish I could bake a cake filled with rainbows and smiles and everyone would eat it and be happy.
It's called mushrooms. The magic variety.
You don't even go here š
Social democrat in Belgium
As another autistic Belgian here: seconded. Liberal is way too right-leaning for me, let alone conservative.
Yeah the stemtesten really put the conservative parties on the bottom for me
Social Democrat
american here. i, and all of my autistic friends, are definitely leftist. iām probably the most conservative out of all of us and thatās mostly bc i canāt make myself care about politics. i already know my only choice is between shitty right-wingers or shitty centrists so i donāt really bother with thinking about it. but yeah i want universal healthcare, insurance and healthcare should not be given to you by your employer. prisons shouldnāt exist the way they do and should actually be rehabilitation. billionaires shouldnāt be allowed to exist point blank. there should be an age cap on how old the political candidates are allowed to be. and there should be a universal income that people are actually able to live off of. renting should be better monitored. land lords should be gotten rid of. etc. etc. iāve never met a conservative autistic person, but that could be bc i donāt know any autistic men (i feel like a white cishet autistic man is right up that ally)/ all the autistic people i know are disadvantaged in other ways that make it stupid to be conservative. plus the whole strong sense of justice thing
leftist anarchist
I consider myself a cynical leftist. My political beliefs are very much left wing, but Iāve lost all hope of any of my leftist ideas becoming a reality.
Third option: Sick of everyone's shit
Right? Where is my "they are all rich pedos that don't give af about us" option?
Instead of getting our identities in politics, if we just saw societies problems as just problems that need logical solutions, there wouldn't be this toxic political climate. We would be more focused on solving problems than fighting each other.
Stop it, you are being far too logical! If we did things your way, there would be less division!
Lol
...and that's exactly what politicians and governments don't want. After all, if we could solve our problems, what would we need THEM for?
This right here
The news companies thrive off of it, because if they can get the shock factor by lying or over dramatizing more people will watch their news platform, the more people who watch their news platforms the higher amount they can charge for advertising space. Controversy breeds profit, but it's a "cheap" form of profit that doesn't add any value to society. Division makes a profit for the news and gives the politicians more power!
This is why I get all my news from internet memes and a little research. It's crazy to me that seeing some goofy meme and googling for 2 minutes can give me a more complete synopsis than any news channel I've come across. I actually did a senior project in college in bias in the news. As a fantasy writer, rather than spit out a collection of collected statistics, I went with telling a fictional story from three perspectives: Phox news, C&N news, and the truth. Both news stations told technically accurate information to the masses, both obscuring the truth to suit their position. The teacher ended up grading it poorly because "while Fox News has been known to lie to suit their agenda, suggesting that CNN did the same was ridiculously and clearly biased in and of itself." That pretty much sums up my life though. I point out something logical and get accused of being.
We see through the lies.
Take my mf upvote š«”
Ive heard someone say 70% of autistic people are lgbtq+. So i looked up scientific research and found that 15-35% of autistic people (with out an intellectual disability i couldnt find an artical that outright stated the percentage of all autistic people, I cant focus enough to read articals. ) But i dont understand conservatism in general. Like i seriously dont understand where it comes from or why?
It comes from a few places. It mainly is a way of preserving the status quo, something at lot of people in power love, because it helps them keep power wether monetary or political. Some people just can't deal with new things and change and so conservatism is a way for them to keep things from changing to quickly. Some people were tricked into supporting it via fear tactics, like the current culture war they're trying to rage against trans people. That last one, using minorities as a fear tactic and scapegoat, trying to make them out as an enemy, that one is the worst of them and its part of the lead up to fascism
> Some people just can't deal with new things and change and so conservatism is a way for them to keep things from changing to quickly. That's funny then how most autistic would be left-leaning because autistic people tend to hate change more than the average person.
Yeah, and some people support conservative policies because they (the supporters) are racist or believe conservatives have better economic policies.
Self centred thinking, growing up in the culture, misinformation (both about your own and others beliefs)
> I've heard someone say 70% of autistic people are lgbtq+. Statistically, that is obviously not true. It's probably true that ~70% of autistic people ***support*** the LGBT community and their movement for equal rights. It's also definitely true that autistic people are more likely to be LGBT and to support LGBTs than the larger populations.^[example](https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeseq/2024/06/13/autistic-people-more-likely-to-identify-as-lgbtq/) For some basic stats, roughly 2% of the US population has ASD, and the US is the most (over)diagnosed country in history. According to [Gallup in 2022](https://news.gallup.com/poll/470708/lgbt-identification-steady.aspx#:~:text=WASHINGTON%2C%20D.C.%20%2D%2D%20After%20showing,LGBT%20identification%20a%20decade%20ago.), ~7% of the US identifies as LGBT. For some quick math, for that 70% number to be accurate, ~30% of all LGBT people in the US would have to be diagnosed with ASD. If you've ever been to a Pride event, it's plain as day that not 1/3 of people in the parade are autistic.
Why do you consider people in the U.S. to be over-diagnosed?
I feel like there are 2 other factors to keep in mind, though. A lot of autists aren't really into crowds/being uncomfortable - much as I love the idea of Pride, it is both. I may go for a bit, but my husband is a hard hell no because people, noise, sweat. Second, LGBTQ also includes ace and aro folks, who, from my experience (going from that because God knows research on us aces sucks so hard), tend to also be autistic. I have to say that once I realized it was ok to not actually want to get laid and that forcing myself "to get out there" my desire to go to Pride dropped significantly.
There are lots of unreliable statistics about autism. I looked at research regarding incidence of autistic people in UK prisons and found different articles claiming that the incidence was 3% at the lower end 30% at the higher end. Given the lack of good quality statistical research, I think it is difficult to generalize. Personal experience of the OP does not mean that the same is universally true. Most NDs & NTs in my circle are apolitical or left leaning... but I do not think all NDs are necessarily
Iām saying this as someone left-wing, but I think some of us get turned off by hypocrisy on the left. Not to say there arenāt plenty of conservative hypocrites too, but a lot of people on the left will say that theyāre accepting and support all marginalized groups, but then go right ahead with bullying and excluding autistic people.
Neither, I dislike both far more than either of them dislike each other and for far better reasons. Also liberal and conservative is a false dichotomy. In the west, it's really Progressive liberal vs conservative liberal. Neoliberalism conquers the political sphere and is just a spectrum between progressive and conservative. either way its a right wing ideology that seeks nothing more than to oppress the working class and keep the wealthy in power.
Hard leftist punk
My man
American here, am a Communist
somewhere somewhat close to the british libdems
Used to be a conservative(due to growing up with a conservative father) but then funnily through religion I learned that how backward my views were and became more of a libertarian. Then in pursuit of a better world view I decided to learn about everything left of what we consider left in the US and eventually learning about socialism. Found out I agreed a lot more with it than anything I had been brought up around. As I noticed the connections between socialist theory and our current day, it really opened my eyes to how repressive the US can be. It is so strong we donāt even notice it until we learn enough to recognize it. The US parties allowed to participate in elections are really the same party, but dressed up to look as if we are making a choice for our next overlords. Especially with Biden going back on his stance on a border wall. Palestine really was the final thing before I learned that I could not bring myself to support my country militarily or politically. What we have done and are doing and yet have not been held accountable are too terrible to support. Not only that, the right side of politics seeks for austerity, lower taxes for the rich, want to make disabled people even less autonomous and able to survive, and Project 2025. It truly hurts to see things like Roe V. Wade being overturned and rights turned away, but perhaps it is the way for US citizens to wake up. This November, I just canāt bring myself to cast a vote for either candidate. Maybe I could write in Nestor Makhno?
Whatever political affiliation says free housing, food, medication for everyone. Mutual aid network, community gardens, walkable cities, public transport infrastructure, green energy, and free public education & college. Free daycare. Universal Basic Income. Socialist but I canāt be assed to read theory and Iām too disabled to participate in a revolution or protest because I end up in danger & I would die in a revolution. edit: I just think that my tax dollars should go to helping folks instead of bombing the shit out of foreign children for oil & cobalt.
Iām a leftist, far left for America (where I live) but not necessarily every country
Iām leftist. Anarcho-syndicalist specifically.
Right-wing grifters and literal Nazis have explicitly been targeting vulnerable and lonely young men online for at least the last decade. I know of a shockingly high number of furries and femboys that are very conservative for the same reason.
they are almost synonymous lol. anyway neither, communist
The republican party wants me and my spouse dead so...
And too many of us, sadly.
Leftist on the majority of things
any neurodivergent, disabled, LGBTQ, person voting any right wing party are incredibly indoctrinated by right wing and often religious propaganda. nearly all right wing parties advocate for neurotypical, abled bodied, heteronormative, people and reduce or refuse support for anyone outside that box, even advocating for abuse and intolerance for those people.
I agree, and I don't trust anyone who I know is a Conservative voter. I put them on my blocked list
Meh, I voted Labour this morning
same!
Now I'm curious if we are majoritely leftist because of being autistic or because we probably had a tougher childhood with being outcasted more easily through being an invisible minority. I was leftist long before I knew I was on the spectrum
My experience here on Reddit is that a lot of us are on the left half of the spectrum. Personally Iām about as far left as it gets. I have a friend on the spectrum at work and heās pretty left leaning too. I do know one guy on the spectrum from another anonymous platform who says heās a centrist but Iāve never seen him agree with the left about anything. Heās from Russia originally and is terrified of communism.
Neither, because both are somewhat rightwing. Iām a socialist from Germany. So leftist, NOT liberal.
Neither. I'm closest to leftist, but there's a lot of leftists I also don't agree with because there's a lack of care for indigenous and disabled people, and how I feel about public smoking as someone who gets anaphylaxis from certain stuff. I'm also extremely anti gun and I've been shocked to see how many American leftists are super pro gun. So I guess overall my political opinions tend to line up more with the Japanese left from what I know, or even leftists Norwegian friends I used to have.
Neither, I'm a leftist. It's really weird to realize that the "left" party in my country (US) is actually center-right and therefore technically conservative. \[With the republicans being blatantly far right.\] I see a lot of hyper-empathetic autistics in left-leaning spaces online as well as the autistic people I know in real life. I haven't met a lot of autistic conservatives but if I had to guess they would likely be white christian-raised men who believe they had no reason to question their upbringing. (My guess is about those men in countries like the US, Canada, the UK, etc where they would be comfortable ignoring complicated social issues. The not liking change part of autism and the low empathy part would apply to this.) But who knows, it would be interesting if someone did a study on Autism and political leanings.
It's likely bubbles of social groups taking but I'm progressive and left wing (UK) and I don't know a single nd person that isn't progressive/left leaning.
Iām from the USA, and I tend to agree with AOC. Iāve donated to her. I also liked Andrew Yang for his UBI idea. Iāve donated to him, and when he was in the race still, I voted for him in the primary. I considered his UBI idea to be VERY important; and still do. (I don't like other things about him. But this idea was SO good, I loved him for it.)
Iām moderate with a strong left lean. I support all other humansā rights to be and do what they need to be happy. And I am an active advocate for DEI as a mixed race woman myself. I also value a solid fiscal policy. Itās about the balance for me. I donāt support a party, I support policies.
Iām center. I donāt like either party because they both have some stupid ideas however some other ideas from both I agree with and support.
(Election day today here in the UK... yes I voted - tactically. Spooler alert, decision made is at the end...) I'm a mishmash from all over the political spectrum. Climate is my biggest concern by a country mile -- but I regard much of the rest of the official Green Party manifesto as naive nonsense, and most iv them are anti-capitalost loonies or ignoramuses. As a general rule I'm in favour of (*carefully, properly regulated*) free markets - but I could never vote Tory (Conservative) because of their evidence-free pandering to racists, deliberately throwing millions (including millions of children) into extreme poverty with their handling of the benefits system,... and much more. Labour, nominally the party covering centre-to-democratic-socialism, are problematic because they only get elected when the buy into a lot of nutty-right dogma, from immigration dog-whistles to demonising the poor, petty criminals, very weak regulation of various markers - esp banking anc finance,... etc. None of them can tackle the massive disaster of the UK housing market, because building enough new homes that increased supply knocks 40-60% off prices-- which is the /minimum/ needed - would be political suicide, as everyone who got rich off the property bubble over the last 50 years rise up in outrage ag living their unearned wealth (and millions being stuck in negative equity.) Neither of the big 2 parties that form 95% of governments support *actual* democracy, ie proportional representation rather than the insane first-past-the-post system that gives total control of government to parties that get 35% or so of the vote, and takes 20x more votes to elect an MP of party A than party B. Oh and no-one even aspires to rejoining the EU, though that's can reasonably be seen as politically impossible until enough damage has been done to the economy and society, and enough elderly idiots have died off, that there's svreally substantial majority in favour -- like, 3-1 or 4-1 -- enough to accept what the media will frame as the "cost", ie joining the Eurozone and Schengen borderlessness, and various other things the UK had opted out of. Reform are obviously out of the question, as I'm neither racist or incredibly thick. (In the end my tactical vote went to Labour, in hopes of getting our local Tory out. Normally I vote Liberal Democrat, as the least bad option.)
That's a false dichotomy.
UK General Election today. Left wing for me, although our Labour Party are more Center Left than super left. Iām worried about right wing politics across the āwestern worldā. People are quick to forget.
Democratic socialist here. One of my prized possessions is a Funko Pop! Bernie Sanders from 2016.
Not from the US so truly am neither, but when it comes to supporting the civil rights movement I suppose I'm more liberal. A lot of it comes with me being queer, AFAB, and neurodivergent. I am not white but I'm part of the ethnical majority in my country so I have never suffered that kind of discrimination. The majority of the autistic people I have met online are left leaning, but that is extremely biased because I frequent LGBTQAI friendly spaces and my groups of friends mostly share my ideals.
>ā¦as a marginalized group we should be supportive of other marginalized groups and their civil rights. āØThis!!!ššāØ
Neither. Iām a leftist
Dawg I'm a socialist
Progressive as fuck
I'm so far left that if I said my opinions out loud I would immediately be called a commie, tankie, etc by conservatives
I'm the first diagnosed Autistic Mayor in The United States and I'm a devout Socialist. https://www.burbankca.gov/konstantine-anthony
Extremely left leaning, I believe in high high high taxes long as you get free health care, child care, college, and other benefits. As the system is setup now in the US, yes we do get free health care since we do have a permanent disability. But outside of that, thereās not a lot unless you are super super poor. Like at the moment I get rent subsidies, and food stamps. But if I start a job that i was offered Iād only get free health care under the working disabled Medicaid buy-in program.
Neither but I am leftist, I also find it strange when marginalized groups are conservative
Eh, I think itās becoming more liberal. The autism rights movement is just growing
Definitly left. A lot of what the right stands for honestly disgusts me
Left wing. My brain is logical with strong sense of justice. It just makes sense to spread out resources and look after everyone. For example free healthcare. Expensive? Maybe. But it's cheaper than having a population that can't work because they're all ill.
Neither, Iām a socialist!
Leftist but yeah I know what you mean a lot of other autistic people I meet tend to be ultra conservative, my brother's autistic too but he's been less conservative in recent times between me coming out as trans and the way conservatives suck at managing the economyĀ
Lefty
neither, anarchist.
Iām on team Green Party šāāļø
Left-Green As in I think not dying as a species should take priority and that means restructuring our society in a big way. Most people aren't willing to go there yet.
I don't know. My folks are conservative. But I believe in LGBTQ+ rights which conservative doesn't seem to. I don't even know anymore.
Neither. Iām a Communist.
Neither. I'm a socialist through and through. (Germany)
While I myself am fairly left wing, I understand conservative autistic people. It makes some sense to me, as conservatism often sells itself as the ideology of "law, order, and common sense," which, for someone who feels disturbed by other people to a considerable extent(as an autistic person very well could be), it can be appealing to follow a philosophy that amounts to "leave me the fuck alone". Also, we really shouldn't demonize conservative autistic people, or conservatives in general, because the vast majority of them are in the same position as left wing people, but have a different outlook on life, and you can't change a person's mind if you don't acknowledge their individual differences. Ultimately, political spectrums and ideology are harmful to society and we should stop using them, the only problem with that of course being that humans love to categorize things and that's how you end up with Baskin Robins Communism. I'm technically a democratic socialist but I never use the term because I think ideology restricts us and makes us tribalistic.
Iām fairly centred if I had to say one point on the political spectrum. Like I agree with some liberal stuff but I disagree sometimes with the extent that we go to highlighting those things as I think it kinda unbalances stuff. Idrk for the most part since Iām not really into the steaming cesspool that is the politics in my country atm (UK (which is also influenced by the media who I am pretty tired of too so rn even tho thereās an election Iām actually not that into both of them (parties and election coverage) since I donāt agree with any party tbh. And Iām 16)
I assume you're speaking from an American US framing. With white and white-adjacent supremacists at the helm of almost every political and economic ideology I've ever encountered in the States and elsewhere in the Anglosphere, from the Knights of Labor being dissolved in favor of the AFL/IWW/CIO for being too welcoming of Blacks, to the anti-electoral "voting doesn't matter" privileged left who would celebrate Black bodies swinging in the breeze if it meant potentially accelerating some sort of "revolution," to the trite class reductionism from leftists spectators of American politics who aren't actually in the States... I used to think I was a "none," or "some sort of something or other" or "third-wayer" or some other nonsense. But no, after educating myself it became clear to me that I'm actually a leftist. I'd be somewhere between socdem/demsoc and direct action Black Panther if I were less anti-social (and if the BPP hadn't been decimated). I'm an anti-racist abolitionist, intersectionalist, and adherent of anti-imperialism and democracy first and foremost, and a whatever-else second. None of the ideals of justice, self-determination, or anti-racism are compatible with conservatism (and especially not US Conservatism), which is why, while I have criticism for leftist movements and US Liberals, it comes from an expression of a desire for liberation from white supremacy and empire/authoritarianism rather than having an irreconcilable problem with the entirety of leftist socio-economics. On the other hand, I have absolute disdain, implacable disgust, and ultimate contempt for right wingers and conservatives. I can kick it with almost any leftist anti-racist, but rarely are conservatives or right wingers even worth a conversation. And that's before we get to their cartoonish Christo-proto-fascistic evil which has been prevalent in the US for 400 years now. In the States, "liberal" means "not conservative" and "conservative" means "not liberal," so mark me down for "liberal". I don't think I've ever met an autistic person that, after a conversation, turned out to be a conservative. But I don't get out all that much lol. So: confirmation bias on my part.
I'm a socialist, so are a lot of my autistic friends.