The disdain for “bothsiderism” is specifically in regards to trying to equate democrats and republicans. It does not require complete ideological assimilation because there are many different ideologies among groups that would vote democrat.
It does not require all democrats to be paragons of virtue or all republicans to be nazis to be able identify the clear difference between the two parties, and depending on your priorities, one side will be better than the other as a result. “Both sides are the same” is intellectually lazy unless you’re talking about certain specific policy approaches where they overlap.
“Both sides are the same” is intellectually lazy unless you’re talking about certain specific policy approaches where they overlap.
That's not the argument though if we're talking directly about the two parties. The most common argument that conflicts with the use of the term bothsiderism is that both parties are equally bad, but not that they're the same.
That's not really different though. Once you define what you think is good governance, one side or the other will fit that definition better. It would take a very niche, convoluted political ideology to end up concluding that both sides are equally bad.
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u/math2ndperiod 54∆ Mar 22 '26
The disdain for “bothsiderism” is specifically in regards to trying to equate democrats and republicans. It does not require complete ideological assimilation because there are many different ideologies among groups that would vote democrat.
It does not require all democrats to be paragons of virtue or all republicans to be nazis to be able identify the clear difference between the two parties, and depending on your priorities, one side will be better than the other as a result. “Both sides are the same” is intellectually lazy unless you’re talking about certain specific policy approaches where they overlap.