Are far-left and far-right political extremes equally harmful?

[Danielle93]

I consider myself central leftist but not radical, ultra leftist. That would be already communism and socialism, against capitalism. I like a regulated market based economy.

But honestly just like all extremes in life are bad, are those two polar extremes also negative? Donald Trump seems like a radical rightwing; far right.

[Chazmatazz269]

Drumpf is not far right at all. He has done very little that extremely popular democrats haven’t done before. In fact, he was a lifelong democrat supporter before he actually ran for president.
The radical left is absolutely more dangerous than the far right is now. People who argue otherwise typically conflate radical ideologies that aren’t political in nature with conservatism. This is particularly true with religious ideologies. Despite radical Christianity and radical Islam being diametrically opposed, leftists group them together under “rightwing” for reporting purposes. There just aren’t that many people committing acts of violence in the name of their rightwing political ideologies. Extremely devout Christians aren’t supporting republicans or democrats. The entire premise is a complete fallacy.
Meanwhile, violent liberals are actually inscribing their knives and bullet casings with leftist rhetoric, and posting their radical agenda on social media. Even the ones who aren’t committing the crimes are being extremely vocal about supporting the assassination of our president and anyone else who opposes their ideology. We’re just not seeing that as much on the right.

[Lliam]

Yes.

Far left is exemplified by authoritarian regimes like the USSR, Maoist China, and Pol Pot's Cambodia. It eradicates history and destroys traditional cultures.

The far right is exemplified by dictators like Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, Pinochet and Soharto. They are characterized by extreme social hierarchy and the suppression of democratic institutions. They often enforce rigid racial, ethnic, or religious supremacism and rely heavily on militarism and the centralization of state power.

Both impose their agendas on the populations by force.

People on the far-left or far-right are, by definition radical and fanatical. They don't care about the rights of others. They are full of antipathy and capable of violence and murder. This is, of course, the result of extreme ignorance.

[Kaneki05]

trumps not far right, you go back 20 years he'd be considered a democrat and in fact claimed himself was. Just democrats have shifted positions yet still aren't really more for pretense of ideals for PR reasons.
trump don't care to do that therefore he comes across as extreme in every media outlet.
But anyway yes, to answer the question yes though equally nothing gets done without extreme action, which is why nothing works and of course government don't want extreme action as it leads to unpredictable outcomes so we live in a world of red tape and 1 step forth one step back. With an every now and then 2 step back or forth.

[loveslongnails]

Oh Danielle... you're living in the USA, where it's capitalism for corporations so long as they're profitable and paying shareholders, but then SOCIALISM when they fail and need to be bailed out by your taxpayer dollars.

Try not to lose focus by using these terms, and be aware that out of control capitalism and income disparity is exactly why the US is in the position it's in with a $38 Trillion dollar debt, and why your dollar doesn't buy much anymore.

Trump is not radical anything. He's a puppet for a right wing, fascist agent and little more than a corrupt capitalist, to the extreme. He doesn't care about the political end, only the money.

That said, both extremes are harmful.

[BCRanger10]

Yes, they are. But I assure you that Donald Trump is most definitely NOT "extremely far-right". Just compare the 2016 and 2024 RNC platforms and you'll see how dramatically they watered down the language on abortion, marriage, and how many times they referred to God by name. If anything, Trump has more in common with the Democrats of the 1980s and 1990s than anything these days.

[Ariesman81Nshiiit]

I would say anyone who considers themselves "independent" or "center" just hasn't developed a code of ethics to live by and are easily swayed depending on what they think will benefit themselves the most. I have more respect for a far leftist than a centrist, because at least a far leftist is principled, even though I disagree with the principles.

[Anonymous]

Both are harmful, but not equally harmful as there are more members of the far left then there is the far right, so that makes far left political extremes more harmful. On paper both ideas are equally harmful, but once you add members into the mix, far left is more harmful as there are more people pushing for it.

[FrodoSkywalker007]

I would say far left ideology has more influence on society, while the far right is on the fringe. It's largely the left that is responsible for the culture war.

[strateguy632]

no because anti trump tried to assassinate trump.

[exitseven]

No, far left extremists are trying to turn America into a communist country. Far right extremists want to raise a family and have a job.

[Danielle93]

Actually Hitler and the KKK clan are described extremely right extremist, total ultra right.

[exitseven]

The KKK was founded by democrats and Hitler was a socialist.

[Kelly6]

@Danielle93 both sides are harmful

[jahaims]

Stupid people are obviously a net negative

[blackeagle007]

Far is too far

[kinks1951]

Extremely