# Am I a hard-core lefty, like I tell people?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-hard-core-lefty-like-i-tell-people/946516
**Category:** Politics & Elections
**Created:** [July 14, 2021, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-hard-core-lefty-like-i-tell-people/946516 "2021-07-14T22:33:41Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Roger\_That](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roger_That)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2021, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-hard-core-lefty-like-i-tell-people/946516/1 "2021-07-14T22:33:41Z")
To simplify things and be as straight as possible, I often describe myself as a very hard-core committed leftist, but truth to tell, I’m bored by political theorizing, felt completely overwhelmed by all the Adam Smith/Karl Marx/ etc. reading in my poli-sci classes in college (and forgot what little I learned two weeks after finals), have no interest in economic theory, and I just realized that my entire line of political thinking is extremely simple: people need to distribute resources (such money, goods, access to health care) more equitably. That’s it.
Since leftists seem to assume that principle to be a given (and yak all day and night about how best to accomplish it), and righties are horrified by its implications, I feel ok as describing my political beliefs as left-wing, but am curious to know if you think that it’s too shallow, naive, insubstantial to be much of anything. Am I a lefty in your estimation?
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### Author:  [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2021, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-hard-core-lefty-like-i-tell-people/946516/2 "2021-07-14T22:38:31Z")
Maybe. What are your thoughts on LGBT rights? Abortion? Separation of church and state? Environmentalism?
ETA: Last question added after OP posted.
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### Author:  [@Roger\_That](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roger_That)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2021, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-hard-core-lefty-like-i-tell-people/946516/3 "2021-07-14T22:41:26Z")
That’s what I’m asking–do specifics matter? I could go into all that shit, but why? Is that important? If so, it seems to me that you’re saying No, I’m not necessarily left-wing given my one principle.
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### Author:  [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2021, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-hard-core-lefty-like-i-tell-people/946516/4 "2021-07-14T22:47:09Z")
I would tend to describe more equitable distribution of resources as being a left-wing principle, but it’s not significant enough to qualify you as a hardcore lefty by itself, I don’t think. If you said something like, “Government should seize corporations’ money and give it to the people,” then yes, I would call you a hardcore lefty; even a _radical_ lefty. You seem to be more saying, “I don’t believe poor people should starve to death on the streets.”
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### Author:  [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2021, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-hard-core-lefty-like-i-tell-people/946516/5 "2021-07-14T23:00:10Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#):
>
> You seem to be more saying, “I don’t believe poor people should starve to death on the streets.”
At least we’ve concluded he’s not a Republican.
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### Author:  [@Roger\_That](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roger_That)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2021, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-hard-core-lefty-like-i-tell-people/946516/6 "2021-07-14T23:01:18Z")
That seems kind of quibbly to me. The same exact act that a lefty would describe as “rational, planned equity of resources via taxation of corporations that still allows them to function and make a healthy profit” someone else might describe as “seizing funds legally earned from hard-working folks to give to lazy bums.”
What I’m saying is that I’ll support whoever is most in favor of sizable immediate redistribution of resources. If you want to discuss how and when and why, fine, but I’m going to go with whoever wants it the soonest and the most. Am I a lefty?
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### Author:  [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2021, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-hard-core-lefty-like-i-tell-people/946516/7 "2021-07-14T23:02:09Z")
IMHO, when someone says they’re “hardcore” it means that they’re living the life as best as they can. Going all in.
A hardcore vegan, for isntance, is someone who’s all in on no animal products in their life anywhere. Not just their diet.
So…do you live the life to it’s fullest? Are you active in politics? Are you active in social services? Are you doing everything you can to push the idea that “people need to distribute resources (such money, goods, access to health care) more equitably?” That would make you hardcore.
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### Author:  [@Roger\_That](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roger_That)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2021, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-hard-core-lefty-like-i-tell-people/946516/8 "2021-07-14T23:05:23Z")
Not activist at all. I vote, I contribute money (last year around $500) to candidates, sometimes I publish articles arguing for various lefty positions, but I don’t consider myself an activist at all. Is that a requirement for being a “hard-core lefty”?
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### Author:  [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2021, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-hard-core-lefty-like-i-tell-people/946516/9 "2021-07-14T23:05:27Z")
As much as I hate distilling left-right down to a list of policies, it will be hard to assess without you giving us a long rundown of your views on the political issues of the day.
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### Author:  [@Roger\_That](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roger_That)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2021, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-hard-core-lefty-like-i-tell-people/946516/10 "2021-07-14T23:18:40Z")
I will spare you.
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### Author:  [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2021, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-hard-core-lefty-like-i-tell-people/946516/11 "2021-07-14T23:21:17Z")
YMMV but … My experience is the bulk of Americans whom I know with a reasonable degree of interactions and describe themselves a “hard left” are, on the larger world scale, centre right.
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### Author:  [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2021, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-hard-core-lefty-like-i-tell-people/946516/12 "2021-07-14T23:24:06Z")
It’s not clear that you have any political beliefs at all. Everyone agrees that resources should be distributed more equitably. They just disagree on what equitable means and how that distribution should take place. Some people believe that capitalism provides an excellent means of distributing resources and that it does so equitably almost by definition.
Presumably, you differ with that position, but that difference comes down to the detailed laying out of policy and principle that you don’t like.
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2021, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-hard-core-lefty-like-i-tell-people/946516/13 "2021-07-14T23:24:51Z")
Without those details, I am afraid the only possible answer is “Fuck if I know.”
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### Author:  [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2021, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-hard-core-lefty-like-i-tell-people/946516/14 "2021-07-14T23:31:16Z")
We can all engage in idle speculation (I’m totally good with that), or … you can Take The Test, and then we’ll all know 🙂
> **[Political Typology Quiz](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/quiz/political-typology/)**
>
> Take our quiz to find out which one of our nine political typology groups is your best match.
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### Author:  [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2021, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-hard-core-lefty-like-i-tell-people/946516/15 "2021-07-14T23:35:50Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#):
>
> We can all engage in idle speculation (I’m totally good with that), or … you can Take The Test, and then we’ll all know
…I’m apparently a “core conservative”.
Huh.
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### Author:  [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2021, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-hard-core-lefty-like-i-tell-people/946516/16 "2021-07-14T23:36:47Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#):
>
> …I’m apparently a “core conservative”.
I’ll/we’ll miss you … while you spend months and months in quiet contemplation, rethinking absolutely everything you ever thought you knew.
But we’ll speak well of you in your absence 🙂
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### Author:  [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2021, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-hard-core-lefty-like-i-tell-people/946516/17 "2021-07-14T23:38:28Z")
> [@Roger\_That](#):
>
> Is that a requirement for being a “hard-core lefty”?
I consider hard-core to mean uncompromising or obstinate, true to the ideology in every way. A hard-core lefty is someone left-of-center who I think is unreasonably radical in wanting to breaking down the hierarchies of society. ‘The _whole_ system is corrupt and needs to change _now_.’ 😉
But I’m a Republican…
~Max
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### Author:  [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2021, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-hard-core-lefty-like-i-tell-people/946516/18 "2021-07-14T23:39:29Z")
I would say that, culture war issues aside, if you are calling for a more equitable division of resources, you meet the minimum qualifications for being a leftist and may look for your membership card in the mail. I guess whether you’re “hard-core” would depend on whether you think it should be MUCH more equitable.
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### Author:  [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2021, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-hard-core-lefty-like-i-tell-people/946516/19 "2021-07-14T23:42:30Z")
So many of those questions are false dichotomies… Example.
“The economic system in this country unfairly favors powerful interests”
“The economic system in this country is generally fair to most Americans”
“The obstacles that once made it harder for women than men to get ahead are now largely gone”
“There are still significant obstacles that make it harder for women to get ahead than men”
~Max, also core conservative.
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### Author:  [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2021, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-hard-core-lefty-like-i-tell-people/946516/20 "2021-07-14T23:42:48Z")
But unless you’re defining the current system as something other than “capitalism”, the people who believe that presumably think that we already have the optimum amount of equibilitiness and therefore would disagree that resources should be distributed more equitably than they already are.
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