1360 Middle vs. Center

Since the metaphors of Right and Left are so common in political parlance, many people who claim to be neither naturally say they’re in the middle, whatever that means. When asked, people point out the worst attributes of the extremes and deny being part of that, but they still maintain the same metaphor of there being a linear spectrum that somehow passes through them: pro-guns but pro-abortion, pro-mandates but anti-taxes, goes to church but believes in evolution, etc. Because the mix & matches are infinite, the middle is undefinable, and there is no political party that represents them. Another way of identifying one’s political self is by joining the “center.” The center’s metaphor is a circle and has only one ideological dichotomy: at the center is personal autonomy, making choices for yourself, surrounded all around by authoritarianism, people telling you what to do. We're individuals in the center of the circle surrounded by Marxists, Socialists, Fascists, Theists, even Libertarians are de facto authoritarians because their beliefs end up supporting Fascism. There aren’t a lot of people at the center, probably because there's not a lot of room to stand.