Centrism

The real centrist position in America looks more like pre-Reagan politics than today’s baseline.

From Franklin D. Roosevelt through Dwight D. Eisenhower and Lyndon B. Johnson, both parties supported regulated capitalism, strong unions, high top tax rates, antitrust enforcement, and programs like Medicare. Markets thrived, but guardrails protected the middle class. That was the center.

After Ronald Reagan, tax cuts for the wealthy, deregulation, union decline, and corporate consolidation shifted the baseline right. Democrats largely adapted under Bill Clinton. Since then, both parties have operated in a more corporate, more centralized, more executive-driven system.

If center means balance between markets and democracy, then restoring those guardrails is not extreme. It is a return to the historical middle.

I feel like Nixon was more of the marker of the globalist trend and the deepening division of idealisms that resulted.

https://wtfhappenedin1971.com/

Check some of the stuff from this site... productivity and compensation began decoupling right around 1971, when we opened trade with China and ended the gold standard, thus allowing the unchecked inflation of the USD.

I agree, Nixon ending the gold standard was the beginning, but also that's when they changed their entire perogatives, the Powell memo, the start of the heritage foundation, Bush in the CIA, there was a lot going on, the corporatist strategy for the fascist takeover of America was forming.

The federal reserve launched interst rates into the sky and then they made Reagan look great as he shredded the labor class with their agenda, often times the financial market seems to collude to make their candidates look best.

Center doesn't mean "Balance between markets and democracy". Markets are also inherently democratic, which makes your statement even less clear...

Markers are not inherently democratic lol.

Not even close.

How are they not, exactly?

Well, how are they exactlly?

Monopoly, price gouging, inter-business collusion, fraud, deceptive advertising, products that promote addiction, scalping, price obfuscation, externalities, predatory underselling, enshitification, and usuary,.to name a few ways.

The individuals within society use their dollars to shape what sorts of products and services they want and how they want them. In a way it's similar to voting in that those that recieve the most votes or money tend to win out against others that don't.

The state of the American economy for instance was/is greatly influenced by how the majority of consumers would rathwr be products themselves if it means recieving a service or product for little or no upfront monetary cost.

None of those things prevent you from spending your money how you want, lol. And for the most part, consumers seem to be fine with these practices rather than pushing back against them.

Like how politicians can push for policies that actively harm their constituents because the politician knows for a fact that their constituents will always vote for themor their party

Sounds nice on paper, but it's far from reality.

None of those things prevent you from spending your money

And nothing prevents North Korean citizens from voting for the Worker's Party of Korea to control the People's Assembly. 

Democracy is about more than "people vote on things."

I mean, it really doesn't sound nice on any sort of paper, lmao. It's the cold hard reality of our situation, and unless you accept it you can't be part of the solution. You there are sections of the market for people concerned about privacy and ethical business practices, but these services and products tend to cost more BECAUSE they're not treating you like a product.

The majority of consumers, however, are concerned with other things like branding, what their friends have, how cheap or convenient something is, etc.

What other factors are you considering when talking about democracy other than people using their power to represent their values?

Dude, the market is more gambling hall than actually beneficial for the average Joe.

Its a man made thing, with man made biases, there's nothing natural about it, it's designed as a tool to keep power to a certain demographic of society .

It's a rigged game 

Free, accessible and fair elections. Universal suffrage, one person one vote, a system of checks and balances and rule of law. Free speech and a free press. Freedom from retaliation if you don't vote for the victors.

I... Never said anything about what's natural or not... But if that's the route we're going, humans tend to do things that are natural because they're natural entities.

Now you're just talking about Liberalism for the most part, lol. Not the basic concept of democracy

The market is not some magical machine  that is democratic, just ask the global South.