Consider the phrase, "I am politically nonbinary.". Do you discern the speaker's intent differently if they are liberal or conservative? — David Hubbs

They're both.

Consider the phrase, "I am politically nonbinary.". Do you discern the speaker's intent differently if they are liberal or conservative? — David Hubbs

Yes. In that case I would know they are lying. :razz:

Consider the phrase, "I am politically nonbinary.". Do you discern the speaker's intent differently if they are liberal or conservative? — David Hubbs

The term "non-binary" is borrowed from gender orientation discussions, which creates a liberal connotation, meaning anyone who claims to be non-binary politically is likely actually liberal or sarcastically conservative.

The term "non-binary" is borrowed from gender orientation discussions, which creates a liberal connotation, meaning anyone who claims to be non-binary politically is likely actually liberal or sarcastically conservative. — Hanover

Or they might just be independent?

Consider the phrase, "I am politically nonbinary.". Do you discern the speaker's intent differently if they are liberal or conservative? — David Hubbs

Honestly, this cracked me up. I would have to stop myself from chuckling if I were to hear this one.

If it's a conservative, I would suspect that it's a joke or sarcastic. If said by someone on the left, I probably shake my head in confusion or chuckle.

I would assume then they’re apolitical ? Or is it not the same thing ?

I am politically nonbinary. — David Hubbs

So you are not exclusively conservative and not exclusively liberal, but either at different times? Or you are those plus libertarian with some monarchical tendencies, at all times? Do you also believe you can fool all of the people all of the time, and are running for office as an independent? What?

Do you discern the speaker's intent differently if they are liberal or conservative? — David Hubbs

So despite what they said, they are in fact liberal or they are in fact conservative? Or they are in fact "politically non-binary" (whatever that cashes out as) but with a heart of a conservative, or a liberal?

Yes. In that case I would know they are lying. — Leontiskos

Exactly.

Consider the phrase, "I am politically nonbinary." — David Hubbs

It means my politics cannot be described in zeros and ones. Big deal. :nerd:

Next you'll tell us there are 10 kinds of people ...

It means my politics cannot be described in zeros and ones. Big deal. — jgill

I’m pretty sure “liberal” can’t be described in zeros and ones.

I’m pretty sure “liberal” can’t be described in zeros and ones — Fire Ologist

Lib = 12 9 2 = 1100 1001 10

:nerd:

True. I even describe politics with 2's, though it's a recent fad.

EDIT: (thinking how the formatting isn't as easy to translate into binary -- so nonbinary politics are ones which use emphases that are ambiguous to translate into binary)

Consider the phrase, "I am politically nonbinary. — David Hubbs

Silly wording, but I think this can be reasonable. I identify with both conservative and progressive issues in politics. I support some traditions, political institutions and the rule of law, etc, I also support some (progressive) radical change. Many people don't sit neatly in one camp, I would have thought, which often explains why people vote differently depending upon the issue important to them at a given election.

Consider the phrase, "I am politically nonbinary.". Do you discern the speaker's intent differently if they are liberal or conservative? — David Hubbs

I think the term doesn’t really make any sense in any situation I can think of. Most countries have multiparty political systems. Even in the US, there are many political parties that probably can’t be classified as conservative or liberal: Democratic or Republican - communists, socialists, Libertarians, even Nazis. People who aren’t members of any party are often called independents.

This is from Google

In the United States, roughly 36-37% of adults identify as conservative, 34-38% as moderate, and 24-26% as liberal,

I think its uncontroversial that political views appear on a spectrum and that most people's views vary over their lifetime and are not even fully consistent.

"Non-binary" is applied to gender to challenge traditional views of a rigid man/woman distinction and to place it on a varying spectrum, like politics.

Since no one ever applied the term binary to politics traditionally, applying it to politics creates no controversy. It either is meant humorously or it is meant to identify oneself as liberal.

A flip side approach to this would challenge an uncontroversial binary distinction and that would signal you were conservative. As in, "I'm non-binary when it comes to tossing a coin. I choose heads-ish."

'I am non-binary' means I am conservative with my stuff, but prepared to be liberal with your stuff.

Since no one ever applied the term binary to politics traditionally, applying it to politics creates no controversy. — Hanover

I’m not bothered by the politics, I’m bothered by the misuse of language.

I’m not bothered by the politics, I’m bothered by the misuse of language. — T Clark

By bothered, that probably means you grumble, but not more than that.

This is a yes or no question. My answer is no.

This is a yes or no question. My answer is no. — David Hubbs

I’m not sure it is, unless I’m missing something. I identify as conservative or progressive depending on the issue, it’s not a neat either-or situation. As an Australian, I find myself progressive on some issues and conservative on others. Plenty of people I know vote differently at each election because, fundamentally, they don’t identify with a single party or ideology. They are politically fluid.

They are politically fluid. — Tom Storm

How does politically fluid differ from politically nonbinary? This is not a rhetorical question. i do not know the difference. I am really trying to learn.

Consider the phrase, "I am politically nonbinary.". Do you discern the speaker's intent differently if they are liberal or conservative? — David Hubbs

I like the term, myself. Of course, it sounds like some liberal (like me) trying to bring awkward, non standard phrasing into an established discourse, but this is true of lgbtq and a great many other things in contemporary language, things that never existed a few decades ago. I like it because it alerts us to the openness of thinking. Binary thinking, that is, thinking at all, is ALWAYS assailable, doubtable, contingent, and we should know this, even as we march against kings.

How does politically fluid differ from politically nonbinary? — David Hubbs

Pretty much the same thing; I guess it would describe someone whose political views or affiliations shift across issues, rather than consistently aligning with a single ideology or party. Also someone who holds liberal views in some areas and conservative in others. I know several voters currently aligned with Labor who are pro-monarchy, for instance.

I like it because it alerts us to the openness of thinking. — Astrophel

One who sincerely identifies as politically non-binary doesn't alert me to any uncertainty as to his social views, as if that person bounces between trans rights advocacy and opposition to gay marriage. "Non-binary" expresses a worldview, which included within it is the self perception that one is more open to a multitude of political views than their opponents, which you have expressed. I'd submit though your position is probably better described as being more open to challenges to the status quo, but that necessarily limits the sorts of views you would be open to. It's not a difference in open mindedness. It's a difference in values, particularly as to how you might weigh the value of promoting merit versus pluralistic participation.

One who sincerely identifies as politically non-binary doesn't alert me to any uncertainty as to his social views, as if that person bounces between trans rights advocacy and opposition to gay marriage. "Non-binary" expresses a worldview, which included within it is the self perception that one is more open to a multitude of political views than their opponents, which you have expressed. I'd submit though your position is probably better described as being more open to challenges to the status quo, but that necessarily limits the sorts of views you would be open to. It's not a difference in open mindedness. It's a difference in values, particularly as to how you might weigh the value of promoting merit versus pluralistic participation. — Hanover

I look at it like this: Binary views of any kind implies a simplicity that ignores complexity. In gender identification, one may experience thw world in ways that are not at all represented by a binary determination, and being non binary here is a matter of accommodating feelings, needs, desires that do not conform to this either/or imposition. And so it is with a political view: As for me, I do not agree with the simplicity of a party affiliation, democrat or republican in the US, meaning my views are more complex than this, though I lean decidedly liberal, just as a my gender preferences may fall outside of the strict designation, though I lean toward the simplicity of the traditional model.

This is the way I look at being non-binary in anything. It is a defiance of categorical conformity, of the authority of a simple designation that attempts to reduce complexity to thoughtless complicity.

This is the way I look at being non-binary in anything. It is a defiance of categorical conformity, of the authority of a simple designation that attempts to reduce complexity to thoughtless complicity. — Astrophel

Someone who self-identifies as non-binary is strongly left with regard to whatever trait he's describing. That is the connotation of that word. If you simply mean you're politically independent or unaffiliated, then using those terms will eliminate the confusion you're creating by borrowing a term from gender orientation and sexual preference discussions that is used almost exclusively by those to the far left.

Consider the phrase, "I am politically nonbinary.". Do you discern the speaker's intent differently if they are liberal or conservative? — David Hubbs

Which version of "liberal" are you using here - The leftists/socialists version that uses the term in a manipulative way as cover for their authoritarian ideals, or the classic liberal (libertarian)?

As others have said, it's a strange way of saying you have no party affiliation or are apolitical. The use of "binary" seems to indicate that it would only be meaningful in a two-party system - that their political views lie outside of the two primary parties, or that a number of ideas from each side are shared almost equally.

Today, the "nonbinary" term carries an extra connotation for many people implying some aspect of gender within it. Does this mean that they are politically fluid as well? If the person calling themselves "politically nonbinary" also believes they can tell others what kinds of words they can or can't use within and outside their presence, then they would be definitely be sharing the authoritarian ideals of both extremes equally, and not be liberal, by definition.

If the person simply means that they are moderate/independent/apolitical, that would indicate to me that they would anti-authoritarian - libertarian (liberal). If that is what they meant without any extra connotations, then there are better ways to say it.

According to my recent reading on recognition, people who have any kind of non-binariness probably experienced neglect in childhood, so that they never developed a clear sense of self, which requires being recognized by others. So if someone tells you they have no favorite football team, you can ask them if they were neglected. They probably were.

Someone who self-identifies as non-binary is strongly left with regard to whatever trait he's describing. That is the connotation of that word. If you simply mean you're politically independent or unaffiliated, then using those terms will eliminate the confusion you're creating by borrowing a term from gender orientation and sexual preference discussions that is used almost exclusively by those to the far left. — Hanover

You're right about the connotative play of that word, but in a political context only. Pull out of this polarized political thinking, and move into, say, talk about post modern criticism of "binary" language structures, and this connotation vanishes. And regarding this political connotative environment where terms are in play, I can think of few things less transitory, considering how terms can be thrust into the conversation, rejected, then discover to have staying power and become standard. Of course, it IS the left that creates these new conversations, because the left thinks, and generates analytical terminology, and it is the right (putting aside the issue of the binary nature of talk about left and right for now) that is forced to respond, albeit negatively and derisively, and in doing so, encourage their entrenchment.

In other words, political contexts of connotative impositions are "soft" in their authority to designate meaning.

Not politically unaffiliated; as I said, I decidedly lean democratic. And not creating confusion. Quite the opposite. Binary thinking creates confusion by stating simply something that is not simple at all. But then, that is the nature of language in all things. Thought is inherently binary.

And note what I said about the way social analyses of the left become an accepted part of the conversation in the very resistance of the right. Something like lgbtq is now a fixity, or "rainbow coalition," even if it is prefaced with "so called" by the opposition.

According to my recent reading on recognition, people who have any kind of non-binariness probably experienced neglect in childhood, so that they never developed a clear sense of self, which requires being recognized by others. So if someone tells you they have no favorite football team, you can ask them if they were neglected. They probably were. — frank

So, the reason I find political categorical rigidity unable to express the fullness of complex ideas is because.....I was neglected as a child?