California regression

“If fascism ever comes to America, it will come in the name of liberalism."  —Ronald Reagan

Far Right is Far Left and Vice versa.

Both liberal fascism and conservative fascism are contradictions in terms, essentially meaning the same thing.

And Ronnie was a liberal conservative.

Most conservatives believe in freedom from government and are the most liberal people on the planet.

I would honestly be interested in hearing from a sincere progressive about what they think of San Francisco. To me it’s an obvious example of progressivism gone way too far and an example of why you need conservatives to have at least a small bit of power to provide a check on things. I wonder what the right wing equivalent to San Francisco would be like. It’s also a truly bizarre place because the economy is such a powerhouse that people are willing to put up with a lot. Last time I was there there were homeless encampments right next to 3/4 million dollar houses 

GP's request for safe space protection from my opinion prevents me offering my opinion here.

No it isn't, the horseshoe theory is nonsense. Only thing in common would be maybe tactics or authoritarian tendencies

If it had to be a major city, then probably OKC.

If you're speaking of one political party having complete dominance, you're going to find that in most rural towns and cities in the Midwest and South. Not sure if any in particular have that name recognition attached to them because of their low population and GDP, but in reality, most major cities have a lot of the same problems as SF, just on a lower scale.

Authoritarian tendencies.

You hit the nail on the head.

Horseshoe theory is just another thinktank soundbite, like liberal and conservative.

It all boils down to natural hierarchy, and how it's allowed to play out socially.

Though:

If you are hung up on labels, answer me this.

Think of the most rigid authoritarian societies around the World.

Would you label them as Liberal or Conservative?

Left and right are both liberals.

One side wants freedom from government

The other side wants freedom from individual responsibility.

Those labels only really apply to American politics.

Of rigid authoritarian societies, they can be right-wing in some ways and left-wing in others.

All of them have some sort of hierarchy because that is the only way that any functional society can operate, but their degree of egalitarianism varies.

Liberal and Conservative are common political labels, and not just U.S. specific.

And both are words with common meanings.

I was questioning whether you thought that rigid authoritarianism was ultra left or ultra right.

Over here in the U.K. liberals are regarded as moderates, and the left label is attributed to socialists.

And there is a big difference between extreme socialism and liberalism.

That's the problem with an essentially, two party system.

You loose sight of the moderate centre.

Though, it is the moderate centre that usually decides the outcome of U.S. elections.

Liberal and conservative may have similar meanings abroad, but the issues that are part of their respective platforms generally only have a little in common. Abortion and guns are the big conservative issues here, but I doubt that conservatives in Britain talk about either of those as a main issue, just as two examples.

What do you mean by 'rigid authoritarianism'? I suppose that could perhaps be construed as a right-wing institution, in the same way that complete anarchy could be construed as a left-wing institution. But I think that boiling it down that simply doesn't really help explain much of anything

However, a left-wing and right-wing dictatorship as well as right- and left-wing anarchist societies would look quite different in practice, which is why far right and far left are not the same.

There are basically two systems of government control.

Strict oppression and moderate oppression.

A Moderately oppressive system will allow us to openly argue the toss over anything.....Guns and abortion for instance.

A strict system will tell us what's what, and if we openly disagree we will be told in no uncertain terms what's what.

The direct opposite would be anarchy.

Though the thing with anarchy is that it will rapidly conform to a system of oppression, as dictated by natural hierarchy.

U.S. Jargon such as liberal, conservative, left and right is currently, largely irrelevant. Other than as jargonistic labels.

And as far as jargonism goes....There are very few people at either end  of the jargon spectrum, who really pay much attention.

Most people (moderate centre)  just stick crosses on ballot papers every four years or so.

And the thoughtful few will probably decide outcomes.

Having said that though:

As we generationally become more and more dependant upon electronic social media and the conditioning thereof......There may well be a shift towards a more polarised society.

Watch this space.