Many Americans pride themselves on being able to choose a side and stick with it when it comes to political matters. For this same reason, many Americans shame centrists who can and will not do so. These ideals, however, have proven to be archaic.

Centrists, or those who do not lean to a particular side of the political spectrum, are often misunderstood by people with opposing political views. For starters, people tend to place them in the dead center of the political spectrum. This is simply not the case. 

Centrists do not conform to party lines, meaning they can tend to sway in any direction they choose depending on the matter at hand. Many often believe that solutions are of a higher importance than bias, a claim many people of opposing parties fail to understand.

A true centrist finds it beneficial to state your opinion on a certain manner if you have one, and that it is imperative to do what is right rather than doing whatever is popular. This idea alone contradicts the concept of centrists being “ignorant” or “idiotic” people. 

If the intentions of centrists can be truly seen and acknowledged, then one could argue that everyone should reconsider their political standpoints and pursue a set of beliefs that are not confined by party lines.

Those who are not centrists will, more likely than not, despise them. Centrists are commonly perceived as cowardly, as many believe centrists reserve their own opinions rather than actually standing on the middle ground for certain topics. 

This is yet another way that the intentions of centrists are misunderstood. Simply not being able to choose a clear side does not make somebody weak-minded on the topic. Every centrist has the right to stand on the middle ground if they truly can’t lean to a certain side. If anything, those who withhold their opinion in hopes of not upsetting others do not even fall under the centrist beliefs. They would most likely reside on a certain side and just refuse to express it.

The use of political parties was a key component of the French Revolution in the 18th century. This was a time when someone could actually be executed or imprisoned for their beliefs. 

Luckily, for many free-thinking nations, society has come a long way since then. Although political parties are not exactly the problem, they are by no means the solution either. Despite popular belief, it is very uncommon for Republicans and Democrats to actually align with every single belief their respective party has. Or at the very least, it is very uncommon for these opposing parties to not understand and acknowledge the opposing side every now and then. With this being said, can’t it be seen as slightly hypocritical for these individuals to loathe centrists for using rational thought to choose a side? It certainly appears that way.

By looking at the current wave of politics through an unbiased lens, it can be clearly seen how centrists are not indecisive or overly cautious, but rather misunderstood. And their intentions, although not always worn on their chests, are generally good.