I’ve talked about this exact idea before:

But if we see all the dogs running in one direction, especially if it’s towards us, we should take note.

A huge part of my own evolution and change in consciousness came from trying to be aware of where the dogs are running. When an idea is abhorrent to many people I respect, I try and pay extra attention to what my own bias may be doing or the interests of the people making an argument.

Yes, we need to learn from those who leave movements. And when people tell us who they are and what their project is, we should believe them. And when people tell us those things in the context of trying to convince us their politics are acceptable politics, we should apply caution. And when the dogs are running toward them, well… then we know what’s happening.

I also find the notion of a center situated above the political spectrum captures an incredibly dangerous idea. It’s one of those enticing ideas people with a certain level of intelligence fall into. “My politics is to look at the evidence on each issue and go with what that tells us.” This is a thing I’ve said, I’m sure. It’s a thing a lot of “Rockefeller Democrats” have thought describes them. It’s an idea every young libertarian dipshit thinks after their first economics class and reading one Robert Nozick essay. Basically, this is the explicit strategy designed to generate Ben Shapiro’s “high schooler who read Fountainhead” intellectualism.

But of course, none of us are above and separate from ideology. Our biases are a part of us. The biases of others are a part of their communication and their program. Underlying all evidence is a set of belief and theory to describe the world that embeds values.

There is no view from nowhere, there is no objective, values-neutral evidence on social activity. This ideal exists like a perfect sphere rolling down a frictionless inclined plane. Those who claim it’s mantle know exactly what they’re doing. Do you know what they’re doing?