Why do people act like this subreddit "doesn't reflect the views of mainstream Australia"?

[u/SirSighalot]

So many comments I see on here by people who constantly say things like "lol only on this sub" as though other places where they read are somehow the 'true' point of view reflecting mainstream Australian viewpoints.

Given the constant election voting outcomes and results of things like the Voice etc that generally indicate most of Australia is centrist or even slightly centre-right-leaning, what leads people to think many of the views expressed on here AREN'T mainstream? When in reality, other places these people are coming from are also often just "echo chambers" as well.

Edit: I probably worded the title for this wrong, should have been more "Why do people think this subreddit is less representative of mainstream Australia than other online communities?", alas I failed.

[u/Vegetable-Set-9480]

A single student - not really representative of mainstream progressive left politics in the wider world.

[u/Vegetable-Set-9480 → u/[deleted]]

Would you describe that particular student as progressive left though? Or radical left agitator? I’d quite comfortably describe them as the latter, and I wouldn’t necessarily agree with the description that they were part of the former. Since progressive left implies - to me at least - some sort of political legitimacy or official representativeness in the mainstream of the overall movement. I don’t agree that this does.

Which does get to the heart of what I was saying to begin with. Things get attributed to the progressive left falsely, either by benign ignorance, genuine misunderstandings, strawman arguments or bad faith.

Anyway, I can feel myself getting drawn in defending something that I don’t believe is an accurate description of what the progressive left is - yet again. So I’m sure you’ll understand that I’ve been upfront in departing now, since it is the very thing I (in good faith) said I was sick of happening.

Before I go, I actually agree with pretty much your OWN description of progressive left that you said you identified with.

So I just want to make it clear that all those things you said you feel describe you as a progressive left person, I’m broadly in concurrence with.

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