Why is Fediverse moderation, even more Draconian than Reddit?

No central oversight. Reddit can theoretically remove the worst of the worst, but the same doesn't apply on the fediverse. Not across instances at least. Theoretically that lack of control is why we have defederation, but no one is going to defederate over some mods being extra draconian.

As for why it's even at a similar level to Reddit in the first place, it's because despite the fediverse's superiority complex, moderation on Reddit is organic, and so it is here. It's not like Reddit tells them to be the way they are, moderators choose to be that way. And there's no reason why they would choose to be different on the fediverse.

I think it's worth remembering that people who seek the power of authority aren't usually the best people. I'm not saying this applies to all moderators, but those that become moderators for the power it gives them aren't going to be friends, no matter which platform they're on. It's not like the platform makes them bad, it just enables them by giving them the power.

Why is it so hard to find a non left leaning place on the Internet?

There ARE right wing Lemmy instances. They're just usually defederated by the ones leaning left. There's also /r/conservative on Reddit.

"You know I kind of feel Israel has a right to defend itself ya know?"

This one is definitely a big problem imo. Like, I'm not in the pro-Israel camp, but I think it's clear this side of the fediverse is currently an echo chamber that isn't welcoming to opposing voices, especially on that topic. But also in regards to others like AI.

Reddit is a lot better in that regard. I think there is a point to fighting disinformation and bad faith actors, but that's not reasoning if you then allow one side's disinformation (like the whole "AI is completely useless" narrative which is just factually false, it's being abused for tasks it's wildly unsuited for, but that doesn't make it useless for what it's designed to do) or tolerate complete faith into your side's propaganda.

Imo this is a big barrier to the fediverse currently. I can't in good faith recommend the fediverse to people whom I know to be right-leaning, because I know they're going to have a bad time here.

Even posting a Fox News article in the News areas will get your post removed.....with a ban of course.

I do think a ban is excessive unless you're a repeat offender, but... it makes sense to ban articles from a self-proclaimed entertainment source which only idiots would take as news (Fox News's official position as argued in court, not my opinion) from a News community.