Re: What We Are Doing is Not Working ("sane liberals")
What We Are Doing is Not Working | ᚾᚩᛒᚩ
This post is ultimately about how the "far left" is too mean and exclusionary. There are some valid criticisms raised in the post, but OP's solution is go to the "center right" so that "sane liberals" can win elections again and make "slow progress".
For a MUCH better article about how and why the "left" is failing politically, see The Case for Centrism Does Not Hold Up and Follow Mamdani’s Example by Current Affairs.
Back to What We Are Doing is Not Working | ᚾᚩᛒᚩ:
If those people involved read this post, they would shun me
I'm sympathetic to how you were treated in leftist spaces, and do not believe we should operate politically based on purity tests. First of all, we should lead with compassion and understanding. Second of all, it's not practical to to hold people to unreasonably high standards. Are you supporting policies that protect black people from police brutality, policies that allow women and trans people to access medical care, policies that end our imperialist wars?
Those things I care about. Whether or not you use the right lingo or are politically correct matters less. I will not exclude you for your language or for imperfect views, or for disagreeing on some policy points or priorities.
But, it is also important that you respect the people in the group. For example, I don't want to be called a tranny or a faggot, nor do I want you using these terms casually - it's rude. But I'm not going to fret over whether you say gay or queer as long as you don't mean it with malice. I don't care whether you say "homeless" or "unhoused"; I care that you support policies that house people. A lot of "political correctness" really is just making an effort to be respectful and kind.
It sounds like people were being assholes to you, and I'm not cool with that. But it also sounds like you've let those assholes change your political stance on basis of spite, rather than an interest in meaningful change, and that's not cool either.
Another key event that influenced me was the release of the Harry Potter video game. ... When the Harry Potter game released, there was a massive push of vocal people that wanted to shut down anyone from talking about Harry Potter. ... But the mob was wild during this time ... There was blood lust.
Again, I don't think we should operate on these purity tests. I do think we should make space for critical discussion. I do support efforts to boycott transphobic or otherwise hateful authors. I do support advocating for those efforts. But I do not believe it is compassionate or practical to exclude people from our groups based upon their lack of participation in such boycotts. I also understand why some people (such as a trans friend) would be offended - by giving money to this artist, you are, in some small way supporting policies that take away rights from trans people. But it sounds like the discourse in your space, regarding this, was childish and petty and exclusionary, and I don't think that's good for anyone, certainly not for the political left.
Since George Floyd was killed, we never were able to get back to the immense progress we made towards minimizing racism during sane, stable liberal years.
George Floyd was murdered by a police officer DURING these "stable liberal years". Racism was not "minimized". Racism was on display. A man was murdered. And many other incidences of black people being murdered by cops (and some by "vigilantes") were also on display.
Yes, racism was in a better state in 2020 than it was in 1970 when segregation was being enacted through "color blind" housing policies. Yes, racism was better in 2020 than when the 1920s KKK was terrorizing black people and union workers and Jews and Catholics.
But these "stable liberal years" were not free from racism, and we had seen a great resurgence of public racism with Donald Trump's 2016 campaign.
I'm tired of letting people lead the cause who can't win. And I won't be there with you if you're going to continue to smash the board.
I will side with the center right for as long as it takes to stamp [the radical left] out. And I think we both know... it will not take long.
To all sane liberals, the sooner we get rid of these locusts on the far left the sooner we can get back to winning victories, seeing a decline in the far right, and making slow, long-lasting progress again.
Your slow progress is other people's pain, suffering, and loss of freedom. Your slow progress is trans people being banned from sports and trans kids not getting health care and women being removed from government offices and forced births and so much more.
Your turn to the "center right" and opposition to the "radical left" has nothing to do with politics or what policy is right. You're pissed at people for not including you in their group. You're pissed at people for being assholes to you. We're not all assholes on the left, even if the online folk sometimes make it seem that way. After "years [you've] put into liberal causes", you'll abandon it over personal grievances?
Plus you blame the "radical left" for hurting liberal causes, but you don't look at the liberal establishment or the right wing for blame? You're mad at trans people and black people and women and our allies for being FUCKING PISSED about our rights being taken away!? You blame US for our political failures but can't look at the Democrats abandoning the working class or the billionaires interfering in our elections or the right lying to the masses?