So...I get a lot of gatekeeping online whenever the term "leftist" comes up, or I use the term "left" in any flair on any political sub on reddit. And, I figured that I would discuss that.
But yeah, long story short, if you're reading this, I might have redirected you here after you basically did some leftist gatekeeping on me. And you're right, I'm not a leftist, I just claim to be.
The thing is, my actual flavor of politics (social libertarianism, think libertarian social democracy or social liberalism) is not a very common flair on most subreddits. So I approximate. I might call myself a "left libertarian" or a "social democrat" or "social liberal" or "progressive", but yeah, I'm a social libertarian...give or take a bit
It's actually hard to correctly identify myself as I tend to have very niche and nuanced views and trying to stick a label on me is hard, so I'm just going by what fits closest.
But yeah, most of my left wing ideas are in economics. I tend to support expansive safety nets that correspond with my niche views like a universal basic income, universal healthcare (single payer or public option), free college/student debt forgiveness, some sort of housing reform, etc. I also support more mainline ideas like a $15 (or up to $18) minimum wage, unions, etc.
But I'm largely not a "leftist". Leftism these days mostly means stuff like socialism, communism, and anarchism these days. You know, the "anti capitalist" left. I'm not a fan of every aspect of capitalism, and tend to have a blend of pro and anti capitalist views that make perfect sense within my own worldview but might sound contradictory to a purist. Long story short though, my issues with capitalism come from its excesses, and the coercion to work within the system, rather than some systemic hatred of the entire concept. I am a reformist, not a revolutionary, and I'm what most "leftists" could consider a liberal.
I may vote for left wing candidates though, and often participate on more left leaning subreddits and discussion forums, because let's face it, I'm not really a fan of biden or the democrats on economics either. Their policies are too incremental and piecemeal and do not solve the problems as I see them. And honestly? You don't even need to be a "leftist" to like these policies and candidates. You think everyone who voted for Bernie is a democratic socialist? No, a lot of us are socdems, or soclibs, or in my case, a socbert. Heck, to be honest, my politics more closely mirror andrew yang and his "human centered capitalism", given I'm really hardcore on UBI as a policy.
Come election time, "the left" is gonna be a coalition, and while leftists might despise and resent left leaning liberals, you kinda need us to win. And we're not gonna agree with you on everything, and most of us are just voting for the platforms as is. We might want things like a $15 minimum wage, or universal healthcare or something, but that doesn't mean we wanna SEIZE THE MEANS OF PRODUCTION.
And for r/antiwork type posters, yes, I am one of you, despite not being a leftist. I've written extensively about how I'm more anti work than most posters on r/antiwork, despite being a capitalist. If anything, I think the anti work movement has succumbed to commie brain rot and put their theories and dogmas above actual policy or achieving actual goals. And yes, you can accomplish anti work goals in a capitalist framework, and I've even written extensive articles on how to do so.
And beyond economic policy, man, I'm DEFINITELY a liberal. Like on foreign policy? yeah. I'm pro Ukraine, I'm pro Israel. I despise russia, I think Hamas are psychos. I can be kinda sorta sympathetic to the civilians in Russia and Palestine, and generally have no beef with people who aren't taking up arms against Israel or Ukraine, but yeah, I'm going to support our allies.
I'm generally pro US, and pro west on foreign policy. I believe we have the superior values system considering the alternatives and most of the rest of the world is stuck in the barbaric pre enlightenment times of religious fundamentalism or statist authoritarianism. I believe in freedom and democracy and protecting our way of life. Both from the authoritarian extremes of the right and left.
Speaking of which, on social issues, yeah, I'm a social moderate. I'm really a libertarian. My views are based on a combination of our American constitutional rights and JS Mill's brand of libertarianism, in which the only time it's justified to impose government action on people is to prevent harm to others.
I am generally left wing by default in the American context, and lean closer to left wing ideas on most social issues, but I do so from a much different value system than most lefties.
It seems postmodernism, ie, the social justice left is running rampant on the left right now, and as it turns out, I REALLY ain't a fan of what is commonly called "wokeism" these days. I dont hate it mindlessly like the right does, and yes, I can attempt to define it (TLDR: people who make critical theory their entire worldview and have to militantly shove it down everyone else's throat like a religious fundamentalist does with their religion), and I would say that I generally reject it.
And I know this might make me a heathen given the modern leftist religion is based on obnoxious amounts of caring and empathy, but I have my principles, and I stand by them. Deal with it. Unlike most leftists, I think it's fine to be selfish to some extent, and I highly value individualism. My take on collectivism is that it should be pursued if it helps achieve individual goals, but I don't fetishize it.
Some leftists might think I'm "the worst type of leftie" or that I'm left wing for the wrong reasons..but deal with it. At the end of the day, the left is a coalition, we're not all gonna agree, and we can infight this stuff to death, but at the end of the day, do you wanna make progress or not? We can either find common ground on issues and work with each other to achieve common goals, or can tear each other down over our differences.
Of course, with some of you, depending on your exact value system, maybe you'd rather not have me on your side. Maybe I am too craplib for you. In which case I'm fine with that, because I'm not really a fan of self righteous leftists who feel the need to gate keep and virtue signal on the internet about their morality. And yes, on a lot of issues, yes, we literally do have different moral systems, and I'm fine with ceding these differences.
Heck, that's why I'm writing this in the first place. Because odds are youre gatekeeping me so hard that you don't seem to realize that I have a different value system than you, I ain't one of you, and to deal with it.
Again, sometimes people attracted to the left are just liberals who want better economic policy than what the democratic party is doing. You realize that there are a lot of FDR style social liberals, or Nordic style social democrats, who don't subscribe to every leftist idea, right? Or in my case I'm this weird "Yang gang" type dude who won't shut up about UBI and abolishing work. The point is, that doesn't mean I'm gonna agree in terms of my worldview with a leftist with marxist or postmodernist brainworms and I'm going to find agreement with you at times IN SPITE OF a difference in value systems, not because I subscribe to your moral system. I don't subscribe to your moral system. I literally made my own moral system from scratch and you just can't really put me in any boxes, really. I struggle to put myself in a box, and I would have significant disagreements even with other self identified social libertarians. So what makes you think I'm going to always agree with you?
I just felt like writing this and saying this.
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