Yet when the conversation turns to modern Jew hate and I say to my friends and family, "It's not necessarily that Leftists hate Jews, they just hate all Europeans and European civilization (and they consider Israel to be a European outpost)," everyone looks at me like I'm a deranged fanatic and/or rightwinger.
And if I say to my more educated friends something like, just about every famous Leftist from Sartre to Chomsky to Sontag etc have cheered on multiple tyrants and massacres and would strip us of our civil liberties in the name of "socialist liberation", they also think I've gone off the deep end.
What is this thing we call "the Left" that most people believe is just "fighting for a better world" and/or "uplifting the poor and oppressed", but that has a much darker side that comes out every time it gets a whiff of power? (It's ironic to me how the people who claim to be anti-capitalist have gained more from PR than even the largest corporations.) Is the Left just Eric Hoffer's "adversary intellectuals" gone full jihad (unless it's full Calvin)? How is it that people who seem to have gained the most from Western Civ hate it the most? Or do they just hate not having total control of it?
Oppression in the name of the Oppressed may just be another odd feature of humanity and its inability to step out of its Jungian shadow and its inescapable fate (akin to death) of always becoming the thing it claims to hate. Save us all from the professed saviors of mankind!
Thanks again for another outstanding piece and Merry Christmas!
Thanks mate, many happy returns and hope you had a great Christmas!
I've a similar experience with discussing Leftist justifications of massacres, and I've boiled it down to the fact that most people know who self-identify as "Left" are not really of the political Left, they're just social "Progressives". And Progressivism is a substance-free zone of slogans and performances, so I just think they've no real idea or understanding of any actual Leftist thinkers.
I agree completely on the headscratching contradictions of this thing called "the Left", because self-evidently these are the people who have benefitted the most from the socio-cultural orders of democracy, free societies, and capitalism. But rather than argue about how to, e.g., improve on the current models of capitalism or democracy, they've taken on the despotic and desperate trends of their post-war postmodern idols. Again, this isn't anything authentically Leftist; it is just cultural nihilism.
At this point, I think the unifying characteristic of this "Left", the dark side you rightly name, is narcissism. This is a deeply narcissistic, self-aggrandising, saviour-complexed, power-hungry movement that managed to position itself as "Left" by hitching its wagon to "social justice".
"Social Justice" is the phoenix that was reborn when Marxism died everywhere in the world but was brought back to life in American academia.
Marxism led to Marxist-Leninism which led to Maoist Marxism which led now to the Amercan version, Marxist-Narcissism.
Leftism in whatever its current iteration just seems to be one of the main religions/cults of the modern West, we will have to live with it somehow, as long as it comes drenched in all the mockery and disdain it deserves (it needs to be seen in the same light as something like Scientology).
"Marxist-Narcissism" is a great term. The religiosity of these movements has always been an interesting element, given the anti-religion rhetoric of Marx et al. Yet the state ultimated supplanted religion. The "social justice" academia limb provided genuine faith-based tenets to invest in, and here we are.
Perhaps 2024 is the year when the mockery and disdain finally outweighs the nonsense.
Once again thank you, Alan, for this brilliant and comprehensive essay! Always grateful for you proving that we can never learn enough.. You indeed dug into rabbit holes, and I feel that this is so important, especially when, as you say, we are witnessing the "most public and widespread explosion of anti-Semitism in society"; while, at the same time, it seems like this anti-Semitism is growing and hiding where we never or hardly expected it, a frightening paradox :( In Germany, AfD, which is (in parts?) openly anti-semitic, adds its voice to right-wing conservative forces "fighting" anti-Semitism, only to strengthen a xenophobic agenda; while at the same time, (part of) leftist and far-left forces can nowadays definitely be positioned near this AfD, as "anti-imperialistic" and, yes, also anti-semitic! It's frightening, and it clearly shows how deep anti-Semitism is still engrained - obviously, for reasons you diligently explained here. And it is so important to state and note these facts! All that said, I am definitely still all for acknowledging "that it is possible for a people to be both a perpetrator and a victim at the same time" and realising "this applies to the Jewish people as much as the Palestinian people". Thank you for your thoughtful, reasonable and humble voice, highly appreciated!
Thanks Mel, I appreciate the comment. I've seen some of what is playing out in Germany in recent weeks, and it is an amber light in both ways (i.e., the dual burden of anti-Semitism and also censoring legitimate protests on behalf of Palestinians). A new censoriousness is gripping Germany, and I don't think it bodes well.
It should be noted that the footage in Sydney that went viral of a crowd chanting "gas the Jews" is still under investigation by police for dubbing over with a different audio file. There is no other videos showing the crowd shouting this and the original video was posted on social media by the Australian Jewish Council.
Yet when the conversation turns to modern Jew hate and I say to my friends and family, "It's not necessarily that Leftists hate Jews, they just hate all Europeans and European civilization (and they consider Israel to be a European outpost)," everyone looks at me like I'm a deranged fanatic and/or rightwinger.
And if I say to my more educated friends something like, just about every famous Leftist from Sartre to Chomsky to Sontag etc have cheered on multiple tyrants and massacres and would strip us of our civil liberties in the name of "socialist liberation", they also think I've gone off the deep end.
What is this thing we call "the Left" that most people believe is just "fighting for a better world" and/or "uplifting the poor and oppressed", but that has a much darker side that comes out every time it gets a whiff of power? (It's ironic to me how the people who claim to be anti-capitalist have gained more from PR than even the largest corporations.) Is the Left just Eric Hoffer's "adversary intellectuals" gone full jihad (unless it's full Calvin)? How is it that people who seem to have gained the most from Western Civ hate it the most? Or do they just hate not having total control of it?
Oppression in the name of the Oppressed may just be another odd feature of humanity and its inability to step out of its Jungian shadow and its inescapable fate (akin to death) of always becoming the thing it claims to hate. Save us all from the professed saviors of mankind!
Thanks again for another outstanding piece and Merry Christmas!
Thanks mate, many happy returns and hope you had a great Christmas!
I've a similar experience with discussing Leftist justifications of massacres, and I've boiled it down to the fact that most people know who self-identify as "Left" are not really of the political Left, they're just social "Progressives". And Progressivism is a substance-free zone of slogans and performances, so I just think they've no real idea or understanding of any actual Leftist thinkers.
I agree completely on the headscratching contradictions of this thing called "the Left", because self-evidently these are the people who have benefitted the most from the socio-cultural orders of democracy, free societies, and capitalism. But rather than argue about how to, e.g., improve on the current models of capitalism or democracy, they've taken on the despotic and desperate trends of their post-war postmodern idols. Again, this isn't anything authentically Leftist; it is just cultural nihilism.
At this point, I think the unifying characteristic of this "Left", the dark side you rightly name, is narcissism. This is a deeply narcissistic, self-aggrandising, saviour-complexed, power-hungry movement that managed to position itself as "Left" by hitching its wagon to "social justice".
"Social Justice" is the phoenix that was reborn when Marxism died everywhere in the world but was brought back to life in American academia.
Marxism led to Marxist-Leninism which led to Maoist Marxism which led now to the Amercan version, Marxist-Narcissism.
Leftism in whatever its current iteration just seems to be one of the main religions/cults of the modern West, we will have to live with it somehow, as long as it comes drenched in all the mockery and disdain it deserves (it needs to be seen in the same light as something like Scientology).
Cheers and Happy New Year!
"Marxist-Narcissism" is a great term. The religiosity of these movements has always been an interesting element, given the anti-religion rhetoric of Marx et al. Yet the state ultimated supplanted religion. The "social justice" academia limb provided genuine faith-based tenets to invest in, and here we are.
Perhaps 2024 is the year when the mockery and disdain finally outweighs the nonsense.
Happy New Year!
Excellently put. Thank you!
Thanks, Marie!
Once again thank you, Alan, for this brilliant and comprehensive essay! Always grateful for you proving that we can never learn enough.. You indeed dug into rabbit holes, and I feel that this is so important, especially when, as you say, we are witnessing the "most public and widespread explosion of anti-Semitism in society"; while, at the same time, it seems like this anti-Semitism is growing and hiding where we never or hardly expected it, a frightening paradox :( In Germany, AfD, which is (in parts?) openly anti-semitic, adds its voice to right-wing conservative forces "fighting" anti-Semitism, only to strengthen a xenophobic agenda; while at the same time, (part of) leftist and far-left forces can nowadays definitely be positioned near this AfD, as "anti-imperialistic" and, yes, also anti-semitic! It's frightening, and it clearly shows how deep anti-Semitism is still engrained - obviously, for reasons you diligently explained here. And it is so important to state and note these facts! All that said, I am definitely still all for acknowledging "that it is possible for a people to be both a perpetrator and a victim at the same time" and realising "this applies to the Jewish people as much as the Palestinian people". Thank you for your thoughtful, reasonable and humble voice, highly appreciated!
Thanks Mel, I appreciate the comment. I've seen some of what is playing out in Germany in recent weeks, and it is an amber light in both ways (i.e., the dual burden of anti-Semitism and also censoring legitimate protests on behalf of Palestinians). A new censoriousness is gripping Germany, and I don't think it bodes well.
It should be noted that the footage in Sydney that went viral of a crowd chanting "gas the Jews" is still under investigation by police for dubbing over with a different audio file. There is no other videos showing the crowd shouting this and the original video was posted on social media by the Australian Jewish Council.
Noted. It seems the "fuck the Jews" chanting is accepted, so the intent of the sentiment remains the same.