Camus told Sartre: One does not decide the truth of a thought according to whether it is right-wing or left-wing.
Demanding that an issue of this gravity be treated as a slogan to which everyone has to submit, to prove loyalty to one political faction or another, is mentally and morally sick.
That’s a totalitarian mindset. It puts loyalty to an ideology above truth, effectiveness, and the common good.
Citizens in a liberal democracy can and should be able to object to policies which harm them, without being silenced, and being automatically labeled as “racist“ which denies their human worth.
Your article demonstrated a faith in dialogue and debate, and reaching a fact-based resolution, which is sadly not as common as it should be.
Absolutely correct - and Camus was hammered by the hard left for saying this. He was the voice of reason on the left and the poseur, Satre, threw him (his best friend) under the bus.
Good luck, Stella. But the future of the left is Bernie looking down at his shoes while cultural Marxists steal his mic - forever.
You and Freddie are the last lefties worth reading, and you're both at your best when calling out your own side, or simply not talking about politics.
You're wasting your energies trying to nudge the low-T egregore away from the abyss. The abyss is its telos. You'd have more of an impact on the world going full-in on gonzo writing or fiction.
“It is a place of intellectual curiosity where different opinions are tolerated and discussed. It is a place that has space for people who are not ideologically tethered to the left or the right, because they, too, are concerned with the pillars of what makes left-wing politics worthy of popular consideration: values of equality and justice and a concern for people’s welfare.”
Which left wing spaces are you referring to here, because this hasn’t been my experience at all? My experience has largely been of an extremely cliquey and highly charged environment where vitriol is rewarded, nuance is regarded with suspicion, and saying anything nice about anything from Blair rightwards (or god forbid the Tories) is to be subjected to the full force of social opprobrium. What you have described seems a much better fit for the Lib Dems than for any self declared left wing space I’ve witnessed.
Most of the left wing spaces I have encountered (at least the Labour/Democrat PMC variety) are basically a form of class-based Wokemon, engless and endlessly dreary arguments about cultural appropriation and how many LGTBQXYZPDQ can dance on the head of a pin, endless performative struggle sessions, but NOT raising questions about how the economic pie is sliced.
In fact, because they are naturally smarter, better educated, more virtuous and with better taste, to boot, the PMC *deserve* their economic privileges, as sort of natural aristorcracy. The clods would probably just buy tacky tchotchkes.
Put another way - to paraphrase Chris Hedges - elites will gladly discuss race, they will decry gender inequality most piteously, they will demonstrate a touching sensitivity to the rights of sexual and gender minorities so oppressed that they have not been discovered yet. Those same elites will not readily discuss economic class.
Or, in the negative formulation - if businesses were to stop opposing unionization of their workers, the result would be a transfer of wealth, of concrete material benefits, to brown and black and tabby and yellow and white working class cats and also people greater than all the allyship statements ever penned, all the diversity committees ever instituted, all the preferred pronoun tags ever attached to a corporate email. Which is precisely why they will not do this.
It was wishful thinking on my part but my goodness the Lib Dems couldn't be further from it too. Wets never saying anything, hoping voters will project whatever they want on their affable niceness.
In the political messaging space perhaps - I’m referring more to my experience of the internal cultures of their activists and the environments they choose to make for themselves. In my experience the people who choose to affiliate with Lib Dem societies seem to be the nicest of the bunch, and the atmosphere they create is one much closer to what you describe. The Conservatives are by and large polite and nice, however the knives come out when you are seeking any position of power and leadership. Labour societies seem largely populated by bullies more interested in social positioning and mutual reinforcement rather than any actual effort to improve people’s lives, hence why most genuinely left wing people I know would rather associate with Lib Dem groups even whilst they continue to vote Labour or Greens in the polls.
To what extent do you think China and Russia are funding the cultural left and trying to amplify them in Anglophone countries? It seems really strange to me that people who work in politics wouldn’t know that nothing you do matters if you don’t have power.
It's the final paragraph that nails it. It's not international trade or even neoliberalism that has trashed the working class. It's inequality. GDP has increased significantly over the last 40 years, but wages and benefits have not, QED the wealth is being hoarded by the few, wealth that was created by the working class either through their labour or the destruction of their opportunity, communities or culture as it was traded away by financialisation.
Just a stupid reel that appeared on my insta, because I am discussing people who get radicalised by the algorithm etc Probably too esoteric, but I want to slap something random.
Camus told Sartre: One does not decide the truth of a thought according to whether it is right-wing or left-wing.
Demanding that an issue of this gravity be treated as a slogan to which everyone has to submit, to prove loyalty to one political faction or another, is mentally and morally sick.
That’s a totalitarian mindset. It puts loyalty to an ideology above truth, effectiveness, and the common good.
Citizens in a liberal democracy can and should be able to object to policies which harm them, without being silenced, and being automatically labeled as “racist“ which denies their human worth.
Your article demonstrated a faith in dialogue and debate, and reaching a fact-based resolution, which is sadly not as common as it should be.
Absolutely correct - and Camus was hammered by the hard left for saying this. He was the voice of reason on the left and the poseur, Satre, threw him (his best friend) under the bus.
Stella your articles never cease to make me cackle during the workday. I’ve never felt so represented by another media person in my entire life/career
glad to be of service Daniel :-)
Thank you for keeping the borders of Leftiedom open.
always
Good luck, Stella. But the future of the left is Bernie looking down at his shoes while cultural Marxists steal his mic - forever.
You and Freddie are the last lefties worth reading, and you're both at your best when calling out your own side, or simply not talking about politics.
You're wasting your energies trying to nudge the low-T egregore away from the abyss. The abyss is its telos. You'd have more of an impact on the world going full-in on gonzo writing or fiction.
Abandon ship? I am not a rat
The Left isn't the boat to a Better World. That's the problem.
Anyway, hope you're enjoying the Easter holiday. Χριστός ανέστι!
“It is a place of intellectual curiosity where different opinions are tolerated and discussed. It is a place that has space for people who are not ideologically tethered to the left or the right, because they, too, are concerned with the pillars of what makes left-wing politics worthy of popular consideration: values of equality and justice and a concern for people’s welfare.”
Which left wing spaces are you referring to here, because this hasn’t been my experience at all? My experience has largely been of an extremely cliquey and highly charged environment where vitriol is rewarded, nuance is regarded with suspicion, and saying anything nice about anything from Blair rightwards (or god forbid the Tories) is to be subjected to the full force of social opprobrium. What you have described seems a much better fit for the Lib Dems than for any self declared left wing space I’ve witnessed.
Most of the left wing spaces I have encountered (at least the Labour/Democrat PMC variety) are basically a form of class-based Wokemon, engless and endlessly dreary arguments about cultural appropriation and how many LGTBQXYZPDQ can dance on the head of a pin, endless performative struggle sessions, but NOT raising questions about how the economic pie is sliced.
In fact, because they are naturally smarter, better educated, more virtuous and with better taste, to boot, the PMC *deserve* their economic privileges, as sort of natural aristorcracy. The clods would probably just buy tacky tchotchkes.
Put another way - to paraphrase Chris Hedges - elites will gladly discuss race, they will decry gender inequality most piteously, they will demonstrate a touching sensitivity to the rights of sexual and gender minorities so oppressed that they have not been discovered yet. Those same elites will not readily discuss economic class.
Or, in the negative formulation - if businesses were to stop opposing unionization of their workers, the result would be a transfer of wealth, of concrete material benefits, to brown and black and tabby and yellow and white working class cats and also people greater than all the allyship statements ever penned, all the diversity committees ever instituted, all the preferred pronoun tags ever attached to a corporate email. Which is precisely why they will not do this.
Politics is a cop out, but we have to do it anyway. One must have hope.
I said nothing of politics, per se, but what passes for "politics" is a distraction at best.
It was wishful thinking on my part but my goodness the Lib Dems couldn't be further from it too. Wets never saying anything, hoping voters will project whatever they want on their affable niceness.
In the political messaging space perhaps - I’m referring more to my experience of the internal cultures of their activists and the environments they choose to make for themselves. In my experience the people who choose to affiliate with Lib Dem societies seem to be the nicest of the bunch, and the atmosphere they create is one much closer to what you describe. The Conservatives are by and large polite and nice, however the knives come out when you are seeking any position of power and leadership. Labour societies seem largely populated by bullies more interested in social positioning and mutual reinforcement rather than any actual effort to improve people’s lives, hence why most genuinely left wing people I know would rather associate with Lib Dem groups even whilst they continue to vote Labour or Greens in the polls.
To what extent do you think China and Russia are funding the cultural left and trying to amplify them in Anglophone countries? It seems really strange to me that people who work in politics wouldn’t know that nothing you do matters if you don’t have power.
They are funding the right, and are creating fake left-wing troll bots to trigger the right further.
"polyamorous atheist communes with subsidised blue hair dye"
Where do I sign up 😁
Excellent article. Keep them coming
It's the final paragraph that nails it. It's not international trade or even neoliberalism that has trashed the working class. It's inequality. GDP has increased significantly over the last 40 years, but wages and benefits have not, QED the wealth is being hoarded by the few, wealth that was created by the working class either through their labour or the destruction of their opportunity, communities or culture as it was traded away by financialisation.
exactly, it's a travesty and what we should be focusing our attention
haha thanks !
Not sure I understand the meme.
Just a stupid reel that appeared on my insta, because I am discussing people who get radicalised by the algorithm etc Probably too esoteric, but I want to slap something random.