Saturday 16 January 2016

Why are radical feminists and radical SJW's a problem of the modern left, not a solution

Why are radical feminists and radical SJW's a problem of the modern left, not a solution?
Before I commence, yes I am definitely a leftie. At least I identify as one. However, lately, there is a rift opening on the left.

To think about this question, we should first think of what the political left really  is? What is the modern political left? What are its values? And what are its goals? We also need to know what are the goals of radical feminists and radical SJW's("Social Justice Warriors") and what exactly are they.

The political left can be most widely defined as a movement of people who aspire to bring untraditional philosophies and values to their society. The political right on the opposite wants to keep the traditional values or bring them back.

In modern times it means that the left is for progressivism. This usually includes economic ideas like Liberalism, Social democracy, Socialism, Anarchism. It also includes cultural ideas like Egalitarianism(equal rights for everyone), Multiculturalism, political correctness (a.k.a. social justice), Pacifism, Environmentalism, civil rights movements and feminism. And Liberalism and Anarchism can be described as both economic and cultural ideas. So yes individual freedom is a key component of leftism.

By now you could have concluded that feminism and SJW's belong to the left. While that is certainly true, I personally believe that modern feminist and SJW movements do more harm than good to leftism. But in a way also, recently they are starting to belong less and less to the left. Why is that so?

Well, there are at least 2 reasons. The first one is the fact that popularity is very important in politics. Even in non-democratic systems once you reach a certain point of unpopularity you are going to have an uprising. Feminists and SJW's, the way most of them act on the internet is like a victim. While that is fine, a radical core among them has formed. That core isn't just fighting for equality. That core is trying to switch from being the victim to being the aggresor. And the wider public has recognised this. As a follow up the wider public is also often thinking about the rest of leftism like that. And since popularity is so important in politics it translates as a problem. Radical feminists and SJW's are acting increasingly like some kind of mini dictators, and the wider public is not receiving it well. They want tolerance but they are not prepared to give it back.

The second one, and the reason why those 2 movements are getting increasingly distant from the left is the fact that those movements are more and more starting to act like single issue politics. Single issue politics are fine, but only as long as they affect only that single issue. Feminists and SJW's while they stress their one single issue, they are trying to affect a much wider area of politics indirectly. Their approach on other leftist ideals has shifted from friendly to 'laissez faire'. If you ask a feminist or SJW about the importance of personal freedoms he will probably say something like he likes it as long as it does not cross their beliefs of social justice or feminism. While that is certainly fine, as soon as you read their blogs you will soon notice that they never advocate personal freedoms and that other leftist ideas are something that they often stomp on. In fact they often act as irrationally as some traditionalists except that feminism and social justice has become their tradition. So while they are on the left, they have become quite irrational, a decade ago the main argument for the political left against the political right was that the right is too irrational. Radical feminism and SJW's are like a political right that has grown inside the political left.

So while as a leftist I believe that their issues and concerns are valid, they resemble Stalin a lot(in a very negative way), the funny thing is that although Stalin was a communist his regime had elements of rightism. Their approach to solving their issues is terrible. With the way they think they have become the same close minded monsters that leftists despise. Plus they often sound very much like '1st world problems'.

So what approaches can the left take to fix this?
Well, there are only long term approaches IMHO. So think in decades not in years.
One approach would be an approach of re-education. Leftists should approach them, tell them that they understand their issues, but that there are other issues that are just as important if not more important than that, like personal freedoms, general progressivism and other leftist ideas. I like this approach the most. I like it because ultimately there is no problem with teir ideals, but there is a big problem on how tthey approach those same ideals.

A second approach would be to adapt to them. Of course, this is my least favourite approach, because that would mean the abandonment of the ideals of personal freedoms andthe abandonment os some other leftist ideas. It would also mean becoming increasingly authoritarian. Liberalism would become a completely rightist thing. Also it would mean that the political left would become increasingly irrational and emotional, where until now it was a cool-headed and rational political ideology, fighting for the little man.

A third approach would be to marginalise them. Which would mean to do to them what they are doing to the rest of the left, not abandon their ideals completely, but to consider them less important.

A fourth approach would be to cut ties and go against them in discussions and trying to prove them wrong. Cut ties with them and let them become the single issue politics that they want to be or 'pass the hot potato' by letting them go full right. I don't like this approach at all, because it would mean making enemies out of them. Plus it would mean the abandonment of many leftist ideas. But at least we would be rid of the dead weight.

And there are probably countless other approaches.

Now, does this mean that the left is weak? Absolutely not. Such infighting happens regularly both on the left and right of the political spectrum. It means that both set of ideals are evolving and becoming stronger. It means that the very thing that the left likes which is change, is currently happening on the left. Eventually, something will be done and all of this will just become a part of history.

What is your opinion on the matter.