Guy, I sort of agree and sort of totally disagree.
Let me see if I can clarify.
If I take every single one of the negative traits of progressives you describe, I wonder why people think this is anything new. I remember, in the 3 Left wing group meetings I attended in 1971 (thereafter giving up hope that politics of any persuasion could possibly bring about fundamental change in the world) I saw all of this.
When I attended grad school in 1990-1991, it was worse. Just grindingly bad writing (all that literacy criticism language about problematizing and thematizing - they hadn’t got to pronouns yet but I remember putting up a beautiful passage from Ralph Waldo Emerson on the bulletin board and one of my progressive teachers was appalled at all the references to “he” as representing all humanity.
I mean, I didn’t disagree that it was worth looking at, but the condescending schoolmarm attitude did not bode well for acceptance of these kinds of observations.
Now flash forward to the past 10 years - what percentage of Americans who identify with progressive ideals (economic opportunity, health care for all, good quality education for all, etc) were like this (you know, the worst of woke, extreme DEI, etc)
I’d guess maybe 10%?
Well, if 10% of all American adults (that’s 20 million people, I think?) are progressive, and 10% of them represent this tendency, we’re talking about 2 million people in a nation of 350 million.
What percentage of Democrats (not just at the Federal but State levels) are fixated on this kind of woke extremism? I honestly think if you look closely at the bills Bernie and AOC sponsor, you won’t find much there either?
I”m not saying it doesn’t exist. I’m saying the idea that it has ever been widespread is a deliberate fabrication of corporate right wing media.
Am I totally off here? Did you know, by the way, the some wealthy media barons hired David Horowitz (former left wing student radical “mugged by reality” turned exploitative conservative ) to mine the most obscure works of left wing intellectuals (the kind I already found utterly obnoxious int he early 1970s) and find some way (ie lie) to make people think they stood for all Democrats?
You are not totally off. In the past decade, social media can amplify the minority, even the fringe minority. Outrage, whether right or left, fuels engagement and the middle majority gets caught in the crossfire. And to extend my metaphor, the shadow, whether individual or collective is not necessarily the prime motivator but the minority irritator.
Hmm, nobody else responded?
Guy, I sort of agree and sort of totally disagree.
Let me see if I can clarify.
If I take every single one of the negative traits of progressives you describe, I wonder why people think this is anything new. I remember, in the 3 Left wing group meetings I attended in 1971 (thereafter giving up hope that politics of any persuasion could possibly bring about fundamental change in the world) I saw all of this.
When I attended grad school in 1990-1991, it was worse. Just grindingly bad writing (all that literacy criticism language about problematizing and thematizing - they hadn’t got to pronouns yet but I remember putting up a beautiful passage from Ralph Waldo Emerson on the bulletin board and one of my progressive teachers was appalled at all the references to “he” as representing all humanity.
I mean, I didn’t disagree that it was worth looking at, but the condescending schoolmarm attitude did not bode well for acceptance of these kinds of observations.
Now flash forward to the past 10 years - what percentage of Americans who identify with progressive ideals (economic opportunity, health care for all, good quality education for all, etc) were like this (you know, the worst of woke, extreme DEI, etc)
I’d guess maybe 10%?
Well, if 10% of all American adults (that’s 20 million people, I think?) are progressive, and 10% of them represent this tendency, we’re talking about 2 million people in a nation of 350 million.
What percentage of Democrats (not just at the Federal but State levels) are fixated on this kind of woke extremism? I honestly think if you look closely at the bills Bernie and AOC sponsor, you won’t find much there either?
I”m not saying it doesn’t exist. I’m saying the idea that it has ever been widespread is a deliberate fabrication of corporate right wing media.
Am I totally off here? Did you know, by the way, the some wealthy media barons hired David Horowitz (former left wing student radical “mugged by reality” turned exploitative conservative ) to mine the most obscure works of left wing intellectuals (the kind I already found utterly obnoxious int he early 1970s) and find some way (ie lie) to make people think they stood for all Democrats?
You are not totally off. In the past decade, social media can amplify the minority, even the fringe minority. Outrage, whether right or left, fuels engagement and the middle majority gets caught in the crossfire. And to extend my metaphor, the shadow, whether individual or collective is not necessarily the prime motivator but the minority irritator.