A Normie View on Wokeness and Left-wing Politics
The New Left's logic is simply incompatible with the normie's common sense
This is the third part of my series on embracing a 'normie' politics. Previously, I discussed how right-wing politics is moving rapidly away from the normie's common sense, towards a reactionary authoritarianism that the normie is rightfully skeptical towards. Today, I will be discussing the current state of left-wing politics from the normie perspective. Just like the right, the left is also rapidly moving away from normie expectations, and this certainly compounds the frustrations of the average person. Note that, when I'm talking about the 'left', I mean the activist left, not the establishment center-left like the mainstream Democratic Party or British Labour Party, for example. I feel like I need to make this clear because some people still don't seem to understand where I'm coming from.
As I've long said, one of the biggest problems with the Western left since 2013 or so, is the mainstreaming of postmodern critical theory-inspired activism, or what is commonly called wokeness. This mode of activism is deeply rooted in philosophical theory, rather than objectively demonstrable reality, and it often tramples on deeply held community values too. This means it is simply incompatible with the common sense of the normie, who is justifiably worried about radical change based on abstract theory alone. Moreover, the tenets of postmodern critical theory often directly attack important pillars of normie common sense. These include the division of society into oppressor vs oppressed groups based on immutable characteristics, viewing speech as an oppressor vs oppressed power dynamic, which inevitably results in the curtailing of free speech, and encouraging group-based victim mentality in members of the 'oppressed' groups, with harmful effects on their mental health. The normie simply can't accept these things, which are completely at odds with their long-standing values of liberty and equality, as well as what their real life experience has taught them.
Left-wing activists often accuse the normie of being reactionary, because they reject the radical philosophical and political program of the far-left. However, this is not objectively true. The normie is committed to freedom and justice, and can generally be persuaded to accept reforms that improve people's lives while being reasonable in the overall context of society. A good example is how support for gay marriage rose rapidly, from having less than 20% support in the 1990s to enjoying majority support just twenty years later. Give the normie a reasonable proposal, and they will consider it in good faith. The reason the normie cannot accept the 'woke' left's agenda is simply because they can see its harms. History tells us that dividing people by their immutable characteristics, severely curtailing free speech and encouraging groups of people to adopt a victim mentality is dangerous, and there is no reason to believe that it will be different this time around.
The current situation, where the left keeps insisting on a radical cultural and political program that the normie cannot accept, has led to unnecessary stalemate on the resolution of numerous social issues, including climate change, LGBT issues, immigration and economic reform alike. This, in turn, has allowed a space for the populist right to grow. While the populist right is inherently dangerous, and as I previously argued, would be rejected by the normie who is truly paying attention, their exploitation of the common frustration with wokeness, and the reality-defying approach to politics of the activist left more generally, has gained them support, especially among low information voters. This is one of my biggest worries, and one of the biggest reasons why I'm promoting a woke skeptical message. Those who want true practical progress should see postmodern critical theory as our biggest roadblock. Accommodation of the normalization of such ideas in progressive circles is simply not the correct choice. We need to push back seriously, and push back very hard indeed.
I think the only way this impasse can be resolved in favor of old-school liberalism, is by readmitting the normie view as a legitimate input into progressive political discourse. As I often say, even though the common sense of the normie is not always perfect, it can serve an important function in arguing against misguided radicalism, especially that arising from sophisticated philosophical theory. The normie's preference for focusing on real life, over endlessly theorizing about hypothetical possibilities, can puncture the empty bubble that philosophical sophistry has created, and this is exactly what we need right now.
The Role of Compassion in a Politics of Meaning and Hope
It is the starting point of the comeback of positivity politics
I'm going to talk about why compassion is important in a positive, constructive politics of meaning and hope. As you might have noticed, negative politics that is about destroying or deconstructing things generally don't have much compassion in them. This alone is a hint that, just perhaps, compassion is key to avoiding falling into the negativity spiral.
In my previous talk on building a politics of meaning and hope, I said that, for myself at least, the meaning of life is that one could potentially make life consist of less suffering, both for people in the here and now, and even for generations yet to come. Life is inherently going to be suffering to some extent, but we can make it less suffering, as evidenced by the fact that life is generally less suffering today than in ancient times. If we are to build a politics of meaning and hope based on this idea, then compassion would be, by definition, right at the center of it.
Therefore, compassion is what could give politics the meaning and hope it is missing. The meaning would be to relieve people's suffering as much as possible, and the hope would be that things would get better over time, i.e. that there would be less suffering over time. Of course, different people are going to disagree on how we are going to get there, but having this common ground in the first place allows the debate to be grounded in something concrete and measurable, and prevents it from degenerating into nihilistic, tribalist fighting. This is why it's important that we aim to place compassion at the center of politics. It really is the key to ending the dominance of negativity-driven politics.
Compassion is also the key to maintaining a focus on practical progress and justice, and avoiding falling into the rabbit hole of an in-theory-only version of social justice. In recent years, postmodern critical theory has been holding the notion of social justice hostage, redefining justice as whatever the theory demands, rather than whatever would improve people's lives in the real world. In particular, the oppressor vs oppressed worldview only leads to division, polarization, and more difficulty in actually improving things. Putting compassion back at the center of our notion of social justice will put an end to this. After all, you can't be truly compassionate and go around labelling people as privileged oppressors based on theory alone.
From my other newsletter:
Why Supporting Trump Out of Spite for Wokeness is a Bad Idea
Leverage is dangerous, and we don't even need it that much
This post is for those classical liberals like myself, who have generally sided with the 'progressive' (or center-left) side of politics, but have been frustrated by the rise of wokeness in 'progressive' circles in recent years. Here's a warning some of us, including some prominent influencers (not naming names), really need to hear. I've long argued against the idea that anti-woke classical liberals should move to the right, but right now this argument is perhaps more crucial than ever before.
TaraElla is a singer-songwriter and author, who is the author of the Moral Libertarian Manifesto and the Moral Libertarian book series, which argue that liberalism is still the most moral and effective value system for the West.
She is also the author of The Trans Case Against Queer Theory and The TaraElla Story (her autobiography).