My Case Against the Theory Left: A Restatement
Why leftist theory has been a counterproductive force
1. The Abstract Philosophy Trap
In the previous decade, we saw the rise of a morally authoritarian brand of activism rooted in postmodern critical theories. This brand of activism attempted to push the largely popular and successful tradition of reformist liberalism aside, justified not by objective reality, but by their philosophical commitments only. This was a disaster both from the perspective of freedom itself, seen in the rise of cancel culture and its chilling effects on free speech and rational discussion of issues, as well as from the perspective of social justice, because it allowed the rise of a reactionary, and equally moral authoritarian, 'postliberal' right. Left-wing moral authoritarianism has led to right-wing moral authoritarianism, and the result is a double dose of unfreedom, as well as a lot of culture war tribalism.
The problem of trusting abstract ideas and philosophy to solve society's problems might be most clearly seen in the case of the forced application of postmodern critical theories, but this is actually a long-standing problem, particularly in so-called progressive circles. The endless arguments about whether particular ideas are 'progressive', 'feminist', and so on are a reflection of the obsession with the abstract, and such arguments at least imply that some ideas should be taboo in progressive circles, which is a highly morally authoritarian position to take. It was against this situation that I began writing about moral libertarianism. Remember, this was the case even before postmodernism became mainstream. As I often say in reply to these debates, how about we just have more compassion for everyone?
2. When Theory is Slavery: Why the Theory Left is Regressive
As far back as 2018, I came up with the idea that 'theory is slavery', and I mentioned it in several episodes of my show around that time. However, I never really elaborated on why that is the case. Basically, the New Left of the West since around the 1970s has been very much a theory-based left. Several factors combined to cause this. The biggest was perhaps the fact that, around that time, a new faction of the Left broke away from the workers, to instead embrace intellectuals and academia, as a new revolutionary force. They were the faction behind the upheavals of the 1960s, including most famously May 68 in France, which the old workers-Left actually did not support (at least initially, it became more complicated later on). Another was that, among the young radicals of that era, there was the idea that following the correct theory was the most important thing. After the splintering of the Left in the 1970s and 80s, this idea fell out of fashion, but elements of it are still present in the attitudes of the Left today.
Anyway, the key point is, much of the Western Left today takes a theory-based approach to everything, and base their so-called progressivism on achieving the goals of their theory. They decide what is a good course of action, or what counts as success, not based on objective reality, not based on if the lives of people have actually been made better, but on their theoretical concerns. This, I think, is essentially being a slave to theory. Hence theory has actually become slavery, in the context of the 21st century Western Left.
Besides being unable to improve people's lives, what I'm most concerned with the theory-Left is that it effectively discourages independent thinking, which I value very much as a Moral Libertarian. Through building a movement that is enslaved to a whole suite of critical theories, which explain every social issue and cultural conflict with its particular philosophy, New Left activism actually creates a mass of people who think in lockstep on every issue, because they are informed by theory rather than their own observation of reality and their own independent thinking. In turn, this actually divides society into two sides, one side which thinks in lockstep with theory on every issue, and another side which comes together simply to fight what they correctly see as an illogical and contradictory coalition. I think this is a major reason behind the polarization we are seeing in the West today.
To avoid the pitfalls of the theory-based New Left, I believe the most important thing is to stay grounded in objective reality. Measure every idea and every course of action by their results in objective reality. If it has not really improved the lives of people, it is not progress at all. Another thing is, be ready to listen to unfamiliar ideas, and don't come to the table with obsessions and preconceptions rooted in ideological theories. This will prevent an objective understanding of anything. In short, to avoid being a slave to theory, always remain open-minded and objective.
3. How Critical Theory Impedes Progress & Innovation
I need to talk about one of the most controversial ideas found in all forms of postmodern critical theory generally: the view that certain values, ideas and forms of knowledge can be tied to a specific identity group. In critical race theory (CRT), we see this manifest as things like saying that traditional math education is 'white', liberalism is 'white', or the idea of meritocracy is inherently 'white'. In more extreme cases, even the objectivity that underpins science could be considered 'white'. I want to note here is that this form of thinking is certainly not limited to CRT. For example, many of the aforementioned things can be accused of being 'patriarchal' too, using the lens of some feminist critical theories.
Indeed, postmodernized critical theory has plenty of influences to make them think this way. These include the core critical theory view that all dominant ideas in society are there to serve the dominant (or oppressor) groups, and the Foucauldian postmodernist idea that all knowledge and discourse is primarily shaped by power dynamics. The contemporary Theory Left's habit of assigning cultural ideas to identity groups is not limited to the dominant groups either, as seen in theories about 'cultural appropriation', which generally apply to minority cultures. Obviously, the culture in question must, in the first place, be defined as the property of an identity group, for these theories to work.
The main problem I have with this model of thinking is that it impedes the impartial discovery of objective truth. It also impedes the exchange of ideas between cultures, and ultimately the freedom of innovation that is required for social progress. In other words, what we have here is a model of thinking that essentially wants to throw out the best things about the Enlightenment, the very things that underpinned the great progress in science, technology and civil rights alike in the past two to three centuries. What I'm concerned about is that, many people don't quite fully grasp how important it is to defend these things.
What we need to be able to say is that, there is objective truth and knowledge, and it is a worthy endeavor to discover and learn it in the most robust way, regardless of race or other identity characteristics. A strong commitment to the objective truth, via the study of science, math and so on, cannot be tied to any race, because we're talking about the objective truth, and it is by definition valid for all. Good ideas, good music, good designs and so on can't be 'white' or 'black' or belong to any other race either, because the power of innovation belongs to the whole of humanity, and shouldn't be limited by the boundaries of identity. I believe that, if we fail to defend these fundamental truths, we will have failed the future of humanity.
4. How the Theory Left Drove People to the Reactionary Right
How did the political landscape of the West come to be polarized between a theory-obsessed Left and a reactionary Right? Having read plenty of political history, and having reflected on the topic for some time, I have come to the conclusion that it all began in the late 1960s, when a faction of the Left turned away from the workers and towards intellectuals for their support. This became the critical theory-based New Left, which presented endless theory-based critiques of the existing society. Over time, the cultural changes arising from this theory-based Left led to a cascade of social effects, which steadily drove a substantial number of people towards hardline reactionary conservatism. This process might even have accelerated in recent years, with a new wave of the Theory Left having come and gone in the past decade. The result is, there is now a lot of resistance to social justice reforms of all kinds.
The problem with the Theory Left is that they are rooted in theoretical philosophy, rather than the practical facts of the real world. This means they produce the wrong diagnoses of social problems, and provide the wrong solutions. Most problematically, they also have a strong bias against long-standing social institutions like marriage, family and other pillars of traditional communities, due to the critical theory worldview seeing them as upholding an 'oppressive' system. A major effect of Theory Left's ideas and practices, especially their attempts to deconstruct and 'liberate' everything, is that they have served to weaken the social fabric significantly over the past five decades. This, in turn, has deprived what many people need most, strong and stable family-based support networks, and a strong sense of community, as well as the sense of security this provides. These people are naturally going to be attracted to reactionary conservatism, which promises to stem the decline, and restore society to its former state. Even though in practice they have not been successful in doing this, the very promise, the very idea, has been attractive for many people, who have nowhere else to turn.
In the past decade, there was another wave of Theory Left activism that drove even more people to the Right in another way, through their unreasonable insistence that their ideas be accepted without debate. This attitude is rooted in the theory that knowledge and discourse is rooted in power and oppression, which totally goes against both practical common sense and the ideals of the Enlightenment. But more importantly, this attitude just isn't going to be acceptable to most people. During the past decade, I have read many stories about formerly moderately progressive people being turned to the hard Right after they encountered the unreasonable attitude of the Theory Left. Some like to deny this reality, but I believe it's something that actually happened to a significant extent.
So how can we begin to heal this mess, so we can get reformist progress back on the agenda? We need to put an end to the dominant influence of the Theory Left on our politics. Particularly, as long as the critical theory Left's zero-sum, deconstructive, essentially anti-society worldview even so much as lingers in our conscience, we can't really start to rebuild a strong social fabric. Without a stronger and healthier social fabric, there really isn't going to be the will to take on the reforms that are required to solve our problems. And so, every new issue and every new development just turn into more fuel for the culture wars, which just goes to benefit both the Theory Left and the reactionary Right, thus continuing the vicious cycle. There's no room, no appetite, to actually take an unbiased look at things like automation, racial equality, civil rights, the climate and so on. Hence, going forward, I will talk even more about how we can remove the influence of five decades of critical theory in our thoughts and our culture. This is something we need to work together on, because it has affected almost all of us, to differing degrees.
The other important thing to do would be to bring back those who have already fallen into reactionary hardline conservatism, because they see that as the only way to bring back a healthy society. We have to build a better alternative: a way back to a healthy society, but one that is forward looking rather than backward looking. And then we need to convince these people that our way will work, and we can fix the mess created by the Theory Left in a way that the reactionary ideology simply can't. Where reactionary ideology can only keep people nostalgic about a better past, we can give them something to actually hope for: an even better future. It is a long road ahead, so I think we should start getting to work as soon as possible.
TaraElla is a singer-songwriter and author, who is the author of the Progressive Conservative Manifesto, the Moral Libertarian Manifesto and the Moral Libertarian book series. She is also the author of her autobiography The TaraElla Story.