Contrary to opinion, leftism isn’t just about hate. Leftists are more complex than that. From my time as a red diaper leftist, I can tell you that a whole range of emotions are involved. Hate, anger, fear, bitterness, jealousy, envy, rage, greed, pride, smugness and paranoia (not technically an emotion, but it is widespread among leftists).
With such a parade of negative emotions, it is no surprise that so many leftists suffer from chronic depression, often from a young age. Even if they lose the anger, they still retain the attitude: that the government must fix everyone’s problems, regardless of cost and that there is an enormous right-wing conspiracy that is just around the corner.
The victim narrative of the Left is very infectious. You are always the victim and you are always owed something. The wealthy are always evil, while you are always good and wholesome.
Michael Faraday
March 16, 2016
The Mind of the Left From an Insider
[Amazing stuff in this article. Or at least it matches my confirmation bias extremely well.
The part about hate and being a victim really resonates with me. Emotions are how they communicate and expressions of hate are the means of signaling their virtue to other leftists. If they identify as a victim it justifies their hate. They identify with other victims. Those who do not identify as a victim of some sort must be the oppressors. And of course they always require a powerful government to right the wrongs they see inflicted upon them by powerful oppressors. The concept that powerful governments have been, can be, and always will be, oppressive is incomprehensible to them.—Joe]
“The concept that powerful governments have been, can be, and always will be, oppressive is incomprehensible to them.”
They’re keenly aware that governments are often tools of oppression. They are in fact counting on it. As disciples of the victim narrative they demand it.
That’s the purpose of the victim narrative. It gives them not just the desire but the need to get even. It’s their turn to do the oppressing for once, and it’s our turn to find out what it’s like. They’ll need their day (or century, or millennium) of rage, robbery, rape and plunder. It’s why they’re not bothered by Islamic Jihad and instead think it’s sorta cool. It’s why they’re silent on the genocide against Christians in the Middle East. At some level they admire jihadists. It’s why they were never bothered by the IRS targeting of conservative groups– That was just a small step in the right direction. More please. It’s Occuply Wall Street, Che Guevera, Black Lives Matter and the Weather Underground all wrapped up together with The People’s Revolution, Jim Jones and Charles Manson.
It’s still covered by a tattered and rather grubby veil of compassion of course, for now, yet it longs to break free.
I don’t believe they think of it as “oppressive”. It is their “liberator”. Therefore, I believe, my claim still stands.
I think you’re both recognizing the same point, which is that these people are not in favor of liberty. They are in favor only of liberty for their friends, while for everyone else they desire oppression (or extermination).
If you look at this as an example of “getting even” it ties into the psychopathic delusion of victimhood that the original article mentions.
One complication liberals run into when trying to apply this “liberty only for ‘our people'” notion is that who is “our people” is subject to change without notice. Stalin’s former colleagues found out the hard way.
The reason Trump worries me so much is that he fits this pattern. If he thinks of you as his friend (i.e., in agreement with him) right now, good. If not, you get attacked viciously and dishonestly. I keep asking myself what will happen when his attack tools aren’t just Twitter and press conferences, but also the IRS, FBI, and ATF.
OK; “oppressive of their enemies” then. They want someone, or some force, to kick some ass. Whether said ass-kicking is seen as “oppressive” then depends on where one stands relative to the Authoritarian System. You are correct in a sense of course; the Progressives no doubt will see it as “Social Justice” rather than “oppression”. In effect though it’s the same thing. Therefore I believe we are in agreement in principle if not in semantics.
The oppressor never sees himself as an oppressor. I was taking that as assumed by all parties. Rather, given the fact that the oppressor always comes to be an oppressor through a process of emotional self-delusion and rationalization, he’ll invariably see himself as a warrior for justice, goodness and all that is sacred and precious.
Disturbingly, he’ll see any who advocate for liberty, and therefore oppose him, as that which I just described above, and hate them all the more. So of course it’s a problem.
So in a nutshell “Leftist are Sith.”
“Those who do not identify as a victim of some sort must be the oppressors. ” That certainly resonates with me. I can’t recall the number of times I’ve heard some lefty whining about how victimized they were over some small affront, whether from an acquaintance, employer, agency, whatever. If you don’t immediately agree with the depth of their victimhood, the immediate accusation is that you “aren’t on their side,” or you are as bad as, or potentially worse than, the oppressor. And this can be over something a superficial as being handed the wrong change at a fast food restaurant. The victim mode generally ramps up pretty quickly and spirals out of control.
I would add that a hefty dose of ignorance is a crucial ingredient. That is why we get so many youth who endorse Bernie Sanders and socialism, not realizing that he would ruin ALL of our futures for short-term gains for them with free stuff like college without those pesky loans.
They love their slogans and how Leftist ideologies sound and look on paper, but never look at Cuba, Venezuela, North Korea, the USSR, Nazi Germany and so on.
A real aversion to the truth,mreal world experiences and history.
Ignorance of the followers, malice of the leaders.