Is the modern Left a largely conservative project?

[Tooting Carmen]

As absurd and preposterous as this might sound to many at first, I increasingly think it is. Consider how lots of modern leftists stand on the following issues:

Pornography and prostitution. While traditional rightists would rail against them for their 'decadence' and 'immorality', plenty of modern leftists now rail against them for being symbols of 'patriarchy' and 'sexism'.

Miscegenation. While many traditional rightists would rail against it in the name of White supremacy or racial purity, nowadays some modern leftists rail against it because they see it as evidence of Black/Asian/Latino self-hatred and succumbing to White privilege and dominance.

Environmentalism. Despite being seen as a left-wing movement, the truth is that environmentalism, what with its almost Spenglerian suspicion of modernity and technology (or rather, what it regards as the excesses of both) is in many aspects a thoroughly conservative, if not reactionary ideology.

A prime example of the growing conservatism of much of the Left has gotta be the Aussie feminist Germaine Greer. Having come to the conclusion that it has been mostly men who have benefited from the Sexual Revolution, the woman once synonymous with sexual liberation and the joys of fatherlessness now advocates for traditional marriage and family values, albeit with a feminist twist. Furthermore, as the eminent LGBT activist Peter Tatchell himself has said, the modern-day campaign to recognise gay marriage is itself highly conservative and conformist.

[gixajo]

As absurd and preposterous as this might sound to many at first, I increasingly think it is. Consider how lots of modern leftists stand on the following issues:

Pornography and prostitution. While traditional rightists would rail against them for their 'decadence' and 'immorality', plenty of modern leftists now rail against them for being symbols of 'patriarchy' and 'sexism'.

Miscegenation. While many traditional rightists would rail against it in the name of White supremacy or racial purity, nowadays some modern leftists rail against it because they see it as evidence of Black/Asian/Latino self-hatred and succumbing to White privilege and dominance.

Environmentalism. Despite being seen as a left-wing movement, the truth is that environmentalism, what with its almost Spenglerian suspicion of modernity and technology (or rather, what it regards as the excesses of both) is in many aspects a thoroughly conservative, if not reactionary ideology.

A prime example of the growing conservatism of much of the Left has gotta be the Aussie feminist Germaine Greer. Having come to the conclusion that it has been mostly men who have benefited from the Sexual Revolution, the woman once synonymous with sexual liberation and the joys of fatherlessness now advocates for traditional marriage and family values, albeit with a feminist twist. Furthermore, as the eminent LGBT activist Peter Tatchell himself has said, the modern-day campaign to recognise gay marriage is itself highly conservative and conformist.

It is not absurd what you propose, actually left and right, today have no meaning beyond a convenient label, there are many conservative trends on the modern left, and also on the right, many progressive ideas that a right-wing person from another time would have considered ridiculous to see in the ideology of the right but nowadays they are part of what is considered right-wing ideas.

Everything changes with time, everything changes, so that everything remains the same

[Tooting Carmen]

It is not absurd what you propose, actually left and right, today have no meaning beyond a convenient label, there are many conservative trends on the modern left, and also on the right, many progressive ideas that a right-wing person from another time would have considered ridiculous to see in the ideology of the right but nowadays they are part of what is considered right-wing ideas.

Everything changes with time, everything changes, so that everything remains the same

For good and for ill, I'd say that over the last 3-4 decades the Right has become more socially liberal/libertarian and the Left (or significant strands of it, at any rate) less so.

[Tooting Carmen]

One thing that radical feminists ironically share with social/religious traditionalists is their suspicion towards women's sexuality. Only that where the latter label overly sexual women as 'whores', the former label them as 'victims'. While both camps would have issues with this:


The funny thing is that usually they wouldn't with this:

[Daco Celtic]

What a joke. I've literally never met a left wing person that subscribes to these views. This type of left winger does exist in large numbers, at least not in the US.

[sean]

While many traditional rightists would rail against it in the name of White supremacy or racial purity, nowadays some modern leftists rail against it because they see it as evidence of Black/Asian/Latino self-hatred and succumbing to White privilege and dominance.

When we all know its not true.





Conservative project my foot lel.

Just a reminder, you've been spamming this board non-stop with total bullshit, shitting up every thread with nonsense, and generally been awful every minute of every hour of every day since 2013.

[ShieldWolf]

No, the left is not a conservative project. Far from it. They have moved farther and farther to the left. Instead of being predominantly left-of-center in the past, they are now unabashedly socialists and communists.

[Tooting Carmen]

What a joke. I've literally never met a left wing person that subscribes to these views. This type of left winger does exist in large numbers, at least not in the US.

For leftist feminists who oppose pornography and prostitution, try Julie Bindel, Catherine MacKinnon or the late Andrea Dworkin. For leftist sceptics of miscegenation, try loads of African-American intellectuals and activists beginning with Malcolm X himself. And most if not all Green Parties are (putatively) left-leaning nowadays, even if that wasn't always the case.

[Daco Celtic]

For leftist feminists who oppose pornography and prostitution, try Julie Bindel, Catherine MacKinnon or the late Andrea Dworkin. For leftist sceptics of miscegenation, try loads of African-American intellectuals and activists beginning with Malcolm X himself. And most if not all Green Parties are (putatively) left-leaning nowadays, even if that wasn't always the case.

Like I said, these people don't exist in large numbers. All these people are outside of mainstream left wing politics and don't represent rank-and-file liberals.

[Tooting Carmen]

Like I said, these people don't exist in large numbers. All these people are outside of mainstream left wing politics and don't represent rank-and-file liberals.

Perhaps so, but I still think that to some extent these small 'c' conservative ideas about sex, race and the natural world itself have infiltrated even the mainstream Left.