Despair Doesn’t Make You More Progressive
I want progressive values to win. I believe they can.
I don’t think most progressive activists agree.
There’s a funny parallel between left-wing and right-wing activists: each of them has the same view not only of their own side, but of the other. They’re both convinced that their opponents are flexible, disciplined, unified, tactically-savvy, and able to strategically invoke the support of the political establishment. Meanwhile, the “good guys” waste all their time on pointless arguments and impractical principled stands, perpetually unable to set aside their differences and come together against the enemy’s imminent triumph.
I’ve never been part of a right-wing political community. But reading accounts from people who had, the flashes of recognition caught me off guard. It’s all very familiar, right down to the perception that the police crack down mercilessly on “us” but let the other side run amok in the streets.
Now, it doesn’t automatically follow that both sides are therefore deluded. It’s perfectly plausible that one of them is correct and the other is talking nonsense. But I think it’s more likely that when your beliefs are on the edge, the mainstream and the opposite fringe look like slightly different versions of the same thing. An enemy is an enemy is an enemy.