What The Left Needs To Stop Saying
I’m a proud member of the American left. Why? I think capitalism, while wonderfully productive, must be wrangled like a bucking bronco lest it devour democracy and all our other institutions. I support true equality of opportunity, and I find the status quo to be riddled with injustices, many of which fall disproportionately on people of color. I look at wealth gaps, incarceration rates, and — more recently — covid-19 death rates, and I think, “That’s not right. Something must be done about that, and on a structural level.”
All of these conclusions and aims are innocent enough, and yet American liberalism seems to repulse — not bore, not “fail to connect with,” but truly repulse — tens of millions of people. I think it’s incumbent on us liberals to ask why. Yes, there are many folks for whom a leveling of the playing field means a loss of privilege, and so they cling to a conservative agenda that matches their racist/xenophobic worldview. But as leftists, surely it would be intellectually lazy and politically self-defeating to chuck the opposition into that infamous basket of deplorables and move on. We owe it to ourselves and our agenda to identify where our rhetoric breeds disdain.
Analyzing the situation carefully, it seems there’s a liberal cultural monolith — composed of mainstream media, the Democratic Party, and other prominent institutions — that unwittingly insults the dignity of countless Americans. The liberal project, as I understand it, should enhance rather than undermine the dignity of the disaffected. We should be careful, then, not to let our rhetoric undermine our cause.
What exactly do I mean? Here are four ways that liberals needlessly insult large swaths of the population. I’m sure there are many more.
- “We Care About People, Not Property”
This refrain was popular in the wake of the George Floyd murder and the subsequent protests against racism and police brutality. Now, the idea that human life has more value than material belongings is so obvious it shouldn’t need stating. The problem was that, in the context of discussing the small businesses that had been destroyed, the flippant dismissal of the importance of “property” seemed out of touch to many Americans.
For most small business owners, their “property” is the central focus of their lives. It amounts to both their greatest personal achievement and their point of connection with the community. As the son of a bait shop owner, I can attest to the fact that a small business represents much more than a mere piece of property. Its very existence is the culmination of a dream.
“People, not property” might make sense in the midst of a Marxist revolution (assuming it’s the capitalists’ property that’s being destroyed), but not when everyday folks are seeing their businesses ruined. For many Americans, only a member of a disconnected liberal elite could be so crass in the face of torched lives and dreams.
2. Abortion Rhetoric
In their partisan zeal, some liberals seem to have forgotten just how complicated, fraught, and raw the topic of abortion is. I’ve seen folks celebrate Democratic electoral victories as harbingers of “more abortions” and major media outlets decry the “war on abortions,” as if terminating pregnancies was itself a good thing.
Tens of millions of American ardently believe that life begins at conception. Whether you agree with it or not, it is a perfectly legitimate belief (and one that I happen to ascribe to). Casual remarks about abortion make liberals seem not only wrong, but downright monstrous.
It comes down to respecting divergent beliefs, something the left claims as a central tenet. Liberals should be able to support a woman’s right to choose while acknowledging that the issue is outrageously complicated and that people are entitled to their own convictions.
3. Conflating Immigration-Induced Angst With Racism
The United States has seen a huge increase in immigrants over the past thirty years. This means lots of folks are seeing the character of their communities change. Understandably, this has produced a shock.
People who grew up knowing all their neighbors now don’t even speak the same language. Community bonds have weakened, and in some cases given way to alienation. For people to be wistful and even a little angry about this is perfectly normal and human.
There’s still no excuse for racism or xenophobia, and ultimately folks will have to accept the ever-changing nature of the immigrant nation they were born into. All the same, a little empathy is in order, and an acknowledgement that lamenting the lack of a shared culture with your neighbors is not in itself racist.
4. Criticism Becoming Condemnation
The idea that society is flawed and needs improving is, by definition, the central component of liberalism. It makes sense, then, that liberals spend more time than their conservative counterparts criticizing aspects of the society they see around them. Liberals point out racist tropes in literature, unequal representation in positions of power, and rampant toxic masculinity. This is all essential work. We need to put our fingers on society’s flaws in order to improve them.
The problem arises when liberals take that fatal step from criticism to condemnation. Suddenly, a work isn’t just problematic, but unworthy of existence. A public figure isn’t controversial, but abominable. A person isn’t guilty of certain transgressions, but a total pariah, an untouchable, a scoundrel to be driven into the very darkest of corners.
Most Americans are turned off by such unrealistic expectations of ethical purity and ideological homogeneity. It’s little wonder that “cancel culture” is so widely derided. Plenty of folks, especially those outside the cultural and institutional polis of liberalism, shudder at how easily they could step out of line and face the ax of condemnation.
As liberals, we should re-examine our rhetoric in the interest of furthering the power of our ideals. We believe in changing society for the better. We want fairness, prosperity, sustainability, and inclusion. To get there, we should grant all Americans the dignity they deserve.
