It’s been a heck of a few weeks, but things seem to finally be slowing down slightly. I am behind in postings, and hella busy, so if I miss one or two, I apologize. It’s National Novel Writing Month, and I’m writing a new cookbook. I hope to have the first draft complete by Dec 1st. That eats a lot of time, because it requires me to do a LOT of writing each day, but it’s very productive.
I got talking with friends about the differences between the Left and the Right. The biggest one that I see is the concept of morals. These are, of course, very sweeping generalities. Take what you will from them.
The Right has a very strict sense of morality, and while there are people under the Big Tent with different beliefs, generally speaking the vast majority hold incredibly similar morals. You can be a straight laced, white Christian and be Republican. You can be as gay as they come, pagan, and be Republican. But if you think it’s okay to punch people because of their beliefs, you can’t really be Republican. The opposite is true of the Left. On the Left, if you aren’t clad in rainbows and supportive of whatever the victim-de-jour requires, you can’t be Democrat. On the other hand, you can have wildly different moral codes, and in fact have moral codes that change depending on the moment.
The Right likes to talk about how intolerant the Left is, and the Left makes all sorts of claims about intolerance on the Right. Trump’s election win has the Left trotting out Karl Popper’s essay on intolerance, of course. Let me share:
“Less well known is the paradox of tolerance: Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them. — In this formulation, I do not imply, for instance, that we should always suppress the utterance of intolerant philosophies; as long as we can counter them by rational argument and keep them in check by public opinion, suppression would certainly be unwise. But we should claim the right to suppress them if necessary even by force; for it may easily turn out that they are not prepared to meet us on the level of rational argument, but begin by denouncing all argument; they may forbid their followers to listen to rational argument, because it is deceptive, and teach them to answer arguments by the use of their fists or pistols. We should therefore claim, in the name of tolerance, the right not to tolerate the intolerant. We should claim that any movement preaching intolerance places itself outside the law, and we should consider incitement to intolerance and persecution as criminal, in the same way as we should consider incitement to murder, or to kidnapping, or to the revival of the slave trade, as criminal.” — Karl Popper, The Open Societies and Its Enemies
I actually think that the moral code of the Right has led to the enacting of the paradox of tolerance. The strict adherence of the Right to the freedom of speech and expression, coming to us from the First Amendment, means that the Left has been allowed (and yes, that’s a sticky word, but bear with me) to become the intolerant group. The Left can’t abide people who don’t work in lock step with their leaders. They insist that anyone who doesn’t praise Harris/Biden/Obama (pick your poison) is a heretic and is themselves intolerant. They scream that from the rooftops, completely unaware that it is the Right’s tolerance of their tantrums that allows them to continue spewing their rhetoric.
The Left would currently have you believing that their selfless tolerance of all people and things has led to the downfall of America, and the voting in of Trump. They didn’t do enough of the cancel culture nonsense and so people thought it was okay to vote for Hitler. They really can’t understand why anyone would vote for the man.
One of my TikTok folks asked, “Did you really think that people were going to vote for aggrandizing gender dysphoria and creating a protected right to abort children, over having the ability to afford groceries and clothing for their kids?” And he’s right. The Left was so caught up in “women’s rights” that they lost sight of what actual people were suffering with and from.
I’m looking at Trump’s cabinet picks and his choices for leading various parts of the government (in particular, Joel Salatin as “Advisor to the Secretary” for USDA) and thinking, wow, the Left ought to be jumping for joy. Joel is an awesome guy who I’ve had great respect for, for years now, but he’s awful crunchy for a Right leaning government. But Trump doesn’t care what “side” he’s picking from. He’s picking the right people for the jobs, and Joel is indeed a great choice for that position. The Left is in a conundrum because now they don’t know what to do. Joel Salatin has been “on their side” for years because he’s all about organic and local, people growing their own food, and all that stuff. But now he’s kowtowing with Trump. Their ability to parse that information is very low, especially in this grieving period over the election. They’re spinning like the Windows blue ball right now, unable to gain traction. It doesn’t help that their administration, their leaders, are just as out of touch.
For a group of people who pride themselves on understanding spectrums of sexuality, gender, and orientation, they have no political spectrum. There’s this adherence that happens, to a black and white morality, with no room for anything nuanced. You’re either with the Left, or you’re against them. There’s also this strange issue of contamination that happens. If someone they adore and love touches or otherwise interacts positively with someone or something they don’t love, that original thing becomes sullied. Elon Musk comes to mind. He used to be a darling of the Left, and now he’s in Trump’s upcoming cabinet.
The Left machinery (as opposed to the people, though they are often doing the same thing) makes huge claims about how they defend and uphold free speech. The problem is, they only do so when it benefits them. They want to restrict hate speech, angry speech, misgendering, triggering, and hundreds of other types of speech. You can’t claim to be the champion of free speech then turn around and restrict someone else’s speech. And this week, we’ve seen a DoublePlusUnGood response to just this. Groups of miscreant youths have been reported (and in a couple of cases filmed) saying, “Your body, my choice!” This has generally been accompanied by aggressive or aggressively sexual posturing. No one is putting up with this crap. We’re all saying, “Enough is enough. I catch you saying that shit to my daughter and you’ll get what’s coming to you.” This isn’t a Right or Left thing, this is a “teens are jackasses at times, and are using a political turmoil they have no understanding of to mouth off” thing. But the Left has seized on this, and some are claiming that anyone who tells those boys to stuff it is actually oppressing the free speech of the boys. This simply isn’t true, and no one is interested in seeing boys behaving this way. It’s a verbal barrage that is meant to confuse, but the only ones they’re confusing are themselves.
So what else do we have? Well, the Left is for freedom of religion… if you’re not Christian. They’re accepting of everyone, no matter where they are on their journey… unless their journey leads them Right of extreme Left. They don’t see the dichotomy of the Left losing a court case, then stating it’s always okay to challenge again in the future (they’re right, it is), but then when they win a court case, it’s suddenly settled law and no one may ever challenge it again. It’s like we’re stuck in the novel 1984, where everything that’s said is “true at the moment of speaking” but can and likely will be changed later.
I think the thing I’m most upset about right now, and the thing I don’t understand at all, is the extreme meltdown over the election results. Crying, upset, grief, those I understand. I experienced those things. Fear, too, I get. But the primal screaming, shaving off of the hair, the cult tattoos and bracelets… these are beyond my ability to understand. I didn’t understand them when I was on the Left, and found that kind of behavior to be distressing, to say the least.
Putting on my Leftist hat for a moment, what I should be doing is looking at myself and my party very closely right now. Trump won by a landslide, and has taken House and Senate, and the popular vote as well. This may surprise me (in my Leftist guise), but it’s not going to stop me. I need to know why voters flocked to Trump. I need to ask what I did wrong, what I need to do in the future, and whether anything I’ve done up until now can be fixed. Very obviously the problem is with me, because more than half of the country simply can’t be insane. There are way too many moderates who went out and voted for Trump.
That isn’t what the Left is doing, though. I’m seeing them blaming it on Biden, for not stepping down earlier. I’m seeing them blame Harris for not talking about the economy more, and for misjudging her base so badly that she thought abortion was more important than feeding your kids. I’m seeing them blame Trump for somehow, in some way, stealing the election. It’s always someone else and never themselves.
That’s pretty much a good summing up of why I left the Left… why I’m finding myself on the Right. I’m big on introspection. I’m big on asking good questions. I consider it important to hold strictly to my moral values, even if they differ from other people’s. I know I’m flawed, and so I am always watching to see ways I can improve and better myself. These are not things the Left tolerates very well.
The last thing that I’m trying so very hard to understand is the basic idea that the Left spent so much time saying that everyone needed to get out and vote, and then everyone did. Not everyone voted for Harris, but that’s to be expected. The country is fairly evenly divided, most years, and so you’d expect half the country to vote for Trump. The fact that they were gobsmacked over the idea that anyone voted for Trump just confuses me. They want to protect democracy. The way to do that is to ensure fair and honest elections, and I believe this one was. I know the last one wasn’t. But regardless, you cannot cut off everyone who voted differently than you, like a petulant child, and then scream that you’re protecting democracy. That’s not how it works.
There’s so much that I just don’t understand.
Comments
20 responses to “Trying to Understand the Differences”
Your problem is that you are a sane person. You are trying to understand the insane. It doesn’t work.
Yes and no. I can claim “they’re insane” about the elite and the machinery of the Left. But many of my friends are thinking, intelligent, amazing people. They are people somewhat like me, and since I drifted Right, I am struggling to understand why they’ve veered so far Left.
If I write off half the country as “they’re insane,” I doom the country to death. I refuse to do that. Instead, I am trying to learn. Writing off half of them is simply another way of giving up. That’s not me.
Or to phrase it differently, my morals won’t let me simply stick a convenient (to me) label on them and walk away.
I can sum it up easily- I won’t be lectured to by people who don’t practice what they preach… liberals (in general) are the most INtolerant people on every single thing. they don’t like something it has to be erased. as Rush useddto say- they are 26% of us.. its far past time the 74% started treating them that way.
I get that. Part of why some of my Leftist friends are still friends, is that they DO practice what they preach. They sit in the discomfort and try to learn. And while I don’t “get it,” I definitely appreciate their self honesty. This is why I keep trying to understand.
well, see? not all of them are insane. heh heh. in the “olde country “ we could have different opinions on things and still get along. concentrate on the ones you can reach.
Curby (and everyone)
I really liked the speeches (lectures?) that Even Sayet gave on how the new modern “liberal” thinks. Two videos I highly recommend:
https://youtu.be/yGBkJT2L55k?si=XQUrhllv0SwrhwKa
and
https://youtu.be/ODXgGS50AVY?si=Km4MGmFV1omn8wVh
I forget which one came first, but basically, leftists (or the modern liberal) must elevate the bad, and cut down the good in order to prove they are not discriminating. They way Evan Sayet presents it is a billion times better than I ever could, so please watch and listen to both. Yes, they are long, but you will find yourself saying “he is right…” about every five minutes.
I will try and make time for these in the near(ish) future. Next week, I should have a bit of time because I won’t be writing AND baking AND prepping for a huge fundraiser dinner AND dealing with toe surgery AND AND AND… 😉
You should enjoy them. And, I will bet you will have more than one thing to disagree with. (As a newly minted right side of the political aisle person, I mean.)
I have a tough time disputing the logic when applied to the modern left as a whole, but when applied to an individual, there will be exceptions.
Allyson, you are quite correct regarding Progressive Elites. They demand lockstep obedience to their doctrines and do not tolerate deviation from that doctrine. If you do, you will be “excommunicated” (same happens with doctrinaire extreme right). In that regard, both sides are guilty of tyranny.
Conservative leaning people understand the concept of individual liberty and diversity of thought.
Paragraph number 3 is about as perfect of a description as I could ask for.
With the folks on the right, if we hold strong feelings about your lifestyle we either keep our mouths shut, or we just do not associate with you. Be gay, we do not care. Be trans. We do not care. (Up to a point)
On the other hand, the folks on the left demand you celebrate it. Loudly. And if you do not celebrate it, they will take it to you. Celebrate gay pride month, and if you do not, we are going to force you to. Perhaps it will be forcing retail outlets to have gay pride month merchandise and protesting against any store that does not. Or expecting every single TV show and every advertiser to have PRIDE as part of their advertising/script. But, you MUST celebrate it.
It is like having a child demand you treat them like a princess or a fireman 100% of the time, not just during a play time. Sooner or later, you have to have them put it aside and eat dinner or go to school. But, ask them to and you get a tantrum.
So maybe you’ve hit it. The unreasonable ones are like children. They haven’t grown up, whether because of some trauma, or because their parents babied them, or whatever. I can kind of see that.
I’m seeing a moderate movement of liberals on TikTok reaching out to find out WHY I support Trump, and actually listening to the answers. That’s positive. They’re currently distancing themselves rather quickly from the “metal screaming,” tattoo wearing cult members, and trying to figure out where it all went wrong.
I’m all for celebrating. The year I took one of my kids to pride, I discovered that the ultimate hatred of bisexual people I used to run into seemed to be gone, which was nice. That feeling of inclusion is like a rat getting a treat for hitting a lever, lemme tell you. I like to celebrate, and so long as the parade is clean (meaning nothing showing that you wouldn’t show at the average mall) I’m all for it. I like St. Patty’s Day parades for the same reason. And the Highland Games parades. Etc. But I don’t expect Target to put out special outfits just for the Games, y’know?
And honestly? I really want my fucking rainbows back. Rainbows have multiple meanings for me, and LGBT is just one of them. I feel like the alphabet soup crowd has hijacked them, and I want them back.
Anyhow, I guess what I’m trying to say is, the ones who are currently curled into balls in blanket forts, wearing their unicorn onesies and sucking their thumbs while rocking back and forth and praising Harris like she’s a goddess are definitely still children. Mentally, at least. I love a good blanket fort, and do engage in such fun stuff as a roll back to my younger days, but it’s a brief jaunt down memory lane, not a detour into the past which I refuse to leave.
“I’m seeing a moderate movement of liberals on TikTok reaching out to find out WHY I support Trump, and actually listening to the answers. That’s positive.”
Well, it does take time for someone to overcome their innate biases and recognize others might disagree with them. Hopefully, they will listen with an open mind, and break out of their echo chamber a bit.
“I’m all for celebrating.”
Good. Just as long as you do not demand everyone else celebrate, I fully support that. The problem is the cancel culture that demands compliance, not the celebration. I am with you, have a PRIDE parade, fly a rainbow flag, etc… Do not threaten a retail chain with a boycott because they do not air PRIDE commercials.
Re: breaking out of echo chambers
Yes, and there are SOME who are doing so. Not many, at least on social media, but some. I think watching some of their sisters go insane and start cutting off all their hair and doing cultish things really threw a bunch of them for a loop. So maybe the crazies did us a favor…
Re: all for celebrating
Absolutely I don’t want everyone to celebrate unless they wish to. I don’t shame people for not going to the St. Paddy’s Day parade, so why should they be shamed for not going to Pride? I’d wager there’s more people interested in green beer than there are interested in gay folks. 😉 I didn’t go for many years myself, because of the stigma against bisexual people that existed. Now that it seems to have cleared, I have enjoyed the couple that I’ve been to. Pride parades that is. I always enjoy St Paddy’s Day… 😉
As for businesses… I honestly would like to see businesses heavily encouraged (though not outright banned, because I don’t believe in such things) to leave their politics (be it gender politics, DC politics, religious politics, whatever) out of their work. Unless I’m going looking for something specific, I have no interest in seeing “gay clothes” anywhere. I can go to specialty shops for that when the need arises, just like I go to a lingerie shop for my bras. I realize that’s not entirely do-able, but I really don’t see that bringing politics of any kind into a business is going to be good.
“There’s so much that I just don’t understand.”
No one does. On either side of the political aisle.
The trick is to place yourself in their shoes, and take a guess. I do not understand how anyone could think Harris was a good choice for President, but the Dems nominated her, and people voted for her. Perhaps it was because she was a female with dark skin. Perhaps it was the (D) following her name. Perhaps it was because they legitimately thought she was going to be a good President.
However, I suspect it was because they just did not want a Republican, especially not Trump, in the White House. But, I will never understand because I do think anyone really has a full supportable reason for their votes. It is more feelings than actual facts way too often.
I have my reasons for supporting Trump, but I do not expect anyone on the left to understand them.
The last thing that I’m trying so very hard to understand is the basic idea that the Left spent so much time saying that everyone needed to get out and vote, and then everyone did. […] The fact that they were gobsmacked over the idea that anyone voted for Trump just confuses me.
Other people are weighing in, so please allow me to have a crack.
As you said earlier in your article: The Left machinery (as opposed to the people, though they are often doing the same thing) makes huge claims about how they defend and uphold free speech. The problem is, they only do so when it benefits them. [bold emphasis mine]
IMHO, that’s the explanation you’re looking for.
The Left’s view on voting is the same as their view on speech: Everyone should get out and vote … but only when it benefits the Left. Some of the late-night talk show hosts even treated it as joke material; one of them said, basically (paraphrasing, probably poorly): all liberals and Progressives should go and vote on Tuesday, conservatives should avoid the crowds and vote on Wednesday or Thursday.
They want to protect democracy.
Based on observable actions, the most powerful of them really don’t. I’m completely willing to give the benefit of doubt that many-if-not-most of the voting base DO want to protect democracy and are being fooled (starting with the false premise that America is a democracy; we aren’t). The Left’s propaganda machine IS quite impressive.
However, the elites running the show DO NOT want to risk their power, authority, or wealth to a “50%+1” majority vote. (See previous points about supporting free speech and the GOTV effort only if they benefit the Left.) They have too much to lose to an electoral crap-shoot.
Therefore, I conclude that the power players DON’T really support or want to protect democracy.
Finally — and almost as an aside at this point — I’ve heard and read about middle-school-age boys doing that “Your body, my choice” thing, which by any definition is sexual harassment and in an adult professional setting would get someone reprimanded or fired immediately.
Pretty much all my remaining friends on the left (read: the ones who haven’t [yet] unfriended me or ejected me from our friend groups) are ascribing it directly to Trump’s re-election. Because it cannot be a middle-school goblin’s fault for acting like a middle-school goblin, nor could these middle-school goblin behaviors cannot possibly have happened during any previous Presidents’ administrations; based on the commentary, one might believe these incidents started for the first time ever in history on Wednesday, November 6, 2024, as a result of Trump’s re-election.
This isn’t intended to dismiss the very serious goblin-ish behavior, or to say that such behavior should not always be called out and punished if necessary. But middle-school boys acting like goblins is nothing new.
My real problem with blaming it all on Trump’s re-election is two-fold: First, blaming Trump removes personal agency from the perpetrators and renders them faultless. Second, and MUCH more importantly, pretending this is a new and novel phenomenon lessens and/or dismisses the very real emotional and psychological injuries of girls who experienced it before Election Day 2024. Their pain is just as real and valid, and does not deserve to be overlooked simply because it’s less politically useful.
Archer, I totally agree. I have seen much of what’s going on as being ascribed to Trump, and I have issues with it.
First, Trump didn’t do or encourage it. And second, yes, as you said there are females who’ve suffered before and will suffer after this, and we shouldn’t be minimizing that.
But… and here’s where I can step aside for a moment and look from another vantage point… Trump’s election has “emboldened” certain people to do things. Why is this happening? Well, in my very strong opinion, it’s not because of Trump, but because the Left has painted Trump as a Nazi and a figure of hate. So the people who thrive on that are “reading the headlines” and figure they can come out of the woodwork. They’re in for a big surprise.
The tolerance / politeness / willing to be helpful attitude of the Right is what the Islamists are using to take over our country.
Prove me wrong.
What I see as the cause for the Left’s freakout and blame game is the Marxist belief they are “on the right side of history” so their beliefs are always correct and inevitable. This explains things like the 2016 “it’s her turn” campaign slogan, and the immediate blaming of groups that are supposed to vote Democrat but didn’t as well as the usual suspects.
The Left tends to think in collective terms, ascribing virtues, vices, and assumed politics on the basis of identity groups. When the individuals in those groups act differently, Leftists view it a heresy and apostasy for example the massive hate for Kanye West, or Latinos voting Republican.
I get it. I just don’t like it. The group think stuff really bothers me. And I hate it, because I know (at least to some extent) I did it myself. I don’t *think* I was as bad as many of them, because I’ve made a point of surrounding myself with people of differing beliefs and challenging myself, but I know I’m not immune.