Why does the left make me mad? No really, why?

 

Right-wing propaganda, idiocy and ideology all make me roll my eyes, but when the same comes from the left I feel a different emotion - like I have to suppress anger. Why would this be? I have a few hypotheses:

1. I can't escape left-wing idiocy. It's in my music, my movies, my tv shows, my news, my social media, and it's exhausting. The last 4 years have been nothing but Trump this and Trump that and it's all coming from the left. Trump is bad, I get it, but is he really the cross between a supervillain and Elmer Fudd that you make him out to be? Can't I just have a week off without hearing you reiterate this cartoon character portrayal again and again?

If the left stopped saying the word "Trump" I would probably go months without hearing it. I'm not saying that would be a good thing. Trump needs accountability and it's not going to come from his own team, but it's largely not coming from the other team either given that all the valid criticisms are washed out by erratic stupidity. Regardless, from a purely selfish wanting-to-stay-sane point of view, silence about Trump's problems is a lot more mentally healthy than the overwhelming noise of criticizing him.

The only thing that can compete with Trump for attention

Another reason I can't escape left-wing idiocy: when someone says, "keep politics out of X", the leftist insists that the values of basic human dignity and equity and empathy, and compassion aren't "political". To me, this reveals a total inability to understand how their opponents could disagree without being total moral mutants. It's usually a belief in a different set of facts (informed by cognitive biases and tribal commitments of course), or a different set of value tradeoffs - it's not like conservatives don't have value x they just evaluate it differently relative to y and z. Ironically, the leftist vice is a complete lack of empathy with the conservative.

This narrow-mindedness is on the right too, of course, but the right generally has a separation for politics and other places. For many on the left, they feel it's the obligation to fill everything they do with their narrow-minded politics.

So between leftists having control of nearly all forms of media, and them screaming "Trump!" nonstop over the last four years, and them having the sense that there is absolutely no medium in which they should not share their politics, I may be reasonably more worn down and frustrated by the left.

2. I'm subconsciously a right-winger: I don't think I'm subconsciously a right-winger, but that's why it would be subconscious. So let's give this hypothesis it's due.

Humans are tribal, I am human, therefore I have a tribe of one sort or another just like anyone else. I certainly have some conservative friends and family with whom I would naturally want to exist in a tribe. Ideology is largely genetic, and I share genes with many of the conservatives I know. There is some evidence that people become more conservative with time, especially as they have children. So there you go, I'm subconsciously a conservative and so of course I'm more willing to give the right some extra grace, while I'm more critical and annoyed at the left.

Take into consideration that the definitions of "left-wing" and "right wing" has changed over time

Okay, so why might that be wrong? When I actually evaluate time spent in social circles I'm around leftists more. I'm socially more bound to them - meaning if I came out as left to my right-wing connections I would feel a lot less shame and contempt than if I came out as right to my left-wing connections.

My idea-space is also near completely deprived of conservative thought. I read and listen to liberals, libertarians, and centrists, but conservatives are extraordinarily scarce. Sometimes Ben Shapiro shows up in my suggested, but I don't subscribe to him and I usually scroll past because although he's smart he's also too much of a soldier for conservatism.

My feelings and beliefs don't track me a conservative or right-wing. Political spectrum tests usually place me near the center to center-left. The Hidden Tribes survey places me as a traditional liberal. Yourmorals.org places conservatives as having the largest palette of moral tastebuds, whereas I have the least. I find nationalism unappealing. I find traditionalism unappealing. I subscribe to a few ideas that can accurately be called conservative ideas, yet the truth is, the most conservative thing about me is probably just that I've spent enough time with conservatives, listening to them, breaking bread with them, to accurately portray what they believe about the world and what set of values they actually hold.

3. One faction of the left is especially fanatical and annoying. 

Yes, it's the Social Justice Movement.

I don't want to go into why they're wrong, but the fact that they're wrong and loud, and angry, and want to tear everything apart and absolutely certain - that's kind of aggravating. Joe Biden doesn't make me mad. Barack Obama doesn't make me mad. Hillary Clinton doesn't make me mad. They're not perfect, but they're not ideologically possessed either. They don't angrily scream stories that are false, incomplete, hyperbolic, or unnuanced and then absolutely convinced that they are on the right side of justice.

John McWhorter is writing a book that makes the case that Social Justice is a religion. I'd be surprised if he can do better than articles, Social Justice is a Crowdsourced Religion or The Faith of Social Justice. I'm also skeptical because of how easy it is to call something you don't like a religion. As Scott Alexander writes:

"Does it have well-known figures? Then they’re “gurus” and it’s a religion.

Are there books about it? Then those are “scriptures” and it’s a religion.

Does it recommend doing anything regularly? Then those are “rituals” and it’s a religion.

How about just doing anything at all? Then that’s a “commandment” and it’s a religion.

Does it say something is bad? Then that’s “sin” and it’s a religion.

Does it hope to improve the world, or worry about the world getting worse? That’s an “eschatology” and it’s a religion.

Do you disagree with it? Then since you’ve already determined all the evidence is against it, people must believe it on “faith” and it’s a religion."

Anyway, the point I was trying to get to is that if Social Justice is a religion, it's a lot like religion in its early stages. Religions of the west used to be quite fanatical (think the crusades), but they've tamed over the centuries. Sure, some religious people want to bomb abortion clinics or New York buildings, but the vast majority of them are not so fanatical even if they are fundamentalist. I think the difference between those two is the willingness to take action. Truly, some fundamentalist beliefs logically imply fanatical actions, but in the west, they're too comfortable and hypocritical to actually do those things.

Social Justice is not so comfortable or hypocritical. As both fundamentalist and fanatical, they really are convinced 100% of their ideology and they're willing to crack a few eggs to make an omelet. If the next crusades is what it takes to achieve justice, I think a lot of them would sign-on.

But there's a sect of far-right fanatics too, no? Shouldn't I be just as mad at them? The thing about that, far-right fanatics don't have power. What are you talking about they're in the White House! Donald Trump is one! No, I don't think so. Trump is a centrist and in fact does not, and has never, courted White Supremacists. Watch interviews with pre-election Trump and consider: Trump didn't become portrayed like a cartoon character until he became a Republican, and then even more so when he became viable, and then even more so when he won. What about the overwhelming evidence! When I look into that evidence I judge it to be poor.

On the other hand, left-wing fanatics genuinely have influence. Not only that but they have momentum. When David Duke becomes one of The New York Times bestsellers the way Robin Diangelo was, I'll reconsider.

4. Russian Trolls are to Blame. We know that the Russians social media campaigns happened, and their basic strategy was divide and conquer. It was about fractionating the country into different tribes according to identity - gun owners, feminists, evangelicals, environmentalists - with special attention toward the African American community.

I don't know any reason this isn't still going on, and I can only imagine they've gotten better at it. Maybe the fact that they've been found out will make them want to lay low, but the vast majority of Americans still have no idea what the Russian social media campaigns were all about.

So the hypothesis would be that Russians are once again pushing an anti-left anti-Biden social media campaign - boosting memes, Tweets, channels, etc. that are likely to make one mad at the left and always doing it from an ingroup. It's voter suppression of likely Biden voters by pushing narratives like, "the left has gone mad" and "Biden can't think straight".

You don't even need Russians necessarily. Certain figures like Tim Pool, Dave Reuben, or the Weinstein bros wave their leftists credentials (or former leftist credentials) around, and then spend a lot of time repeating the "the left has gone crazy" and "Biden can't think straight" stuff. And maybe they're just being genuine, or maybe they're being good entrepreneurs and this is where the thirst of their audiences is, but also I can't help but notice how this stuff is strategically in favor of Trump. And I especially can't help but notice how Eric Weinstein works for Peter Thiel, both of whom I like listening to because they're genuinely fascinating, but Thiel suddenly and unexpectedly became a Trump supporter and call me a conspiracy theorist but I can't shake the feeling that some bigger game is being played behind the curtain.

So whether it's Russian or domestic, I accept the possibility the left-wing idiocy that is so likely to make me mad is ultimately being charged by pro-Trump forces and it's having the exact effect it's supposed to have. Yet I still say, "vote Biden".

...

What else?