Problem with the left
One of the concepts that perplexed me about high school physics was that of Absolute Zero. i.e. the idea that temperatures actually can’t fall below 0 degrees kelvins or negative ~273 degrees Celsius. While on the other end of the scale, there is no seeming upper limit to temperatures with solar cores often reaching millions of degrees Celsius (technically the highest temperature is apparently 142 nonillion kelvins (1032 K) but luckily, there’s no danger of reaching that in a hurry. If you accepted for a moment that what we live in (generally in the 0 to 40 degrees Celsius range around the planet) is the ‘moderate’ part of the spectrum, it seemed like there was little expanse on the colder side while infinite variance on the hotter end.
Why is this relevant in the context of our political leanings and the opening assertion about the problem with the liberal left? In simplistic terms, it feels that the conservative side of the equation, much like our colder temperature band, has a much tighter range, more cohesion and adherence to a core set of values. Which, perhaps, by definition of ‘conservative’ makes sense in that you are staying true to a core, relatively narrow and established creed.
Liberals on the other hand appear to have a vast expansive canvas to express their ideology in. They are on the figurative right side of our temperature scale with no seeming end to how progressive you can be. Again, by definition perhaps, progressivism implying that you are free to keep pushing the boundaries, to make ‘progress’, to ‘liberate’ your mind and ideas from extant ideologies.
This by itself wouldn’t necessarily be a problem and as an avowed liberal myself, I am animated by the idea of ideas and ideals progressing beyond what is known today and consider stasis anathema.
However, the problem goes a bit farther than that and we see this playing out in American politics chronically. Why is that a decidedly pluralist society we live in, with the evolving demographics strongly in favor of the country moving to the left, with the more educated typically leaning liberal, that we still have a government that is three fourths controlled by the GOP? Why does the left always seem so fractured and struggling to present a unified front and platform for an electorate that seems desperate for change?
Part of the problem is that wide spectrum and the room it allows for positions that are significantly far apart, even though they are all well left of center. You see this at the national level where leaders like Bernie or AOC are reviled by the ‘moderate’ democrats, who in turn are viewed by progressives as sell-outs or DINO (Democrats in name only).
I see this play out even in my personal sphere. While on the national level, I’d be considered reliably liberal (Bernie supporter, e.g.), several of my more progressive (radical?) friends would consider me barely a centrist. The result of this is more than just vigorous debate — it’s more like internecine warfare with each faction taking ruinous potshots at the other, while staking out ever higher grounds of idealogical purity. The purists will not brook dissonance from the moderates, the moderates look at the purists at impractical rabble-rousers who don’t actually know how to get anything done in the ‘real’ world. All the while, the infighting plays right into the hands of the GOP, who can label the fractious left as elitists, incompetent, incoherent and incapable of governing. Till recently when Bernie was in the race, it was clear that many moderate democrats would prefer to hold their noses and vote for Trump instead of a self-declared ‘socialist’. Conversely, it’s unclear how many Bernie supporters will embrace Biden in November.
What then is a practical solution till such time the populace at large moves further to the left, and political expediency drags moderates along? Is there a leader who can emerge who can provide a unifying platform that brings that vast range of opinions together where people can appreciate their commonalities more than joust over their differences? And remember that politics still remains the art of the compromise. There are plenty of important areas that can unify us, from climate change, protection of the under-privileged, gun violence amelioration and more. Surely, there’s much in common that all on the left believe on these matters, which far outweigh the differences.
The current resident of the White House has made it desperately clear that this is not something we can wait four more years for. Unless we want the country further eviscerated, and the planet decimated by his venal, self-aggrandizing policies.
