WHAT IS MY SUMMARIZED CRITIQUE OF THE LEFT WING CULTURAL MOVEMENT AND POLITICAL PARTY?

Max Marmer
4 min readAug 24, 2017
  1. The Left is Eating its Own.

Bret Weinstein, a friend who is in my social circle, is a professor at Evergreen who spoke out against counter-oppression being applied by black students onto white students and faculty. He was outrageously attacked and pilloried for his views.

a) https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/01/opinion/when-the-left-turns-on-its-own.html

This is emblematic of a deeply troubling trend of Public Shaming and Online Lynch Mobs being conducted by a subset of those on the far Left-Wing of the political spectrum.

b) More on leftist Public Shamings and Lynchings https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/02/24/twitters-rage-mob-should-be-stopped-but-justine-sacco-is-the-wrong-poster-child/

2) The Left is Devolving into Authoritarianism

The Left is devolving into its own form of Authoritarianism even though it claims to be against oppression. There is a well trodden history of left leaning populists causing great societal harm and oppression.

Here is a great chart from Ray Dalio’s Bridewater Associates historical analysis on Populism. Bridgewater is the world’s largest hedge fund and they have spent considerable financial and cognitive resources to understand the dynamics behind populism because they see it emerging again, and it will have deep consequences for geo-politics and financial markets.

The failed Russian communist experiment is probably the best example of the Authoritarian Left. Others who have studied this topic far more than I can cover this point better.

3) The Left is Hypocritical in its Relationship to Tolerance.

One of the central purported aims of the Left is promote tolerance, especially of minorities and the historically oppressed, but the left is largely intolerant of anyone who disagrees with them.

4) Large Swaths of the Left are Unwilling or Unable to Engage in Nuanced Debate

The only way to make progress on complex issues is for nuanced debate to occur. But too many on the left immediately reject views that do not easily resemble their own. Furthermore, the left is encouraging the development of incredibly thin skin: see safe spaces, micro aggressions.

These are important distinctions, but toughness and grit is just as important a skill to develop as sensitivity.

The post I wrote on Monday about James Damore’s Memo exemplified Leftist Thin Skin and the consequential unwillingness to engage in nuanced, level headed debate.. A most common tune would be:

“*I’ll try maybe once or twice to get you change your perspective to mine, but if you don’t then you must be an arrogant, entitled, out of touch, white privileged asshole and I’m unfriending you* “

Nearly 50 people unfriended me as a result of that post.

5) Nuanced Debate Requires Cognitive Skills Most Liberals Don’t Possess or at the least Don’t Express

There are cognitive and emotional skills necessary to have a productive conversation. These skillsets involve emotional maturity and control, self-awareness, recognition of biases, rhetorical violences, conversational sleights of hand, as well as common philosophical and scientific frameworks and stabilized spiritual states and experiences.

This may feel exclusionary, but it is also a necessity. Just like one has to study to be a respectable doctor or lawyer, one has to study to be respectable cultural critic and designer.

Social Media has led to the democratization of Thought Leadership. There are downsides to this. One is that Amateur Hour is always on Display. And the amateur believes himself to be a Pro.

You may be wondering why this matters?

A) The Election of Donald Trump & the Return of Right Wing Populism

The way the left is engaging in identity politics is creating a cultural backlash. The comments on my Google Memo posted are a microcosm of the style of discourse that has led to this cultural backlash and the election of Donald Trump.

The left leaning mainstream media tried to create the narrative that Hillary’s victory was inevitable. Often projecting a 99% chance of her winning. It may have seemed this way because too many voices have been silenced. The ‘silent Trump voter’ who couldn’t stand the cultural rhetoric of the Left tipped the election. Many of these people were voting AGAINST the Left Wing rather than FOR Donald Trump.

B) Hyper-Polarization Leading to Societal Chaos and Destruction

Extremism is developing on the left and the right. Moderates are being silenced and pulled to the extremes by their own respective bases.

At this rate we are headed for Civil War, Economic Collapse, World War, and a Multi-Generational Societal Reset.

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Max Marmer

I’m dedicated to supporting and enabling the flourishing of humanity in the 21st century. I love you.