"Why the Left Think They Are Better"

[TLSITD]

Peter Hitchens (a former "leftist", now conservative) on the morality and behavior of "leftists", briefly, and the challenges of debating ideas with them.

Other former leftists who have shifted toward the center or the right (like Dave Rubin) express a similar view of the psychology and behavior of the left.

Thoughts about this?

 

[Sketcher]

Agreed. Also, when one elevates a social or political view to that level, that view becomes an idol. I have no problem calling that out against leftists, which also leads me to try to call it out against people on the right as well. That's how honest people need to address it. Of course, it's also so easy to fall into the trap of moralizing your own partisan view so much that you would not feel the moral need to address it, or that you would feel the moral need to perpetuate it.

"Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!" - Isaiah 5:20-21

 

[charsan]

Agree

Peter Hitchens (a former "leftist", now conservative) on the morality and behavior of "leftists", briefly, and the challenges of debating ideas with them.

Other former leftists who have shifted toward the center or the right (like Dave Rubin) express a similar view of the psychology and behavior of the left.

Thoughts about this?

Agree. I have leftist relatives and they think they are so much better than us because we are conservatives and support Trump. I will say I am having a lot of problems right now seeing any leftist as my neighbor, right now I hate the left for what they are doing to Christianity and society

 

[Cis.jd]

Peter Hitchens (a former "leftist", now conservative) on the morality and behavior of "leftists", briefly, and the challenges of debating ideas with them.

Other former leftists who have shifted toward the center or the right (like Dave Rubin) express a similar view of the psychology and behavior of the left.

Thoughts about this?

I really hated the left for many years... they where the most hateful, victim playing, anti-science, anti-reason and highly dishonest. However that was until this whole covid pandemic. At this moment the tides have turned and it's the right that are completely insane and are now exhibiting the irrational views that i stated about the left.

Even telling them to wear face mask gets them all upset, crying out:"My rights are being violated". That is just so spoiled, entitled, and idiotic.

I still don't like the left but at this moment I dislike the right even more.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

I really hated the left for many years... they where the most hateful, victim playing, anti-science, anti-reason and highly dishonest. However that was until this whole covid pandemic. At this moment the tides have turned and it's the right that are completely insane and are now exhibiting the irrational views that i stated about the left.

Even telling them to wear face mask gets them all upset, crying out:"My rights are being violated". That is just so spoiled, entitled, and idiotic.

I still don't like the left but at this moment I dislike the right even more.

The Left anti-science?

 

[Tanj]

I really hated the left for many years... they where the most hateful, victim playing, anti-science, anti-reason and highly dishonest. However that was until this whole covid pandemic. At this moment the tides have turned and it's the right that are completely insane and are now exhibiting the irrational views that i stated about the left.

Even telling them to wear face mask gets them all upset, crying out:"My rights are being violated". That is just so spoiled, entitled, and idiotic.

I still don't like the left but at this moment I dislike the right even more.

Interesting. It's almost like both the left and right contain human beings. who'd a thunk? Anyway, could you expand further on the anti-science part of the left?

 

[iluvatar5150]

On the one hand, their criticisms aren't without merit. OTOH, lest you all get too smug - every one of those charges could be levied to an even greater degree at conservative Christians. What you're seeing on the left is not a "regressivism" per se, but an adoption of a sort of quasi-religious dogmatism.

Also, as with many things on PragerU, the Dave Rubin video ignores a good bit of historical context. Yes, it would be nice if we could all be left to follow our own beliefs and preferences, serving only those we wish to serve. What Rubin forgets is that we tried that. That laissez faire approach is how we wound up with a century of racial segregation after the Civil War as well as a host of other forms of discrimination. When those good Christians were allowed to just follow their beliefs, they banded together to deny women, homosexuals, and racial minorities an equal share in society from which they still have yet to recover. The rules we have now are a reaction to and an attempt to correct and counter those abuses.

I really hated the left for many years... they where the most hateful, victim playing, anti-science, anti-reason and highly dishonest. However that was until this whole covid pandemic. At this moment the tides have turned and it's the right that are completely insane and are now exhibiting the irrational views that i stated about the left.

Even telling them to wear face mask gets them all upset, crying out:"My rights are being violated". That is just so spoiled, entitled, and idiotic.

I still don't like the left but at this moment I dislike the right even more.

I'm glad you're seeing the far right for what they are, but they've been that crazy for a while.

 

[ViaCrucis]

Interesting. It's almost like both the left and right contain human beings. who'd a thunk? Anyway, could you expand further on the anti-science part of the left?

My only guess is that there are antivaxers on the left; of course there are antivaxers on the right as well; but the left does have crackpots. The irrational fear of GMOs from a few years back seemed, at least in my observation, to mostly stem from the hippie veggie essential oils crowd. Then there's the fact that there's the essential oils crowd.

But you're right, there are cranks on all sides. And saying the left is "anti-science" seems strange, as generally that's not the case; however there are cranks who are or could be argued to be on the left who are certainly promulgating and promoting woo.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[childeye 2]

Why do some on the left and on the right think they're better than the other? Because Satan works the ends against the middle in the minds of people through a limited subjective view and sows division.

 

[Quartermaine]

Agree


Agree. I have leftist relatives and they think they are so much better than us because we are conservatives and support Trump. I will say I am having a lot of problems right now seeing any leftist as my neighbor, right now I hate the left for what they are doing to Christianity and society

it sounds like you think you are better than those on the left.

 

[iluvatar5150]

My only guess is that there are antivaxers on the left; of course there are antivaxers on the right as well; but the left does have crackpots. The irrational fear of GMOs from a few years back seemed, at least in my observation, to mostly stem from the hippie veggie essential oils crowd. Then there's the fact that there's the essential oils crowd.

But you're right, there are cranks on all sides. And saying the left is "anti-science" seems strange, as generally that's not the case; however there are cranks who are or could be argued to be on the left who are certainly promulgating and promoting woo.

-CryptoLutheran

Yeah, IME, the cranks on the left aren't typically "anti-science". They're anti-corporatists who think they're pro-science, but buy into pseudo-science because it feeds their anti-corporatist leanings. They're typically not, however, suspicious of scientists, scientific organizations, or academics. IME, they're typically supportive of them.

The "anti-science" folks on the right are sort of the opposite - they might also fancy themselves as being "pro-science", but they buy into pseudo-science because they're generally pro-corporatist and accept what the corporations and their hired politicians and media pundits tell them. They're also much more likely to be skeptical of scientists, scientific organizations, and academia as a whole.

 

[ViaCrucis]

Yeah, IME, the cranks on the left aren't typically "anti-science". They're anti-corporatists who think they're pro-science, but buy into pseudo-science because it feeds their anti-corporatist leanings. They're typically not, however, suspicious of scientists, scientific organizations, or academics. IME, they're typically supportive of them.

The "anti-science" folks on the right are sort of the opposite - they might also fancy themselves as being "pro-science", but they buy into pseudo-science because they're generally pro-corporatist and accept what the corporations and their hired politicians and media pundits tell them. They're also much more likely to be skeptical of scientists, scientific organizations, and academia as a whole.

I think this is where a lot of the problems of complaining about "Big Pharma" arise. Legitimate criticism against pharmaceutical companies and their ethically compromised practices is a good thing; but this idea that modern medicine is suspect because of "Big Pharma" ignores the fact that modern medicine works, it is peer reviewed, solid science, with years or established precedent, testing, studies, trials, the whole tamale.

Where I find a good portion of "Big Pharma" talk to be me saying, "Well yes, but actually no."

Like, yeah, letting corporations profit off the literal dead bodies of the sick is really bad. That should change. Like, right now.

However, vaccines still work. Medicine still works. Medicine as a field of science works.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[OldWiseGuy]

.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

I don't discriminate...I'm better than everyone.

 

[iluvatar5150]

I don't discriminate...I'm better than everyone.

You, too? I thought I was the only one.

 

[coffee4u]

I very much like the guy in the second video. He actually gets it.

Real people are not normally all left or all right but are either side of the middle or may hold some left and some right positions.

 

[TLSITD]

Do you think that people on the left are able to recognize their own behavior as being the very kind of intolerant dogmatism they claim characterizes (only) people on the right? Or do you think that they're honestly blinded to it by a conviction that their positions are morally superior and indisputably correct, and therefore their contempt for and aggressive offensive against the holders of what they consider to be foolish and offensive views is a righteous purge of sorts?

The sort of behaviors that were once mainly the domain of religious zealots in centuries past seem to have become chiefly the domain of the left, from what I observe---not merely a desire to stifle dissenting thought but also to harm and remove from society those who hold views they disagree with or find offensive, with violence if necessary.

Where is the right wing equivalent of the leftist riots on campuses or of the infamous "mutiny" at Evergreen College? Or of militant groups like BLM? There aren't any that I know of.

Why not?

The left is supposed to be (and prides itself on being) the better educated, logical, more intelligent side; but they are the ones rioting and punching people and shouting speakers down at the podium.

And science goes out the window when it isn't convenient to the cause, as in the case of the "transgender" movement.

In my observation, the left want more than to be heard or even to be correct: They want to control, punish, and purge from society people who don't share their views. I don't recognize the same attitude on the right, even though the left attributes it to them.

 

[Cis.jd]

The Left anti-science?

yes. For example the whole gender thing. I understand the rights of certain people but you have to admit that a lot of the political nonsense they forced about transgenders was going against basic science.

 

[Cis.jd]

Anyway, could you expand further on the anti-science part of the left?

I think good examples would be Fallon Fox and when Neil deGrasse Tyson was in the Van Jones show.


--
Edit: Probably out of topic. I am going to likely vote for Biden, because right now it's all about just "anybody but Trump" at this point. This is not a good thing either because Biden is a horrible choice.

 

[iluvatar5150]

Do you think that people on the left are able to recognize their own behavior as being the very kind of intolerant dogmatism they claim characterizes (only) people on the right? Or do you think that they're honestly blinded to it by a conviction that their positions are morally superior and indisputably correct, and therefore their contempt for and aggressive offensive against the holders of what they consider to be foolish and offensive views is a righteous purge of sorts?

They’re blinded to it the same way that strident pro-lifers are blinded to their flaws.

The sort of behaviors that were once mainly the domain of religious zealots in centuries past seem to have become chiefly the domain of the left, from what I observe---not merely a desire to stifle dissenting thought but also to harm and remove from society those who hold views they disagree with or find offensive, with violence if necessary.

Where is the right wing equivalent of the leftist riots on campuses or of the infamous "mutiny" at Evergreen College? Or of militant groups like BLM? There aren't any that I know of.

Then you haven’t looked very hard. Right-wing terrorists have killed as many, if not more, people as Islamist terrorists have in the US since 9/11. (they’re running neck and neck, so who’s ahead changes periodically)

Part IV. What is the Threat to the United States Today?

Armed right-wing protestors recently stormed the Michigan statehouse, demanding that the covid lockdown be lifted.

Oh, and Charlottesville.

If you back up a few years, what white right-wingers did to civil rights protesters was way worse than any of this.

In my observation, the left want more than to be heard or even to be correct: They want to control, punish, and purge from society people who don't share their views. I don't recognize the same attitude on the right, even though the left attributes it to them.

Then, again, you aren’t looking very hard. Among ardent Trump supporters especially, there’s a very strong punitive, authoritarian attitude towards “pwning the libs.” I lost count a long time ago of how many times I’ve heard liberals, academics, Democrats, atheists, and people from cities described as not “real Americans.” The Birther movement as well as Trump’s later attack on “The Squad” and their homelands were attacks on the idea that a non-white liberal belongs in this country and has any place in participating in its government. That’s not just some random college kid; that’s the president that you voted for pushing the sort of exclusionary ideas that you can’t see.