I cruise around the internet reading blogs of the left, right, middle, middle-left, and middle-right. I see friends on the web receive spam in the form of bile and hyperbole from people who know it all.
I’m pretty much a libertarian, and believe the Constitution means what it says. To many, that makes me a right-wing fanatic. I’m also an engineer. I’ve read much history and philosophy, and have some fairly strong feelings about many things. Feelings. Feelings. But I know that’s what they are.
Never in my life have I thought I had all the answers. Never. Perhaps it is because I went back to college and got my degree when I was 30 and had a family. I remember being in awe of the amount of learning I had done in school, but was solid enough in my practical world to understand that there was a lot more I didn’t know.
I visit sites like Michael J. Totten’s and Harry’s Place, where leftists carry on intelligent discussions with the right and reformed communists. To be honest, I cannot recall a single comment on either of those sites where someone attacked another’s parentage or mental capacity in the kind of personal way I have seen when a leftist comments on a blog not far enough left to satisfy his vision of the world.
Today as I read Wretchard’s Belmont Club post, I pondered this disconnect. I realized I really don’t know what the left really stands for.
I’ve tried. I can discuss things and learn from people like Michael. But those from the left who seem to populate the comments sections of blogs offer nothing but invective, then say we’ll never come together until everyone can talk to one another.
I’d like to. But I’m not interested in listening to memorized screeds. I’ve heard it before. Can we look at things in a little more depth and get beyond “Bush lied”, “No WMDs!”, and “The Patriot Act allows the FBI to check on what I’m reading.”?
After reading a comment on a friend’s site, I’ve become convinced that the majority of these comments come from college students. And they have feelings. But they don’t yet have enough experience in this old world to know what to do with them. Their comments remind me of the Harvard student that Matt Damon’s character rips to intellectual shreds in Good Will Hunting: lot’s of information floating around in their heads, and not enough sense to link it all together or analyze it rationally. Regurgitation earns good grades.
I’ve trod a lot of turf in my years on this Earth. Been to a lot of strange and wonderful and terrible places. Met some very good and very bad people there. I’ve actually saved lives by putting myself in danger. And I’ve done stupid things that almost got me killed. And yes, I’ve taken history and philosophy and psychology courses in college and once knew the buzzwords. But you know, I took classes in those disciplines when I needed an easy A to boost my GPA. There’s nothing too difficult to learn in any of them.
Application is a different proposition.
If any of you are leftists (not to be confused with sincere liberals), take the time to read, with an open mind if possible, Dr. John Ray’s monograph on the Motivations of Political Leftists. If you can read this and see yourself, perhaps you might try to analyze your own beliefs. Are you being led down the path by people with an agenda you didn’t grasp?
And please, let me know what you think. Leave a comment, send me an email. I’m willing to learn. I just don’t know what it is you really believe.
*****UPDATE:*****
Didn’t take long in my surfing to run across another example of hate from the left.
Tip from Rob.
Good point about a lot of leftists being college-aged. When I voted in my first presidential election in ’92, I was a junior in college. I remember watching the conventions and was sold when they showed that picture of young Clinton with JFK. That sealed the deal. Stuff like that definitely has a powerful pull to young kids raised on tropes about “Camelot” and stuff.
I also remember buying into the whole universal health care idea. I’m sure I didn’t actually do any research on it, just accepted that the idea sounded good and hell, they do it in Canada! I vaguely remember having a discussion about it with my mom and all she said was “Who do you think is going to pay for it?” I never really thought of it like that.
There’s a big difference between being a kid, worried about getting a job, falling off your parents’ healthcare coverage, and being indoctrinated by sloppy (physically and factually) professors and having a job, worrying about work and rent/mortgage and a future for your children.
On your broader question of leftists in general, sorry, damned if I know.
(That’s weird, I think I was reading your post while you were reading mine.)
Comment by Rob A. — June 22, 2004 @ 7:16 pm
Hey, Mike. I think I might be flattered, since I think you could be talking about me. And I do like to *discuss* things. But don’t pigeon hole me. i am not a “Leftist”, I got lots of *opinions* and I don’t claim that they are all correct.
On the issues, I seem to be split into thirds of Green, Democrat and Libertarian. That leaves me with no real party…Also, I have not been a college student for quite awhile, and I was only able to pull off a BFA at that. But I am a real person, living in the real world. And let me tell you it is not easy to live in NYC these days.
I don’t think I was spewing hate either…Too much hate in the world already. But, I was a bit angry that everyone is always trying to pigeon hole everyone else. I think people are much more complex than that. I am not here to troll, so lets start over and have some civilized talk. I would like that.
Comment by rfidtag — June 22, 2004 @ 7:36 pm
rfidtag,
Didn’t accuse you of spewing hate. Trust me, Sarah withstood some broadsides from many, and I’ve seen plenty from others. Hell, Bogey is a liberal, but he and I are capable of having conversations. That isn’t something that is possible in the blogosphere, except in a few cases. I would be pleased if this were one of those places.
I have no Party, either. I don’t believe in group identity. As I said, I’m a libertarian, although not a Libertarian. I agree with Neal Boortz who catches hell from his Party for supporting the war on terrorists, and not going absolutely bonkers over medicinal marijuana.
Please feel free to stroll through my site, and you are quite welcome to come here and rebut what I say. And do take a look at John Ray’s monograph. I doubt you’ll agree with everything he says, but it will certainly be food for thought.
Comment by Bunker — June 22, 2004 @ 7:48 pm
… and is it really that hard to find examples of hate-filled postings on the right side of the political spectrum? Hardly. So what is the point in pontificating about left-wing hate exclusively? Why not examine the mote in the eye of the collective right?
Dr. John Ray’s essay is similarly blinkered – he claims that leftists are only in it for the sake of power, and that they forsake their alleged principles as soon as they are in power, completely putting aside for the moment the fact that a similar critique can be laid at the feet of the current administration.
Comment by TrueBlueChooChoo — June 24, 2004 @ 11:40 pm
I’m sure there are hate-filled postings from the right. I would be surprised if there weren’t. The whole discussion began regarding Alt’s listing of contradictory statements from top people in the Democratic Party and the media. I would be interested in seeing the same thing by people on the right, or a dissection of Alt’s work.
I believe Dr Ray has explained things quite well. Yet your argument reverts to “everybody does it.” To me, that isn’t acceptable. Everyone doing wrong is even worse. There is strength in his arguments based on what is happening in this election cycle. A debate on the best way to pursue the war on terroists is welcome. But continual complaining about what was done already serves no purpose except to be used as political fodder. “Learn from history or be doomed…” is a shallow way to try and look like you’re helping when you had no intent to help.
I abhor the political process. I am interested in society and culture, yet the political process continues to creep into areas where it doesn’t belong. I fear the antagonism of politics grows and as both ends of the spectrum try to rally the faithful, our society and culture are put in jeopardy to serve the masters.
I asked a sincere question, and nobody has responded with an answer. I really am curious what the left would do if they controlled our government. I remember the last time they did. We had Jimmy Carter, who felt he could solve human rights issues by talking nice to dictators. Is that where we’re going?
Comment by Bunker — June 25, 2004 @ 6:44 am
NATURE OR NURTURE?
In my attempts to understand the way people think, I started wondering about the nature/nurture split. It started with thoughts about another topic entirely, for much has been said about the biological vs. envioronmental influences in relation to homos…
Trackback by trying to grok — June 24, 2004 @ 6:23 am