The authoritarian left v. authoritarian right: which one is worse?
The below article really sums up well my thoughts on which is the bigger threat to democracy between the authoritarian left and right. I have a strong disdain for both crowds, but have always kept their reach in perspective. I thought the article did a nice job of breaking out what constitutes the authoritarian left and right and how wide their respective reaches are. Spending time on Twitter can give you an especially warped sense of just how prevalent and influential each one is. The authoritarian left is much more active on that platform so you could be forgiven for thinking they rule the world if you spend enough time on it.
What I think is important, and the article mentions, is that it is pointless to argue over which authoritarian strain is worse. They both are awful. The article specifies what the authoritarian left is centered on, namely the belief that white supremacy is everywhere and the cause of every single problem. In taking this belief to its logical end, the authoritarian left effectively labels anything or anyone that disagrees with its ideas as racist. Things that are foundational to the US, such as rule of law and free speech, are seen as aiding white supremacy and viewed with scorn. Essentially, the entire US experiment is bad and needs to be ripped apart. What would come after that is anyone’s guess, including theirs, but I am hard pressed to think it would be anything good.
It is undeniable that if the ideas of the authoritarian left were implemented it would be a nightmare. While much of it is dumb performative theater, i.e., demanding apologies from everyone for the most trivial of things (see the Lin-Manuel Miranda “controversy” as an example), it can be very harmful, too, and ruin people’s lives. See this story as an example.
I think a world where the primary thing we see in each other is race, gender and/or sexual orientation and everything else revolves around that is not a good place. There are many serious problems we should be working to solve. It is important to recognize that many of them are very complicated and have many different causes. The authoritarian left disregards those complexities and narrows everything down solely to things like race and gender. That is not only factually wrong, but can cause substantial harm to important causes. Racism and other forms of discrimination are undeniably a problem that we all should work to combat, but there is a galaxy of difference between acknowledging that and treating those things as if they are the only things that matter.*
I think any ideology that is dogmatic, views everything as being black and white, believes it has all the answers and rejects free inquiry and criticism of any sort is inherently bad and giving it power can only be harmful. Those on the authoritarian left probably do not realize it, but they actually have a lot in common with Trump. Both demand conformity, both want to cancel and intimidate others, both seek to silence opposing views and both want to always feel safe and never have to hear anything not 100% in agreement with them. They just do all those things on different issues. This piece does a good job of explaining how the right is every bit as capable of cancelling others as the left.
Why the authoritarian right is much worse
As bad as the authoritarian left is, the threat posed by them is nothing compared to the authoritarian right. The former group has influence that is largely confined to some circles in media, education and corporate America. It is very much a minority view and is not dominant in the Democratic Party. Think of it this way, the article defines the view of much of the authoritarian left as follows, “All power structures are rotted to the core by white supremacy. The ideals of democracy — pluralism, freedom, the rule of law, even reasoned debate itself — are myths or narratives serving the privileged. In this view, politics is no longer a contest of ideas. It is a fight for power, a zero-sum struggle between oppressor and oppressed.” Does this worldview describe Joe Biden? Kamala Harris? Chuck Schumer? Nancy Pelosi? Jim Clyburn? Barack Obama? Did it describe John Lewis? If your answer to any of those people is yes, you need to see a therapist because I can’t help you.
Let’s contrast the lack of influence the authoritarian left has with Democrats with the influence the authoritarian right has with Republicans. The latter is the party of Trump, through and through. Despite costing them Congress and the presidency, he is worshipped almost without question. The central belief right now among Republicans is that the election was stolen from him, which Trump promotes every day. Believers in that idea include elected officials on the federal, state and local levels. It is that belief that led a mob to storm the Capitol on January 6 and to pass laws in multiple states designed to make voting harder and to give power to legislatures to overturn future elections not to their liking. It is that latter part that is far and away the biggest threat to democracy that we are facing now. If in 2024 Biden or another Democrat wins the electoral college and states refuse to certify it, we will have a full-blown legitimacy crisis not seen since the civil war. I don’t know what the odds are of that happening, but they are much greater than they should be, which is zero.
As the article points out, it is the authoritarian right that is much more likely to succeed in their goals. In fact, they are already having great success. They have convinced a huge part of the country and a vast majority of Republicans that the election was stolen from Trump. They have gone after the Republican officials who refused to comply with Trump’s efforts to overturn the election, i.e., Brad Raffensperger. They have also made a series of threats against election officials across the country, especially in Georgia, which have deterred many people from wanting to do that crucial work.
It is not just in the election realm that the authoritarian right poses the greatest threat, but in the health realm, too. The group most likely to refuse the CCP Virus vaccine is Republican men. Take a look at this chart of the states that are the most and least vaccinated. What do the most vaccinated states share in common? They all voted for Biden. What do the least vaccinated states share in common? With the exception of Georgia, they all voted for Trump. That is the barrier to widespread vaccination, not non-white or poor people, but Republicans, especially Republican men, and we are seeing the consequences of it. This is just a guess, but I suspect among the authoritarian right, vaccinated people are few and far between. They are likely outnumbered by many multiples by the number of people who think the virus is a hoax.
To recap, the authoritarian left is bad. It would be a nightmare if they were in charge. At the same time, the chance of them being in charge is, thankfully, almost non-existent. Their influence in the Democratic Party is very limited and probably only shrinking. If anyone reading this thinks that crowd runs the Democratic Party, please point out to me legislation that has passed or is being passed on any level that reflects that. Not only has Joe Biden shown that the authoritarian left is weak, but others have proven it since 2020. Earlier this month, in the governor’s race in Virginia, Terry McAuliffe was nominated in a landslide against many other candidates running to his left. In the mayor’s race in New York, it looks like Eric Adams or Kathryn Garcia will be the Democratic candidate, all but guaranteeing they will be the next mayor. For all the hatred the activist left had towards Andrew Yang, Eric Adams is likely the least palatable candidate for them and Kathryn Garcia would not be their favorite either. Once again, the activist left came up way short in a Democratic primary, this time in one of the most liberal cities in the country. So much for their imminent takeover.
In contrast with Democrats, the authoritarian right is not only very influential with Republicans, but it has only gotten stronger since November. The latest example nationally is the blocking of a commission to investigate January 6. In Arizona, there is an “audit” going on pushed for by those who say the election was stolen whose sole purpose is to advance that idea. Also in Arizona, the state legislature, run by Republicans, took away power from the Secretary of State (a Democrat) to handle election-related lawsuits and gave it to the Attorney General (a Republican). In Ohio, one of the top senate candidates is centering their campaign on the idea that the election was stolen. Many other Republican candidates across the country are doing the same. Liz Cheney was booted from the Republican leadership solely because she said the election was not stolen. Trump repeats the lie that the election was stolen on regular basis. I could go on forever with this, but I think the point is clear. Between the authoritarian left and right, it is the latter that is vastly more likely to succeed. Arguing that they are both equal threats is beyond delusional.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/06/14/wokeness-fascism-nightmare-threatens-democracy/
*There are certainly people out there who would read this piece and think (genuinely or not) that I am in denial about racism and other forms of discrimination and that because I am a white male (also straight and, yes, privileged) that I should not be writing about these things. How could I possibly know what it is like to be in the shoes of someone who is not white and who has experienced abuse from police or discrimination of any sort? It is true I could never put myself in someone like that’s shoes. Whatever problems I have in my life, the color of my skin will not be a source of them. That said, anyone who presumes that non-white people are obsessed with race and hate the police really needs to get out more. The New York mayor’s race is just the latest illustration of how wrong that idea is. The leading candidate now is Eric Adams. Adams, who is black, assembled a broad coalition and had especially strong support from black and Hispanic voters. What was his main message? Crime, not racism, not discrimination, not intersectionality, not racial justice or equity. He emphasized on the campaign trail the need to hire more police and black, Hispanic and working-class voters were very receptive to it, in sharp contrast to educated leftists. On top of that, his presence on social media is almost non-existent. He may not be nominated in the end (NYC has the worst election administration in the country, but that is for another blog post), but he has gone much further than any of the most left-wing candidates.
This brings me to my second and bigger point. When I criticize those on the left who emphasize race (or gender or sexual orientation) above all else, who I have in mind is NOT non-white people. It IS white liberals, especially those white liberals who are only interested in cosmetic changes, i.e., renaming schools and buildings, diversity and bias training, putting up BLM yard signs, etc. It is white liberals, more than any other group who are the most focused on race. That fact is absolutely critical to remember. When race is emphasized as a primary selling point, the audience most receptive to it is white liberals, not blacks, Hispanics or any other non-white group. This does not mean that non-white people do not think racism is a problem, but that they do not view it as being the biggest problem there is. Those who would emphasize a race-based message might think that they are appealing to non-white people, but they almost certainly are not.
For those wondering what kind of things could actually fight racism that many white liberals are opposed to, see this piece. Also, check out this piece on why using racial framing of non-race issues is bad. It does a great job of highlighting just how few people are actually supportive of such messaging.