You describe the movement I was in very well. I miss the solidarity and the people I used to know. Now those people have become increasingly radicalized that I don’t recognize them anymore.
I read that self-preservation and ego are an ugly mix that makes people really easy to be manipulated. Progressives have a fixed-mindset of being on the right side of history through groupthink echoing chambers. But I’m convinced progressives are being used as pawns in an effort to consolidate power in government. DEI seems like a good and forward-thinking approach to equity, but I’m pretty certain it was a nice sounding name for a Soviet-style purge of anyone who would threaten their power.
The more I unpack the movement, the scarier it gets. I’m ashamed of how naive I was. I really did think we were doing something righteous.
I recommend reading David Horowitz, who was a founding member of The Black Panthers and ultimately became disillusioned after one of his friends was murdered by the group.
Wow. Another great post. Your material consistently blows me away. Important perspective I'm not seeing elsewhere, or perhaps expressed in quite this way.
These subcultures are in every sense anti-political. They exist not to change the structure of society but to perpetuate themselves to no practical political end. It most recently was borne out of the New Left which strived to find a new revolutionary subject since the racism and sexism of the so-called white working class disqualified it. Of course, the working class is diverse and not all white workers are equally racist or sexist or at all. My view is that the New Left was primarily a Middle-Class student movement which foregrounded culture as a result of their class status. Now professional managers speak the language of allyship entirely removed from any left-wing agenda. It is a way to advance your career. I don't think it is an overstatement, to say that this sub-cultural activity has harmed the cause of minorities that they profess to champion, particularly in comparison to how much the traditional left has accomplished.
People are so much more than the labels they put on themselves or one another. So very much more. Once a label gets applied, it’s so easy to stop seeing the multitude of nuanced things that the label hides. How diminishing it is to narrow our view of people, ourselves included, based on superficialities. How sad it is for us to focus on the differences and ignore the many, many ways we are alike.
Brilliant eulogy to the dying social justice orthodoxy and, as we maybe would have said 5-10 years ago, a “call in” for the folks who still enforce and commodify these hierarchies. I’m looking forward to see what rises from these ashes 🔥
Good stuff as usual. As a big white guy, I'm accustomed to being preemptively shunned. I don't hold it against people to make baseline assumptions based on their past deeply unpleasant or traumatizing experiences, but as you lay out it goes quite a ways beyond that kind of legitimate self-protective posture. I hope we can build a culture of solidarity that builds a real feeling of confidence while leaving room for people to challenge each other in constructive ways. It feels like a heavy lift, but in my experience things move a lot quicker when there's some kind of larger common project, so I put my hope in that.
Thanks for your thoughtful comment! I appreciate the generosity you have toward people whose bad experiences are colouring their interactions with you. Part of what goes wrong in many activist groups in my opinion is that people try to bond immediately rather than engaging in the slow process of getting to know one another in a genuine way. The latter is what has the potential to build real actual trust; the first relies on shortcuts to trust, which is often identity or mutual friends.
I also like what you said about a larger common project! I've read that union organizing does a better job of decreasing racism in white workers than diversity trainings do, which makes sense to because it requires people to figure out how to work together in spite of their differences. I'd love to see more large projects that people can plug into. I think there are a lot of dormant leftists, waiting for something to get behind that is focused, achievable and will not implode from infighting ;)
That's well said. And that's the thing about organizing: you get to know people in a substantial and trust-building (or -breaking) way, fast! So those two things line up intuitively.
(I guess I should add, maybe obviously, that organizing together shifts the stakes from personal difference to common goals, which is 9/10 of the battle in terms of transcending difference. If you're trying to get people to the picket line or something, you're not thinking about microaggressions or oppression outside of identifying them as a liability to achieving common goals, which is a totally different frame in which to process those questions, in principle much more productive than assessing relative personal virtue.)
(Gotta guess the one with the red cap but easily the pirate hat)
Thanks. Neat capsule summary of a lot of issues I hadn’t understood. Makes sense to me now.✊
Feminists that don’t give a damn about men, expect men to be allies to them. Imagine that.
You describe the movement I was in very well. I miss the solidarity and the people I used to know. Now those people have become increasingly radicalized that I don’t recognize them anymore.
I read that self-preservation and ego are an ugly mix that makes people really easy to be manipulated. Progressives have a fixed-mindset of being on the right side of history through groupthink echoing chambers. But I’m convinced progressives are being used as pawns in an effort to consolidate power in government. DEI seems like a good and forward-thinking approach to equity, but I’m pretty certain it was a nice sounding name for a Soviet-style purge of anyone who would threaten their power.
The more I unpack the movement, the scarier it gets. I’m ashamed of how naive I was. I really did think we were doing something righteous.
I recommend reading David Horowitz, who was a founding member of The Black Panthers and ultimately became disillusioned after one of his friends was murdered by the group.
I wrote a response to your piece on my stack. Don't mean to self promote in your comments but it seems you're not especially active on Twitter. Feel free to delete. https://beforetimes.substack.com/p/a-response-to-kier-grays-why-i-dont?r=1l32l&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Hey Harold! You're more than welcome to post responses here. Thanks for bringing yours to my attention.
Wow. Another great post. Your material consistently blows me away. Important perspective I'm not seeing elsewhere, or perhaps expressed in quite this way.
Thanks, Jim! I really appreciate hearing that.
These subcultures are in every sense anti-political. They exist not to change the structure of society but to perpetuate themselves to no practical political end. It most recently was borne out of the New Left which strived to find a new revolutionary subject since the racism and sexism of the so-called white working class disqualified it. Of course, the working class is diverse and not all white workers are equally racist or sexist or at all. My view is that the New Left was primarily a Middle-Class student movement which foregrounded culture as a result of their class status. Now professional managers speak the language of allyship entirely removed from any left-wing agenda. It is a way to advance your career. I don't think it is an overstatement, to say that this sub-cultural activity has harmed the cause of minorities that they profess to champion, particularly in comparison to how much the traditional left has accomplished.
Thanks for adding this valuable historical context.
People are so much more than the labels they put on themselves or one another. So very much more. Once a label gets applied, it’s so easy to stop seeing the multitude of nuanced things that the label hides. How diminishing it is to narrow our view of people, ourselves included, based on superficialities. How sad it is for us to focus on the differences and ignore the many, many ways we are alike.
Thanks for this article. It contains much wisdom.
Labelling really can kill curiosity and engagement.
What a true statement.
Reading your articles makes me feel like I've finally found my little corner of the internet 🥲
This made me smile. Welcome!
Brilliant eulogy to the dying social justice orthodoxy and, as we maybe would have said 5-10 years ago, a “call in” for the folks who still enforce and commodify these hierarchies. I’m looking forward to see what rises from these ashes 🔥
Beautifully said! I'm hopeful for the possibilities that are opening up as we let go of what's not working.
My guess: rainbow knee socks
You are correct!
I appreciate you and your writing! In solidarity!!
Thanks, Olive!
I'm guessing red hat, second row, center leftist. Mostly cuz the tattoos are missing on the whole front row.
Excellent post!
Very observant, but wrong clown. At twenty, I didn't have any arm/clavicle tattoos yet ;)
Good stuff as usual. As a big white guy, I'm accustomed to being preemptively shunned. I don't hold it against people to make baseline assumptions based on their past deeply unpleasant or traumatizing experiences, but as you lay out it goes quite a ways beyond that kind of legitimate self-protective posture. I hope we can build a culture of solidarity that builds a real feeling of confidence while leaving room for people to challenge each other in constructive ways. It feels like a heavy lift, but in my experience things move a lot quicker when there's some kind of larger common project, so I put my hope in that.
My guess: red hat on the right.
I we are A Blank human too
Thanks for your thoughtful comment! I appreciate the generosity you have toward people whose bad experiences are colouring their interactions with you. Part of what goes wrong in many activist groups in my opinion is that people try to bond immediately rather than engaging in the slow process of getting to know one another in a genuine way. The latter is what has the potential to build real actual trust; the first relies on shortcuts to trust, which is often identity or mutual friends.
I also like what you said about a larger common project! I've read that union organizing does a better job of decreasing racism in white workers than diversity trainings do, which makes sense to because it requires people to figure out how to work together in spite of their differences. I'd love to see more large projects that people can plug into. I think there are a lot of dormant leftists, waiting for something to get behind that is focused, achievable and will not implode from infighting ;)
That's well said. And that's the thing about organizing: you get to know people in a substantial and trust-building (or -breaking) way, fast! So those two things line up intuitively.
(I guess I should add, maybe obviously, that organizing together shifts the stakes from personal difference to common goals, which is 9/10 of the battle in terms of transcending difference. If you're trying to get people to the picket line or something, you're not thinking about microaggressions or oppression outside of identifying them as a liability to achieving common goals, which is a totally different frame in which to process those questions, in principle much more productive than assessing relative personal virtue.)
Oh yes, and you guessed the right clown!
Fuckin magnets, how do they work?!
Thanks, Kimi!