A trend I have noticed over time and has been particularly notable during since the pandemic is that the political Left in the United States has been veering further and further to the Left. It got me thinking of how the Left has self-identified. Two terms that the Left has used in recent political history to describe itself are liberal and progressive. By examining the etymology of these words along with how the U.S. political Left has evolved, we will see that it does not make sense to use either of these terms.
The word "liberal" comes from the Latin liber, which means free(man). A secondary meaning in premodern times pertained to being generous. The word liberal first became used in a political context in the 1770s. Adam Smith used "liberal" for the term to describe a market-based economy based on free trade, voluntarism, and mutually beneficial exchange. Classical liberalism advocated for the free market, laissez-faire economics (including property rights), civil liberties, limited government, and political and economic freedoms. In the United States, classical liberalism is most commonly associated with someone who is "fiscally conservative and socially liberal," or a libertarian.
Using the word "liberal" suggests that the U.S. political Left cares about people being free. There are some issues for which the Left cares about freedom, such as abortion, same-sex marriage, and marijuana. However, as I pointed out when criticizing the usage of the label "pro-choice," their application of pro-choice is quite inconsistent. They are more likely to be against freedom when it comes to owning a firearm or appliances and vehicles it deems harmful to its crusade against climate change. It surely does not apply when they advocate for high rates of taxation and do not allow for citizens to be free to do what they want with their money.
The Left has also been veering away from freedom of speech. Per Pew Research survey data, Democrats are much more likely to want to use the government to restrict what it perceives as misinformation, or in other words, increased support for censorship. As I illustrated last week, those who adhere to the framework of DEI initiatives are more likely to be authoritarian and want to punish those disagree with their ideology. Wanting to cancel those with alternative views and embracing cancel culture is not exactly one of tolerance. Then there is the Left's obsession with collective rights over individual rights, which is another radical departure from classical liberalism. And then there's trying to pack the Supreme Court or getting rid of the Electoral College because it doesn't work in the Democrats' favor.
The word progress comes from the Latin progressus, an advance. This comes from the verb progredi (pro, which means forward; and gradi, which means to walk). The Left conveniently takes on this label because it suggests that their platform means that we as a society move forward. When you examine much of their policy prescriptions, it is anything but.
I do not want to paint with such a broad stroke because people on the Left exist on a political spectrum, much like those of other political persuasions. However, on an economic level, there has been a greater call for more tax and spend. Kamala Harris called for eliminating the fossil fuels and private health insurance markets. There are very few politicians on the Left that are concerned with addressing the U.S. federal debt or shrinking the overall size of government. The inflation during the Biden Administration and diminishing the purchasing power of everyday Americans is not progress.
Then there is the cultural aspect, which has become more identity-obsessed and zero-sum for the Left. Regarding DEI and race relations, abandoning colorblindness and obsessing over race to the point where "anti-racism" is its own racism is setting race relations back at least half a century, if not more. For the political Left, diversity is only skin-deep. Then I would argue that the political Left has learned something from the political Right, which is using fear as a weapon. They did it with COVID when advocating for lockdowns, face mask mandates, and school closures. They have done so with climate change. Calling Trump a fascist was also Harris' closing argument during the last presidential election, thereby stoking the fear of an authoritarian dystopia if Trump were elected.
I feel like I can go on and on, but much of what constitutes as the mainstream U.S. political Left's agenda in neither liberating nor is it progress. If the terms liberal or progressive are inadequate, what should we call those who are on the Left? I generally refer to the entity as the "political Left" in attempts to cover anyone who is "left of center," regardless if they are woke or not. There is the term "leftist." On the one hand, the Right has pejoratively used the term "leftist." On the other hand, the same could be said about the term "liberal" starting in the 1970s. It might not be as endearing to the Left, but at least it is a more objective term. That would also mean that we would need to call those on the right "Rightists" because how much of the status quo are they actually trying to conserve these days? After all, the Spanish language makes this distinction with the terms izquierdista and derechista.
Realistically, I would not expect this to catch on because the Left prefers the terms that put them in a more positive light. While I do not expect a linguistic shift in U.S. political discourse, I write this to illustrate the importance of how political labels can be used to deceive more than accurately describe.
No comments:
Post a Comment