I thought it was a good article.
Matt Bai is a PMC and a liberal, but he isn’t a woke progressive. He isn’t comfortable with the fanatics who have seized control of the Democratic Party. There are a lot of deeply closeted people out there like Bai who have been alienated by the triumph of Ibram X. Kendism, but who are terrified of being shouted down and demonized as agents of “white supremacy” by the Twitter mob.
“For more than two decades, I’ve tried to make sense of political currents in both parties, often to the consternation of readers on both sides. I’ve been called a corporatist and Republican apologist; more often, I’m called an elitist who pumps out Democratic talking points.
In all that time, I have not felt as utterly repulsed from the mainstream of both parties as I do right now. And I’m pretty sure I’m not alone. …
For all of his successes, though, there’s a fire raging in his party that Biden hasn’t even tried to control — and probably couldn’t extinguish if he did. For me (and probably a lot of suburbanites voting this fall), this is more than a backdrop to his presidency. It’s a dealbreaker.
In their zeal to beat back Trumpism, the loudest Democratic groups have transformed into its Bizarro World imitators. Tossing aside ideals of equal opportunity and free expression, the new leftists obsess on identity as much as their adversaries do — but instead of trying to restore some obsolete notion of a White-dominated society, they seek vengeance under the guise of virtue.
One of the bibles of this movement is a book called “How to Be an Antiracist,” in which Ibram X. Kendi declares: “The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination.”
This is not — as the celebrated author claims — an expression of support for Lyndon B. Johnson-style affirmative action, which still makes sense to me. It is a case for the kind of social upheaval that occurred when foreign empires relinquished their colonies. It does not end well.
Liberals used to believe in civil debate about such ideas. But now, the arbiters of language are constantly issuing Soviet-style edicts about which terms are acceptable and which aren’t (“woke” was okay, now it’s not) — a tactic used for controlling the debate and delegitimizing critics.
We can disagree about whether this radical uprising is necessary or politically self-destructive. But it’s clearly not in keeping with the principles that are supposed to unite the country. …”
I get it.
Matt Bai feels displaced.
He was comfortable with the way things used to be in late 20th century America.
I’m afraid that Bai has succumbed to both sidesism here though. Matt Bai could come to rural Alabama, stand in the street in the center of MAGA country and tell everyone who passes by his heartfelt opinion on pretty much any issue. Even if they disagree on all sorts of issues, no one would give a shit. Very few people would even remember it or think about it or dwell on it the next day.
Contrast this with the situation in Blue America. Do you remember the time that the mob came after Andrew Sullivan who was purged from New York Magazine after his coworkers began to suspect him of “white supremacy”? How about Donald McNeil Jr. at the New York Times?
Again, this is both sidesism. It is only one side which demands absolute puritanical conformity and which punishes heresy and routinely engages in public witch hunts with the most recent target being Joe Rogan. No one on our side ever gave a damn that Joe Rogan had a popular podcast or that Andrew Sullivan was writing for New York Magazine or that Whoopi Goldberg made an insensitive comment on The View. Everyone knows which side is going to come after you and give you a hard time for speech.
There is no room for error on the woke progressive side. If you said something offensive on the internet in 1997, you can face professional destruction and “accountability” for it. Jokes aren’t funny. The word “nigga,” for example, when used by a White male as in calling a friend “my nigga” is over the line of acceptable discourse. There is no room for shooting from the hip or saying what is on your mind given the harm that words which are verbal violence can cause others.
The two sides here have wildly opposing views on morality and free speech, safety, harm, trauma and accountability. You can get away with committing a racism or a sexism or a xenophobia on this side.
Oh look, another “unwoke” or “sane” lib who is now just getting around to noticing and directly referencing the craziness of his fellow libs in the last year or so. It’s a very tiresome act.
# I don’t feel sorry for mr. Bai, you can’t have it both ways, he wants the civilized society of our people, but he can’t bring himself too stand with us publicly or privately and their are a whole lot of others, just like him, they are lukewarm, not much use too anybody but themselves……
De facto freedom of speech rarely manifests anywhere. De jure freedom of speech manifests in “open societies” that value tolerance, pluralism, and diversity of thought. If you commit a speech violation of societal taboos in a de facto free speech territory, then you will not face negative consequences for your taboo violation. However, if you commit a speech violation of societal taboos in a de jure free speech territory, then private actors will penalize your taboo violation.
I cannot think of one de facto free speech territory that operates or operated as such. Many de jure free speech territories use their law not to protect persons from the consequences of their speech taboo violations but to delude speech taboo violators into thinking that they can violate taboos without private or public penalties. This freedom encourages naive dissidents to paint targets on their backs and to subsequently endure persecution at the hands of private actors.
Thus, I cannot stand when conservatives or white nationalists complain that elite private actors punish them for their speech taboo violations. If either conservatives or white nationalists were to become the elite, then they would do the same to those who fight to preserve present day liberal elite taboos. All societies have blasphemy codes to prevent speech taboo violations, but some societies like the US work to both to deny that they exist and to enforce them.
Any lefty who supported Occupy Wall Street should really be on our side. I’m of the conclusion that labor socialism from the US in the teens and 20’s morphed into National Socialism in Germany. I think Shlomo is of the same opinion. Look how they neutralized OWS and later the Tea Party. Yellow Vests in France have gotten nowhere despite being very popular.
Powerful and inspiring article. Thank you.
Bai may be a more old-style (read: not entirely psycho) liberal, but he’s a de facto progressive by not opposing those onslaughts, making him an enemy all the same.
“If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem,” my nig. Writing some gay op-ed does nothing.