I didn’t leave the left. The left, left me.

[GenerativeAIBot]

Stop me if you have already heard this the last few days, I am trying to make sense of how I feel about Trump and other right leaning wins:

“Woke” issues being pushed to where they have been, has empowered the right by giving them something real and legitimate to campaign against. Something more than their usual transparently false bogeymen.

In general, Authoritarianism, compelled speech, no debate. Specifically men in women’s sports, in women’s changing rooms, unfettered immigration, being asked to ignore the evidence in front of our eyes.

This is happening across the world, Italy, France, Germany, USA, UK.

I remain entirely committed to progressive taxation, a social safety net, collective bargaining, workers rights, public schooling and health services as well as the rights of everyone to live contented, unmolested lives.

I reject identity politics in their entirety. For example, I consider terms like “Woman of colour” to be the epitome of divisive, racist, sexist thought patterns that seeks to infantilise people and move their locus of control from internal to external. Disempowering people and making them victims.

I didn’t leave the left. The left left me.

Reasonable?

100%

The left seems disconnected from much of their traditional voting base. Telling people they're stupid, transphobic, xenophobic, misogynistic racists isn't a vote winner.

There are some very noisy people to the left, also to the right. There is a quiet majority in the middle. It has always been like this, and is part of how society works with the balance of view points.

Hear, hear

or is it here, here?

nah it must be hear, hear

Totally agree. I still vote left-leaning because I can't bring myself to do otherwise, but I definitely don't feel the like the current "left" is actually acting in a very lefty way right now with all of the authoritarianism and what not.

A good post but when you say you ‘remain committed to progressive taxation’, it would be useful to understand whether said ‘progress’ would impact you?

You see one of the many issues with the left, is their desire to spend others money, and to target them with punitive taxation on spurious fiscal grounds.

Hence the blowback on PS Vat etc.

Many people, like you evidently, have had it to the back teeth with the left - telling us how to think, and what to say etc.

I utterly despise the left.

@GenerativeAIBot I saw the list of what you do support.
How are you about net zero? It seems that it is going to be very expensive to adopt these plans as quickly as Starmer & Milliband intend. We already have expensive electricity compared to all countries except Germany.

Couldn't agree more. It's shocking to find myself agreeing with some Tory views just because the left has lost it. I am not an "ignorant far right bigot" or whatever the Labour Party would call me now. I'm left / middle of the road but sex is binary & unchangeable and I'm not voting for anyone who thinks biological fact can be bent to their will.

This has nothing to do with the Labour party and everything to do with the right wing media and echo chambers on the internet. To suggest that woman of colour is either sexist or racist is ridiculous - it is a term favoured by many non-white women. What is possibly wrong with that? I think you need to think about the media you are consuming subconsciously, as well as consciously, and reassess.

Part of the challenge with the Left in the US is not the ideas

(....though they could and should have been better defined in the election).

The problem is the horrible, hectoring tone of voice from most of their campaigners.

The narrative goes a bit like this:

"No one who is human and has a moral compass could possibly believe anything other than what I am about to say".

The problem with that line of argument is... it doesn't account for what politics is about.

Politics is about argument and persuasion, not moral shaming.

If you hold a position? Convince me of it! Show me your passion and openness to listen, and I'll give you my vote.

The Left are WAY too comfortable with assumptions that everyone understands the morality of their positions.

Signed, a lifelong Left-wing voter who is beyond despair at the poor comms campaigns.

Unfortunately, it is also often true.

Yeah, that would be it.

The OP is reading the ‘wrong’ media…

Got it.

As you've aged you've moved to the right. Tale as old as time. Just because it's on social rather than economic grounds doesn't change that.

I'm intrigued by your dislike of phrases like "women of colour". Presumably you strongly identify with the "woman" bit, and possibly feel that your sex is an inherent part of you, and presumably have strong feelings about the inequalities you and other women face because of it.

Why is adding "of colour" problematic?

But there are plenty on the far right who wish to roll back women's rights, who are authoritarian - trump has made many statements against democracy too.

My advice is not to vote on a singular issue, that of trans rights

Even if you think it’s true, simply shouting it at people and telling them you think they’re horrible isn’t going to change their minds or make them want to read and think and discuss, and potentially reevaluate their opinion, is it?

Hopefully they start to listen. However, initial reactions seem they want to carry on fighting for the failure of what is not working for the majority.

The left are very hate filled. If you don't agree with them they throw insults, go for your job, home, friends, family etc. "cancelling" shouldn't even be a thing in a society with free speech! The left have more in common with ultra conservatism than I think they're truly comfortable with and it's the moderate centre, the typical Tory voter, who is perhaps the most sane out there currently.

You've nailed it OP!

Trump gained a large section of the, traditionally left, Latino vote because of issues with mass illegal immigration and huge price rises in basic foodstuffs since Biden took over. They felt let down and betrayed by the Democrats.

Funny, every "person of colour" I know just says "is it because I'm brown you think x y z..."

You know the way you have that sixth sense for when someone's being misogynistic, even if it would be debateable from the actual text of their words? And you are sometimes made to feel an idiot for saying it out loud, even though you know you're right? Maybe women of colour have that same sixth sense for racism.

I don't think this is true of us all though. I have no problem with phrases like women of colour, I'm pro-immigration, etc.

What I don't like is the creeping authoritarianism where we're expected to think in exactly the same way and have all of the correct "leftie" opinions at all times or we're vile right-wing bigots. It's not really a traditoinally left-wing way to behave, is it?

The problem with the modern left is, they think it's only ever the right who can creep toward authoritarianism, but it really isn't.

I hear you.

So as you've aged you've moved to the Right on social values but remained on the Left fiscally. That's fine, but don't make it out to be so dramatic. As pp said, this is a oft-travelled road.

Left wing and right wing and authoritarian and liberal are different scales. You can be left wing and liberal and right wing and authoritarian, or vice versa.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ThePoliticalCompass

I wouldn't consider you left, centrist with some right leaning maybe.

The only left thing you mention being in favour of is workers' rights. Everything else is also supported by the right. (And if you include Reform, which I personally don't, they are also supposedly pro workers' rights).