I’m done with the progressives and liberals.
I was very involved in leftist activism. Occupy Wall Street, immigrant rights movement, labor activism, racial justice, queer liberation, you name it, I was part of it. Since 2002, I have more or less supported the Democratic candidates and progressive policy causes.
But now I’m done. I’m disgusted.
I remember the uncertain days and weeks following 9/11 and Bush’s “War on Terror.” We were afraid of potential martial law, expansion of domestic surveillance, crack down on immigrants, and increased racial and religious (by “religious” we specifically meant Muslims and maybe Sikhs) profiling.
I remember the anti-war and pro-civil liberties demonstrations and campaigns. I remember the solidarity acts with marginalized immigrants, especially the undocumented ones and those of the Middle Eastern and Central Asian heritage.
I remember several among many, the demands of the Occupy Movement were to stop NDAA (which provided for indefinite detention of “terror suspects”), to close Guantanamo, and to limit the growth of police state apparatus.
I remember the week after the election of President Donald J. Trump. Leftist protestors and Antifa were out on the street, genuinely fearing the specter of dictatorship and fascist imperial presidency in the authoritarian, strongman character of Donald Trump and his fanatic fans.
It has been on its face, despite many contradictions, that the leftists’ consensus was to unabashedly support civil liberties, right to privacy, and right to one’s bodily autonomy; and to oppose the overreach of police powers.
Until COVID-19 arrived on America’s shores.
COVID-19 initially hit the progressive strongholds of King County, Washington and San Francisco Bay Area -- the kind of places where elected politicians routinely spoke up against the carceral-police state and authoritarianism.
Yet, it was the progressives and liberals in those cities who were literally begging their mayors and governors for martial law. They were demanding for “lockdown.” Never mind that such a draconian measure would disproportionately harm the people on the lowest end of economic scale, those with disabilities, people experiencing houselessness, and those who struggle with mental health issues and/or domestic violence.
They were begging their local officials to “enforce the lockdown.” Some of them were even calling the cops and snitching on their neighbors and strangers they saw outside.
They were suddenly addicted to the doomsday porn fed to them hourly by mainstream media, Democratic politicians, and leftist social media -- and they ate it up. They were absorbed with collective and individual fear.
Such fear, in a time of crisis, tests the true nature of a person. The leftists failed that test.
The ugliest nature of the left, usually hidden beneath their slogans and political correctness, has suddenly came out to the fore.
They accused people who were merely going out on their daily business of being “irresponsible” and even “murderers.” They cried foul at individuals responsibly enjoying sunny spring days outdoors, calling them “narcissists” and “selfish.” They publicly mocked and doxxed people of sincere religious faith who simply needed their spiritual fortification and consolation in their church communities.
COVID-19 turned the leftist discourse into an orgy of grievance, jealousy, public shaming, intolerance, self-righteousness, ad hominem attacks, thought-policing, thought-terminating cliche, and hatred. Yes, these were always there all along. But aside from the most obvious SJW trolls on social media, these were pretty well-hidden beneath political theories and activist jargons.
Where were the Antifa when their Democratic governors and mayors declared what amounts to a de facto martial law lite? Or, maybe things could’ve been different if it was President Trump who did it -- then maybe their progressive elected officials might have taken him to court? Where is ACLU? Crickets.
The leftists that I know talk all day about freedom and rights, but that seems to be only for certain identity groups like queer folks and people of color, not universal freedom and universal rights. And they fundamentally misunderstand the nature of rights; they think rights are granted to them by the government.
If the leftists think “public health” is a sufficient reason to all but suspend the constitution, there’s no hope. I am rather glad that Bernie Sanders is now history.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo received cheers and applauses from the liberals when he said he would rather “save one life” and destroy the economy than letting one person die of COVID-19 to save jobs and businesses.
While this makes a great feel-good soundbite and it might even sound like that Talmudic sage who famously said, “save a life and you save the world,” it actually makes no ethical or moral sense. If Cuomo really believes what he said, then New York State should as well ban all automobiles -- including ambulances and fire trucks -- because someone might accidentally get killed in a traffic accident.
And perhaps the worst fallout of this fiasco is that the leftists, their politicians, and their favorite media have managed to transform our culture in a very bad way in such a short time. Now we have a zeitgeist of mutual suspicion, sticking our noses into everyone else’s lives, and fear of everyday activities that we once took for granted. Yes, the leftists have turned their “free hugs” into “social distancing.” At the same time, the news outlets are feeding fuel to this frenzy by reporting this politician or that celebrity figure “tested positive for coronavirus.” Whatever happened to medical privacy laws (HIPAA) and journalistic ethics? Suddenly everything’s everyone’s business. I think the effect of this will be felt for many years to come, long after we’ve built herd immunity.
I’m done with this shit. After four years of calling Donald Trump a fascist (and eight years of calling George W. Bush a fascist), they’ve become Coronafascists.
The truth being said, I had only supported the Democrats and the progressives in general insofar as they were for civil liberties, immigrant rights, and abolition of the carceral-police state. Personally, I have always been a Libertarian (though I do reject anarcho-capitalism) and on many issues I tend to agree more with Republicans.
