Identifying Liberalism
I thought that it might be a good idea to have a small guide/list on what liberalism is as seen by The Left, particularly for people who may be new to revolutionary thought or who want to better understand what we mean by liberalism. I think for the latter this is especially important because the vast majority of us grow up and tend to think of politics in a binary dichotomy – liberal/conservative, progressive/status quo, etc., and as a result think of the realm of politics as being a sort of linear plane under which you fall.
This is the sort of thinking that leads one to hold reactionary views (in the case of the commonly understood liberalism, this would be upholding the status quo and not actually addressing systematic issues). People who often identify as liberal, progressive, open-minded, tolerant, etc., presume that they fight for change when in actuality they do little more than make oppression feel a little more cozy. So how, then, do we see this liberalism manifest in the world? These are some examples that are readily available for observation and easy to digest.
- It is the belief that change will come and systematic oppression will end with the right politicians, and that voting is the most effective tool the working class has. Often, this comes with a stark contrast (i.e. vote for Sanders, or Trump might win, and this will be A Big Bad Thing!!!)
- It is the belief that politics and views should be private and not openly and often discussed, lest friendships be shaken; let bygones be bygones, keep quiet, cast your ballot, and move on with your life.
- Liberalism is having a racist family member whom you do not challenge out of a lack of desire to create conflict.
- Liberalism is allowing friends to make transphobic jokes and comments, and to remain silent (or to join along as to not be “That Uptight Guy”)
- It is to excuse racism, homophobia, sexism, ableism, etc., in your peers, because stable, individual friendships are valued over challenging bigotry.
- It is to give a platform and legitimacy for groups that oppress or spread hate when they are not actively being a bigot (i.e., to keep supporting a rapist/racist/misogynist just because you like their art)
- Liberalism is allowing Neo-nazis to remain unchallenged, under the guise of the right to freedom of speech and stating that they have every right to spew their hatred.
- Liberalism is telling the transgender person that they cannot have their humanity recognized, because society is not ready for it.
- Liberalism is believing that racism will be ended if enough progressive officials make anti-discrimination laws.
- Liberalism is the belief that the answer to stopping homophobia is to simply create more gay characters in the media.
- Liberalism is the belief that transgender people being allowed to serve openly in the military is progression.
- Liberalism is excusing bigotry in the media by stating freedom of expression; that it’s okay to speak and discuss hateful things so long as you are not physically acting on them.
- Liberalism is viewing all rights as inherently equal; that gay peoples’ rights to marriage must be seen as important as a religious person’s belief that they should not be married.
- Liberalism is the idea that all forms of violence are equally reprehensible; that white supremacists attacking black people is as bad as black people attacking white supremacists.
- It is the feminism that states that makeup and high heels are an empowering statement and a powerful demonstration of feminism.
- It is the feminism that does not recognize men as a class of people who oppress women, the feminism that views struggle under the patriarchy as equal.
- It is the feminism that states that hating men or not being invested in men’s issues is bad feminism; it is the feminism that is meant to make men feel safe and unchallenged.
- It is the feminism that states “I love men, but hate the patriarchy.”
- It is the sex-positive feminism that states nothing sexual can contribute to upholding patriarchal power.
- It is the “radical” feminists who declare war on trans women and invest their time and energy into fighting them rather than structural power.
- It is the “radical” feminists who uses the law and policing to harm other women – sex workers – under the guise of sympathy and liberation.
- Liberalism is the belief that recognizing different forms of marriage will be a peak step in eliminating homophobia and transphobia.
- Liberalism is believing that capitalism simply needs tweaking and is not connected to any form of social oppression and contributes to it; it ignores that many poor people are socially marginalized (i.e. not white, transgender, etc.)
- Liberalism is believing that trans men and trans women are equally oppressed, and a failure to see how identities intersect to create additional oppression (i.e., the majority of transgender deaths in the USA are black trans women)
- It is the inability to view power structures (i.e. the patriarchy, cisnormativity) as tied in to the oppressor class. In other words, believing that most men are good and simply misguided, that most cis people are good but uneducated. It fails to recognize the prevalence of sexism, transphobia, racism, that all people hold and ignores the socialization that each person (including the marginalized class) internalizes that then contribute to upholding structural power.
- Liberalism is, at its core, existing under the guise of progress, yet seeks nothing but reformation within the existing capitalist society and existing social structures. Liberalism is de-weaponizing feminism, downplaying our heterosexist society, telling marginalized people to wait until the laws are changed.
These are but a few examples. The core of all of these, and every other liberal way of looking at the world, is that it serves to uphold the status quo and not actually progress dismantling class structures in a meaningful way. Abstract words like peace, liberty, freedom, democracy, are tossed around in its rhetoric; it considers every person and every belief to be of equal value and thinks that the best solution is to wait a few generations and hope that they will learn.
On an individual level some of these may seem far-fetched. What does it matter if a friend casually makes sexist remarks, or if a comedian or TV show takes a jab at transgender people? This is again where liberalism fails, because everyone else is thinking the same thing. The liberal is content to go through life while rarely challenging their peers, as they are content to live and not think of how all individuals contribute to problematic cultural values. They are content to apply labels to themselves such as feminist, anti-racist, a trans ally, and view this as a sign of their revolutionary progressiveness; yet they will often will not speak out against injustice when they can (and are safe to – obviously, we do not expect a trans woman to constantly challenge bigots and risk a violent refute)
In other words, liberalism can be thought of as “Someone else will take care of it” – that someone else, generally, being the government or schools. Rather than educate their peers, encourage critical thinking, making it clear that a person being racist, sexist, classist, etc., is wrong and unacceptable, they will remain forever silent. They will be content to be in the presence of these sorts of people so long as they do not feel threatened; women will befriend men so long as they aren’t sexist to an uncomfortable agree, people will befriend racists so long as they don’t bring it up often, or because they knew the person long enough before their reactionary views became known to the liberal. At which point desire for friendship triumphs over their beliefs (which goes back to the whole “separate friends and politics” thing)
Liberalism believes change can be enacted from the top down; equality laws, prisons, reformation, education, will eventually solve our problems. Capitalism must be tweaked or money redistributed, enough anti-discrimination bills must be passed, and we will be on the road to freedom. These assumptions are false and liberalism – while making single issues on an individual level better (it’s of course nice for the media to have more gay characters) – in the long run they do not serve to dismantle capitalism nor destroy societal power structures. Liberalism and the passivity it encourages is to be combated.
