Identity, politics, and the in-fighting of the left

[iiandyiiii]

@Riemann

We’re talking about the stifling of the free exchange of ideas. And the response from the likes of @iiandyiiii is to simply deny that it’s happening. A similar denial is presented in the article, which contends that the underlying model for the free exchange of ideas has not changed, claiming the spectrum has shifted but the same principles and valuoes apply:

It helps to think of this debate as taking place on a spectrum. Social justice advocates think the bands of acceptable opinion and arguments shouldn’t be narrowed, precisely, but rather pushed to the left — shifted to include formerly excluded voices from oppressed communities and to sideline voices that seek to continue their exclusion.

But this contention is at odds with the explicit tenets of Critical Theory, which is now the dominant and mainstream dogma on the intellectual left. It is quite explicitly in tension with Enlightenment values and traditional liberalism.

The majority on our board are an older generation of traditional liberals, and when I’ve brought this up before, people have simply denied this, supposing that advocates of Critical Theory are a fringe minority. That’s simply wrong. In academia, among young left wing intellectuals - at the NYT for example - Critical Theory, not traditional Enlightenment values and liberalism, is mainstream:

Critical race theory - Wikipedia

The very first item in the summary of “major themes” is Critique of Liberalism.

I’m not a scholar, but I think I’m pretty close to the fringe liberals on “critical race theory”, and nowhere that I see does it call for stifling debate or suppressing speech. Rather, it makes very pointed criticisms of much of the conventional wisdom of both conservatives and liberals, and sometimes that criticism is made very harshly. But CRT doesn’t call for or condone threats or other things that can stifle speech, AFAICT.

I still hold that most of this consternation comes about because so many of the wealthy, powerful, and influential aren’t used to harsh and pointed pushback and criticism. When privilege is what one is used to, parity/equality might feel like oppression, and criticism might feel like attempted suppression.