Politically, I'm a good ol fashion centrist, which means I'm a piece of a shiii...to both the Radical Left and the Far Right. I'm not super woke, and I also don't want to storm the U.S. Capital. For some reason this makes me a rare, spotted zebra in my country. I call myself a Liberal because Liberal comes from the English word Liberty, which means freedom. I'm on the side of freedom.
No one is fighting for freedom in the western democracies. This includes the flag waving Trumpers who say they believe in freedom, but want a Christian version of Shariah Law. Because of the medieval, anti-science nature of the Far Right, they are far worse than the cancelling, woke mob of the Radical Left. However, this post is mainly about the ineffectual nature of the Radical Left.
We are entering a new Dark Age. Progressivism has died. I saw this coming two years ago when the Leftists adopted "De-fund the Police." From a tactical perspective, this was like Napoleon's invasion of Russia. The pandemics impact on the economy was inevitably going to hurt the poor the most. Anyone with a bit of imagination, and an ability to think farther ahead than the moment could see this. Unfortunately, that's around 2% of the population. It's simple logic. When the situation for the poor gets worse, crime goes up. Instead of trying to meet this threat head on, anti-law enforcement groups capitalized on the death of George Floyd to try and de-fund the police. Now, big surprise, violent crime is at it's highest in decades. All the liberal media can say about that is, "at least it's not as bad as the 1980's."
Now that the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic is over, every Democrat in America is trying to distance themselves from the "De-fund" movement. Crime is at an all time high, including Asian American hate crimes. Asians are a huge voting block for the Dems, and they're about to lose them. The practical nature of Asian Americans means they will get on the Conservative train real quick. Crime is blatant in major cities like San Francisco and Chicago. San Francisco, which traditionally has been a beacon for Progressive's is changing it's political tune. San Francisco's ultra liberal District Attorney, Chesa Boudin is facing two recall efforts. And earlier this year San Francisco voters fired three of the most progressive members of it's Board of Education for keeping schools closed for almost a year during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Progressive's try to split hairs by explaining that they're not trying to abolish police. They simply want to shift priorities in suburban areas from policing to non-violent things like healthcare, rehabilitation, and other proactive measures. I'm all for this actually. It's a great idea. Unfortunately, that message is too complicated for the reactive woke activists who used "De-fund" and "Abolish" interchangeably.
It has gotten this bad for the Left because their need to be right is stronger than their perceived need to be effective. They don't see where the real war should be fought. They think that the righteousness of their cause will bring victory, and all they need to do is shout loud enough to win. This is obviously not true.
The war between the Right and Left is over the Middle. They're fighting for people like me, who think both sides are too extreme. When the crazy Left is weak, the Right almost always uses the appeal of logic to get the middle on their side. This is what's happening now. The message from the Right is, "crime is at an all-time high and the Left wants to de-fund the police. So don't vote for those loonys." The message is so effective that land mark legislation like Roe v. Wade might be abolished. If it happens it will be the worst defeat for the Left in generations.
Although I'm a centrist and believe in some progressive causes, the Left only has themselves to blame. The hubris of the Left caused them to think that there would be no consequences for their worst actions. Violence from Antifa, hatred for law enforcement, and extreme vanity pushed the middle away. This was inevitable because they despised the middle anyways.
As much as it pains me to see America drift towards the tyranny of the Far Right..and it will be tyranny...I can't help but laugh when a fool gets what he deserves.