To my own detriment really, I've been trying to have conversations with people that are very much on the far left of the political spectrum. Why? you might ask, and the answer is simple but not in any way consoling. Socialism and it's brother Marxism seem to be appealing to the younger generations, and I'm trying to find out why.

From a good place

I think I've said this a thousand times, and thus it seems like I'm running out of words, but the truth is that I think this takes center piece in order for us to have a balanced conversation. Most of the ideas of the progressives come from good intentions. Yes, I know my more libertarian or right wing friends hate that notion, but they can't really refute it.

It's precisely because of this that I believe they recoil when met with criticism. It's almost as if we are telling the young human, "hey, don't be a good person, because if you are a good person you are evil", and in the confusion of such paradoxical message, they double down in righteous self reassurance.

They truly believe they are warriors, and they mean it from the heart. Hence why they've taken up the acronym SJW to begin with. But, does this mean that they do good? Does this mean that their intentions become actions of productive change? Well, that is entirely a different conversation.

Leads to Violence

The reason why most of these political philosophies end up in violence is not too obvious at first glance, but incredibly apparent if we strip it down to one phrase: We will always defend our freedoms - This is entirely why reactions against these movements seem to be so emotional.

Emotional reactions from opposing views evoke emotional reactions too, and thus the feedback loop gives birth to violent outcomes, and violent groups like ANTIFA.

Real Freedom

I think it was Joe Rogan who made this point abundantly clear to me many months ago in one of his podcasts. The truth he presents is hardly debatable, and it hits the core reason why equality of outcome is a pipe dream that sounds beautiful on paper.

If you have real freedom, that means that you own the results of that freedom. If you want to train hard, wake up early, eat healthy, then it's only reasonable that your body will reflect those choices. But, to believe that someone who wakes up at noon, who eats garbage food, who smokes, should be as athletic as my first example is utter nonsense.

And yes, this applies not only to health, where it's incredibly easy to observe, but also to other choices we make. If I work hard, if I show up everyday to build, if I spend countless hours educating myself, well it's only reasonable that the outcome of this freedom will render results for me. Again, that is a feature of true freedom, not a bug.

MenO