At this cusp of time, last year, on the basis of the overarching trend amongst democracies around the world, a shift in the zeitgeist seemed to have been cemented. The plebiscite election, after election, pivoted away from the core tenets of what came about to be the newfound first principles of the center-left.
Likewise, after the turn of the current decade, in general discourse, be they societies in Europe, the United States, or Asia, social justice, particularly sparked by the killing of George Floyd, took greater precedent than all other qualms, yet after the emancipation from covid-19-induced isolation, the allegiance towards progressive social justice were loathed: A backlash started, and its presumed culmination was epitomized vis-à-vis the victory of Mr. Trump.
Besides, over the span of a meager few years, the intellectual space saw a rise in a novel set of lexical terms, for instance, “toxic masculinity,” “manosphere,” “woke,” “incel,” and the litany of statistics alluding to a shift in culture from that of inclusion to exclusion; at its core, seclusion was both a mental and physical attribute in the society, though also at an individual level.
Whilst all this was happening, the left by and large was entrapped into a pigeonhole, solitary with their position politically and socially, confined in the process of searching for their soul.
At the core of the introspection was a persistent probe regarding their missteps, especially towards the tone and tenor of casting themselves, to a degree, in some sense, as arbiters of truth and, simultaneously, as messiahs of righteousness — mulling on the notion of the outlandish forfeiting of centering their dogma on issues they monopolized historically, that is, equalizing dignity of work and equalizing outcomes.
After all, folks do not give a dime about frivolous — to most — cultural issues, also the erstwhile virtue signaling and purity tests that come hand in hand with such arbitrary, vitriolic rhetoric. Importantly, what is sacrosanct to most, if not all, is the money left in their pockets. The citizenry vies for listeners who entrench themselves in the grassroots – especially from political outfits (the left traditionally) that championed the organization of the masses, to at best, relay the message of the destitute, or as commonly reverberated by Mr. Sanders, “They have the money, we have the people.”
Yet, was the left in its contemporary caricature, as deemed by the electorate, in cahoots with the elite? Maybe. As this sentiment is vividly elucidated by the gentrification of the center-left spectrum, such is easily substantiated by gauging the voting patterns of different strata; consequently, bread-and-butter issues are relegated, while issues destined to be at the center are often pandered to and towards a fringe yet vocal group of interest groups.
In more direct terms, recent decades witnessed a rise in technocratic and meritorious bent in politics — pervading both sides. Notably, a rupture gave the right to fiddle with populism filled with angst — grievance towards the elites, partly an anger directed towards the educated, and culturally defined individuals.
Albeit, during that time, the left became the defender of a system that ushered in massive inequalities of income and wealth; long gone are the days of Parisian wealth; the moneyed postulated their potency by egregious interjection in society: from gargantuan super yachts to cajoling with political actors of both isles. By virtue of such advances, the advent of anti-institutionalism was coming to fruition — a rupture was inevitable.
At last, change was in the waiting, but this time it would not be incremental. It upended the neoliberal ethos. Successive verdicts around the world defied the post-Berlin Wall convention, and from then the backlash officially began, resulting in an epochal-like inflection period.
The overt defense of a failing system is in no sense whatsoever politically either feasible or viable. Disdain coupled with cynicism gave a wholesome opportunity for political Machiavellians. Surprisingly, unscrupulous sects in the political process seized such a moment, performing politics in ways that are morally perverse and ignoble.
Importantly, a point to note: at the end of the day, the rise in GDP, or for that matter, greater shareholder returns, by no stretch of the imagination, gives a pretext to neglect the project of wealth redistribution; and even worse, the shift towards tedious matters further exacerbated disillusionment between the politicians and the public — especially, in conjunction, with individuals not guaranteed to either have the ability to enhance in the social ladder or reap the dignity of piecemeal work. Still, even with such a predicament, let alone not being addressed, the modicum of efforts is sidelined at the expense of thrusting vapid socio-cultural concepts.
The blunt message from the citizens is, primarily, get the rudiments right! Then preach to us about extremely abstract, socially constructed, vacuous concepts.
As equal — “theoretically” — citizens of a liberal society, who likes to be talked down to? That to from credentialed elites stemming from the left. Alas, such was the case and continues to be in some nook and corner, pontificators that further their own impulse to disenfranchise the people writ large from the most pivotal stakeholders in a democratic process — the people; above all, such hubris is manifested in the impression that “Your success is your own doing.”
The beginning of the jubilant fervor was also the end of it; the heyday of the left as known in the recent past lasted only till the sentiments were under the mold of a movement — which lacked perseverance to endure the required resolve — the capitulation to illiberalism took no elongated time.
To extrapolate, two phenomena, in particular, have been definitive of the upheaval as a whole: on the one hand, the siloization of politics — grounded in the dais for civic discourse shifting from physical spaces to the virtual world; and on the other hand, a nihilistic disposition not only towards getting by, but also ahead.
Both have been an impediment to the left.
A retort from the left is imperative (out of the blue, fresh hope has been ignited: due to Mr. Mamdani’s victory in the NYC mayoral primary election for the Democratic party), not only due to the vacuum permeating politics but also to bring a stoppage to anti-liberal forces, for whom the sole principle is to expropriate wealth for themselves and a cabal of acolytes. Amidst all the cacophony, the higher echelon is prevaricating about the most pivotal travesty of our times — unnecessary deaths and the massive, unimaginable inequalities of income and wealth.
All in all, For the sake of the people, get your act together. More than anything, renounce the fixation on scarcity, and embrace abundance.
