What happened to the principled Left? Where did it go? Although I do not consider myself a socialist, over the years I’ve met many socialists who, even though I disagreed with them, have had positive personal qualities. They did live their socialism, they did walk their talk and put themselves out for others, and often they were human enough to accept political opponents as friends.
These principled socialist activists may have supported stuff I disagreed with, but you could always rely on them for a few positive things. For example, they could be guaranteed to be a doughty foe of fascism, both of the neo-Nazi kind and also the religious kind.
You could also virtually take it as read, that a socialist would take the side of women struggling to be free of the more misogynistic accretions of religion.
Now however, the Left has lost its way and instead of being a ‘bottom up’ movement for the betterment of the working classes, is now grotesquely authoritarian, thuggish in word and deed. It has behaved in an obscenely indecent manner by embracing enthusiastically the malevolent ideology of Islamic fascism. It has also turned its face away from the working classes, especially the British working classes and treated them and their concerns with contempt.
Because of this devil’s embrace between the Left and Islamic fascism, now it can no longer be assumed that the Left are on the side of women who yearn to be free of oppression by religious groups. Sadly, it can be assumed today that much of the Left would no longer campaign for those women, but would instead campaign for those who oppress them.
The Leftists who I once encountered would, in the main, stand with those who spoke out against injustice. Now, when people complain about the injustices caused to ordinary working class British people by the disastrous policy of excessive and inappropriate immigration, they are insulted and demeaned. Those who have contributed blood, sweat and treasure to Britain, find that the Left, that once was on their side, now smears them with the term ‘racist’ and ‘xenophobe’.
An example of how far the Left has departed from any sense of morality is how the Left cannot even be trusted with the safety of children. It is becoming horrifically clear just how many Leftists and their fellow travellers appear to have been involved in the disgusting cover up of the phenomenon of Islamic Child Sex Grooming Gangs. Those who tried to bring this issue to light were either ignored or told to ‘shut up and enjoy the diversity.’
Think about it for a moment. Consider the moral emptiness possessed by the supporters of Leftist ideology who have sacrificed vulnerable children purely to defend their multiculturalist policies and to support the followers of Islam who are now the chosen political allies of the British Left.
I don’t think any of the Leftists I once respected as friends would have had any truck with what the Left has become, because they were Leftists before the 68 Generation took power in Left groups.
It was this 68 Generation of Leftists, the Soixtante Retards, who brought in the moral relativism, the hierarchy of victimhood, the identity politics, the entitlement culture and so much more, which poisoned the Left.
The Left as it currently exists has lost much of the support of the ordinary working person and can now only exist and be seen as the authoritarian bullies that they have now become, brought to, or kept in power by the client states of the public and welfare sectors and the bent postal votes of the followers of Islamic religious fascism.
It is such a sad and ignominious end to what was once a bright dream of future change.
In my opinion, the left is rotten to the core, and has been for as long as anyone can remember. During WW2 British socialists supported Nazi Germany. Trade union leaders would strike at the drop of a hat. When Germany attacked Russia, all changed. The whole idea of confiscating wealth from those who produce it to redistribute to the feckless and idle ( after taking a huge slice for the “middle man”)
is insane. Socialism, like islam, is a mental disorder.
The ideology may have been wonky but there were in the past good and moral people who were in the democratic Left (as opposed to the Communist, Trotskyist and Stalinist Left). They’ve now gone and remaining is the sort of shite that aflicts many of our cities Town Halls.
The sort of socialists who I respected, were those who believed in mutuality, however they have long since been replaced by those who believe in confiscatory levels of taxation and micro control of the citizen.
There are no Atlee’s or Bevans left in the British Left anymore, but instead a whole load of Joyce Thackers, Ken Livingstones and Lee Jaspers have taken their place.
I certainly agree with you that the spectacle of the British Communists agitating for strikes during WWII in order to back the Ribbentrop/Molotov pact was disgusting, and in my view was the key factor in the far left losing the working class support that they enjoyed prior to WWII.
It’s the whole Clinton ‘triangulation’ thing. No-one stands on principle anymore, it’s all electoral calculation and thus you can end up with some really odd bedfellows.
Very true. That sort of thing encourages the advancement of the snake-like Mandelsons of this world.