I appreciate your honesty in unpacking the disillusionment with the SJW/woke subculture - you’re right that it became obsessed with symbolic gestures and purity tests instead of real coalition-building or improving people’s lives (it was never about that to begin with). That’s an important realization.
But I have to ask: when you say you “still see value in the Left”—what Left is that? If we take a sober look at history, from the Jacobins of the French Revolution, to the Bolsheviks, to the Fabian “reformers,” to today’s woke activists, the through-line is the same: dismantling faith, family, tradition, and hierarchy. Even when it’s not screaming about diversity, Leftism at its root has always been about subversion, not preservation.
So when you look back, are you sure you’re not holding onto another myth—the idea of a “true Left” that was ever about building up, rather than tearing down?
When you take a step back is should become obvious that all the talk is just that. When you remove the noise all that remains is hostility. It's not that silence is violence. It's that it reveals it. It's a cover for it. This is more than metaphor. I have demonstrated it to people. Take a video of one of these movements that says they are against hatred.
Remove all sound including any text so that there is no speech. Turn it into a silent movie. Then ask people what they see. They will see hate. Fear. Rage. Evil.
You've summed things up so succinctly! This is the bit I'm talking about: "I was finally able to see the SJW subculture for what it was: a cynical, hyper-individualized reaction to decades of leftist losses that chose symbolic representation over coalition-building that could meaningfully improve the material conditions of normal people’s lives."
I'm a novelist, and it was fascinating/heartbreaking to hear about your experience trying to write fiction that accorded with your mindset at its most extreme. It brought to mind an advice column for writers I read when the SJW mindset was most ascendant, where a white male writer expressed concern about centering his own identity through his work and the columnist suggested that he should submit fewer pieces for publication. A light bulb went off in my brain that this way of thinking just couldn't be compatible with being an artist (aesthetically or professionally). Anyway, I'm glad you're in a better place now and hope you give yourself a chance to write some stories.
"who thought saving the world started with hating it." That summarizes entirely too much of Blue Tribe thought. YOU CAN'T BUILD ANYTHING IF ALL YOU KNOW HOW TO DO IS DECONSTRUCT. I know there are social justice advocates building, but so many SJWs come across as kids squatting in the towers stronger people built for them, talking about how much they want to tear it down (collateral damage? what's that?). Unfortunately, building is hard, while tearing down is easy and scores you points on social media.
What an excellent piece. Just out of interest, have you found yourself applying the same reflective thought processes to any other areas of your life (political or non-political)?
"It was no longer tempting to be an insufferable know-it-all, because I realized that no matter what the other person had said or done, the only dependable outcome would be both of us feeling awful." Well said. I always try to use this insight to guide disagreements towards curiosity and exploration rather than forcing them towards points I'd like to make, or a failed attempt to "dunk" on someone.
In your last paragraph you described positive attributes of leftist folk that are the kind I’d like to hear from/about if you could list. The truth seeking kind maintaining a sensitivity about life. Thank you.
I appreciate your honesty in unpacking the disillusionment with the SJW/woke subculture - you’re right that it became obsessed with symbolic gestures and purity tests instead of real coalition-building or improving people’s lives (it was never about that to begin with). That’s an important realization.
But I have to ask: when you say you “still see value in the Left”—what Left is that? If we take a sober look at history, from the Jacobins of the French Revolution, to the Bolsheviks, to the Fabian “reformers,” to today’s woke activists, the through-line is the same: dismantling faith, family, tradition, and hierarchy. Even when it’s not screaming about diversity, Leftism at its root has always been about subversion, not preservation.
So when you look back, are you sure you’re not holding onto another myth—the idea of a “true Left” that was ever about building up, rather than tearing down?
When you take a step back is should become obvious that all the talk is just that. When you remove the noise all that remains is hostility. It's not that silence is violence. It's that it reveals it. It's a cover for it. This is more than metaphor. I have demonstrated it to people. Take a video of one of these movements that says they are against hatred.
Remove all sound including any text so that there is no speech. Turn it into a silent movie. Then ask people what they see. They will see hate. Fear. Rage. Evil.
You might like Rules for Radicals by Alinksky.
Thanks for this Kier; I really appreciate your writing.
You've summed things up so succinctly! This is the bit I'm talking about: "I was finally able to see the SJW subculture for what it was: a cynical, hyper-individualized reaction to decades of leftist losses that chose symbolic representation over coalition-building that could meaningfully improve the material conditions of normal people’s lives."
BAM! Wow.
I have learned a great deal from your writing, thank you. Love your curiosity.
Nisargadatta Maharaj once said, Your own path is the only one that will take you anywhere. Because it is the only one that is your path.
I'm a novelist, and it was fascinating/heartbreaking to hear about your experience trying to write fiction that accorded with your mindset at its most extreme. It brought to mind an advice column for writers I read when the SJW mindset was most ascendant, where a white male writer expressed concern about centering his own identity through his work and the columnist suggested that he should submit fewer pieces for publication. A light bulb went off in my brain that this way of thinking just couldn't be compatible with being an artist (aesthetically or professionally). Anyway, I'm glad you're in a better place now and hope you give yourself a chance to write some stories.
https://michaelmohr.substack.com/p/sobriety-and-wokeism-are-diametrically-d59
"who thought saving the world started with hating it." That summarizes entirely too much of Blue Tribe thought. YOU CAN'T BUILD ANYTHING IF ALL YOU KNOW HOW TO DO IS DECONSTRUCT. I know there are social justice advocates building, but so many SJWs come across as kids squatting in the towers stronger people built for them, talking about how much they want to tear it down (collateral damage? what's that?). Unfortunately, building is hard, while tearing down is easy and scores you points on social media.
Thank you for writing this. It's hard. I feel you. Lo Siento.
What an excellent piece. Just out of interest, have you found yourself applying the same reflective thought processes to any other areas of your life (political or non-political)?
i like this….it reminds me of this idea that we’ve been pressured to flatten art into a categorized propaganda machine
"It was no longer tempting to be an insufferable know-it-all, because I realized that no matter what the other person had said or done, the only dependable outcome would be both of us feeling awful." Well said. I always try to use this insight to guide disagreements towards curiosity and exploration rather than forcing them towards points I'd like to make, or a failed attempt to "dunk" on someone.
Welcome back to humanity. Glad you're here. 🇺🇸
Take the hog ring out of your nose, n then we'll talk.
In your last paragraph you described positive attributes of leftist folk that are the kind I’d like to hear from/about if you could list. The truth seeking kind maintaining a sensitivity about life. Thank you.