I’d like to talk about a specific type of liberal – namely, the liberal who believes that his or her liberalism can be brandished as a “get out of jail free” pass for bad behavior.
Based on my personal observations, this manifests itself in three ways:
- There is the MacFarlane type of liberal – i.e., someone who believes that because of their left-wing political views, they can make any number of offensive jokes without being accused of bigotry. “Family Guy” creator Seth MacFarlane is a particularly egregious offender here, most notably when he released an episode of his show in which all of the characters insulted and dehumanized a transgendered individual while MacFarlane proclaimed innocence because of his well-known sympathy for LGBTQ rights. I’m also reminded of close friends from Bard College (which, at least when I attended, had a reputation as the most left-wing school in America) who regularly cracked jokes about morbidly obese African American women, the mentally disabled, lower-income whites, and other marginalized groups… and, when confronted, would invariably mention their liberal politics as an excuse.
- Then there is the Bernie Bro type, someone who believes that because they are steadfastly adhering to left-wing political values, it excuses political behavior that enables regressive results. Throughout this presidential election, many commentators have noted that the Bernie Sanders supporters who refuse to back Hillary Clinton are operating from a place of privilege. Even though they may emotionally sympathize with marginalized groups, they are willing to sacrifice their well-being in the name of abstract ideological goals because they personally wouldn’t feel the effects of a Donald Trump presidency. When I bring this up to Sanders supporters, I naturally hear about how “progressive” they are in their views toward marginalized groups… as if having a sympathetic ideology means anything when you’re willing to sacrifice others in its name.
- Finally there is the Wesley type, named after an abusive and narcissistic hippie from the 1994 movie “Forrest Gump.” In general, this is the type of person who treats others around them in a terrible way, then talks about how left-wing they are as a way to vilify the other person when called out on it. To use another personal example: When I discovered that one of my friends had been gossiping about me to my ex-girlfriend and I told him I was hurt by it, he claimed that “as a feminist, I have to take a woman’s side in situations like this.” Instead of apologizing for betraying my trust or admitting that he allowed himself to be manipulated, he tried to cover it up as a progressive political stance.
If you think any of these descriptions apply to yourself, do the world a favor: Don’t react by writing me an angry email or posting a nasty comment. Perform a little introspection. The world will benefit from it… and you might become a better, more genuine liberal as a result.
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Join our #StopTrump task force today.
(Weekly conference calls with like-minded people who want to stop a candidate who is racist, sexist, bigoted, incites violence and is demonstrating no competence for the job at hand.)
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“they are willing to sacrifice their well-being in the name of abstract ideological goals because they personally wouldn’t feel the effects ”
Doesn’t that pretty much describe every liberal ever? I think there should be more women in senior management, but instead of resigning my position so a woman can have it, I’ll make some other guy who’s applying have to pay the cost of my political ideology by not hiring him based on his sex regardless of his qualifications.
Excellent article, Matthew! The following is not meant to instigate conservatives to gang up on liberals. That’s not my motivation for posting this. I’m just a disillusioned, pessimistic centrist. Some liberals profess to be compassionate, but fail to be consistent in their actions – sometimes not even toward fellow liberals. For example, I once came across an OP at Democratic Underground that had been posted by a former high-school football player who claimed he had no idea why some of the other DU members didn’t care much for football players. (Indeed, there’s been a rift at DU between sports fans… Read more »
The sad reality is that is not that much difference between White liberals and conservatives especially when it comes to race. It is just that conservatives are more honest about their racial hatred. Liberals use rhetoric, their support for radical causes and their occasional donations to organizations to make themselves feel good and assuage their guilt. Both groups are sad.
OT but was in the body of this article … (Weekly conference calls with like-minded people who want to stop a candidate who is racist, sexist, bigoted, incites violence and is demonstrating no competence for the job at hand.)
This leaves me out completely. Like minded? Seriously?So what you’re saying is that you not welcoming a “conversation” unless that conversation is of “like minded people?” Wow, I’m very disappointed. But that shouldn’t and I know doesn’t matter.
Tom, sorry for the confusion — let me clear something up. — We have weekly conference calls which are for *everyone*. Those calls — you came to one of them — are for anyone who has joined as a Member of The Good Men Project and believes in our overall mission of having a conversation about what it means to be a man in the 21st century. — What has changed is that *in addition to that* we have a group of people who has started a different weekly call—and yes that call is to stop a candidate who is… Read more »
Matthew, You nailed it.
These pro-Hillary Propaganda pieces are really tiresome. I’d say the real “wrong kind of liberal” is the one who supports absolutely anybody who labels themselves a “Democrat”, even when they’re just using the formerly meaningful label as cover to promote the same tyrannical neoconservative agenda republicans have been pushing for decades.
Someone finally had the guts to say it.
The wrongs of liberals don’t make the wrongs of conservatives right, and vice versa. As a 66-year-old white man who grew up under Jim Crow and saw just how cruel it was, I was liberal when I was young because liberals supported civil rights legislation while conservatives attacked the civil rights movement. (Of course, today as a Christian I’m pro-life. So, where does that leave me?) I gave up on politics years ago. I no longer vote because I would have to violate my conscience in order to do so. In most instances I won’t play the “lesser of two… Read more »
” In most instances I won’t play the “lesser of two evils” game. ”
Grappling with that myself, Bill. And I’m the same. I lean left more then right, but I take issues as they come, and try to use common sense and compassion rather then political bias.
The right thing to do has no political affiliations.
DJ, it’s great to take issues as they come but where are they coming from? Who is presenting the issues and how are the issues being brought out. You and I are old enough that we can remember the “media” reported the news. Now, with the medias massive ego’s they have successfully dictated who “we” should vote for. Personally I have never used “snopes” or some kind of fact checks system so much ion my life. The candidates we have were put there by the media, not the people. It should be no surprise to anyone that I am on… Read more »
Doesn’t take guts. Plenty of people have been saying that lately. It still doesn’t mean anything.
I should have use the word, “admit” rather then ‘say’, Pliven. Liberals will openly critique Conservatives and vise versa, but when a Liberal (or anyone really) is willing to critiquing his own, especially in such a charged, polarized political climate as we have now, I see that as ballsy.
I’ve read plenty of Mathew’s writing. He leans hard left, so when he writes something like this I have to respect him for it.