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The Left is no longer liberal

Micah Stefan Dagaerag


Honest Engagements

“I now believe that this regressive ideology is the biggest threat to freedom and western
civilization that exists today.”

I begin this article with a quote from a YouTube video monologue by Dave Rubin, entitled
“The Left is no longer Liberal”, referring to the rise of what is now known as the “regressive
left”. Rubin is a young political commentator from the left: a registered Democrat, gay
(married to his boyfriend), and an atheist, which makes the title of his video that much
more interesting.

The video piece itself I highly recommend, even as a conservative Christian. Because
inasmuch as I try to critique various things done or said among the political right (which is
where I generally belong), I can see that Rubin gives the same honest approach among his
own liberal colleagues on the left, while remaining humanly sympathetic to the voices and
concerns of those even outside of his ideological camp.

So, what does Rubin mean when he refers to the regressive left? Rubin distinguishes
classical liberalism from the ideology of the regressive left in that the former puts the
individual’s autonomy and freedom as being paramount, while the latter intentionally
subordinates the autonomy and freedom of the individual in favor of the group. Rubin is a
self-acknowledged classical liberal.

And when Rubin says the Left is no longer liberal, he is saying that the regressive left does
not represent the fringes of the Left, but of the mainstream. And what makes the regressive
left truly unique is their rather strategic victimology. Their goal is to be able to paint those
who disagree with them as great oppressors, even when the dissenters possess no political
or physical threat to them. You see this all the time on mainstream and social media.
This works to their advantage in two ways. On one hand, if they can get people to see them
as the victims they can immediately claim the moral high-ground and snatch public
support. On the other hand, since their enemies are “oppressing” them, they then gain the
license to use violence or any means necessary to shut these oppressors down. As Rubin
laments in his monologue, “The regressive left has already begun using violence as a tactic
and I fear that it’s just getting started.”

This regressive-ism has some truly significant implications. First, there grows an
intolerance for free speech, as fair criticism and independent thought, even from within the
same movement, is stamped out, for the greater good of the group. This is why you see
more and more instances of university students literally forcing certain guest speakers out
of their campuses because the speaker happens to represent a view opposed to their own.
This has even happened recently at University of California – Berkley, ironically the bastion
of free speech in the sixties and seventies.

Second, it is immensely self-contradicting and self-destructive. While those in the


regressive left fully use the liberties given them under a democratic country and are quick
to sound the alarm at the slightest threat (real or perceived) of being deprived thereof, they
themselves are happy to deny those same liberties from those who disagree with them at
even just the basic intellectual level. (Because, you know, oppressors.)

At this rate, it is just doomed to fail. You cannot continue pursuing and gaining political
power and forever remain the proverbial victim. You have to want to succeed at some
point. But if the regressive left does, we would be left with a legitimately oppressive regime
after their own image.

I guess Rubin and I can agree that the machineries of democracy should be stewarded for
the best possible benefit of everyone in the spectrum, not just those on the right or the left.
And because the regressive left is a threat to both right and left wingers, the rest of us must
push back and not be false-guilted into silence and submission. We will not be oppressing
anyone by our free thinking and speaking. Maybe just offended, at the very worst.

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