The Leftist Problem

Moderates on the left love and defend their extremist friends

In the increasingly polarized landscape of modern US politics, there are extreme asymmetries in how individuals across the ideological spectrum respond to extremism within their own ranks. Left-wing individuals tend to quietly acquiesce to far-left positions held by those around them, even if they may quietly view such stances as excessive. In contrast, moderate right-wing individuals actively shame and redirect far-right or dissident right views back toward the centrist, egalitarian framework of the liberal blank-slate mindset that emphasizes human universality. This dynamic is aggravated by the notion that left-wing ideologies inherently frame their adherents as the moral protagonists, “the good guys” in the story, rendering them blind to their own potential for harm. Such a mindset fosters dangerous complacency that escalates into full-blown atrocity.

On the left, moderates, like those who support progressive policies without endorsing radical restructuring, often encounter far-left ideas like defunding the police, abolishing capitalism, or implementing strict identity-based reparations. These moderates will nod along or remain silent because they view the extremism as an overzealous extension of shared values like “equality” or “justice”. This tolerance may stem from the fear of fracturing coalitions, being labeled regressive, or social ostracization and punishment of the sort that is common in leftist circles.

In the 20th century, moderate left wingers in Europe overlooked the authoritarian tendencies of communist regimes and rationalized them as necessary steps toward utopia. In a contemporary setting, surveys from Pew Research and others indicate that self-identified liberals are more likely to maintain social ties with those further to the left than conservatives are with those further to the right. On the left, ideological deviation toward extremism is met with less resistance, and virtually no social price is paid for professing extremist beliefs.

Conversely, on the right, moderates who advocate free markets, limited government, and traditional values, respond to far-right elements like ethno-nationalism or conspiracy-driven isolationism with the public rebuke and efforts to reintegrate them into a universalist, “colorblind” liberalism that epistemically assumes the truth of their opponents’ ideology. The blank-slate mindset is the Enlightenment-inspired belief in the equality of human potential, often invoked to counter identity politics from the right. Moderate conservatives lecture on the dangers of division and emphasize that “we are all the same” under the law, or in opportunity.

We can see evidence for this in how Republican leaders distance themselves from figures like the alt-right and events like the 2017 Charlottesville rally. Public shaming and calls for unity follow, as seen in statements from the likes of Mitt Romney or Liz Cheney, who prioritize institutional norms over their own supposed side of the argument. Psychological studies, like those in the Journal of personality and Social Psychology, highlight that conservatives tend to value hierarchy and social order which makes them quicker to police internal threats to social cohesion.

Left-wingers view themselves as “the good guy” in a narrative of progress versus oppression, which renders them incapable of recognizing their own capacity for evil. This self-perception, rooted in Marxism and its critical theory, positions the left as perpetual liberators fighting eternal systemic injustice. As a result, actions taken in pursuit of these goals, no matter how violent or extreme, are justified by the left as morally necessary. Therefor, any atrocity they feel motivated to commit is okay.

History proves this. The Soviet Union’s gulags, Mao’s destructive and genocidal Cultural Revolution, Pol Pot’s Killing Fields, all were perpetuated under a banner of compassion, egalitarian ideals, and “just being a decent heckin’ human being.” The perpetrators believed they were eradicating evil for the greater good. Hannah Arendt’s 1963 concept of the “banality of evil” in her analysis of totalitarianism shows how ordinary people, convinced of their supreme righteousness, enable unspeakable horrors. In modern times, this manifests in phenomena like the violent summer of destruction and rioting in 2020, or the strident suppression of dissent in the academic and corporate settings under the banner of “inclusivity.”

The danger is in moral absolutism that denies the reality of human fallibility. As Russian-British philosopher Isaiah Berlin warned, the pursuit of utopian ideals often justifies coercive means. This universal human tendency toward self-justification amplifies the risk when combined with power. This leads, quite reliably, to atrocity

This explains why left-wing movements escalate unchecked while right-wing movements face internal brakes. This contributes to the cultural hegemony where progressive norms dominate powerful institutions like media and education, as moderates on the left fail to curb excesses. Their beliefs and behaviors result in dehumanization of their opponents on the right, which is further enabled by their strong moral certitude. To mitigate this, societies must foster humility and accountability for the left. Education in the ten holocausts committed by the Bolsheviks before the Second World War which led to the deaths of 60 million Christians can promote the necessary suspicion of leftist idealism and create a cultural “immune system” against leftist genocide, of the same sort that already exists against right-wing extremism.

The current cultural climate of Western civilization has built a robust ideological immune system against right-wing extremism that is self-sustaining and self-enforcing. No such immunity or enforcement exists against the even more dangerous and destructive disasters of left-wing extremism which, historically, have multiplied the death toll of right-wing extremism by a factor of ten. Communism did ten holocausts, but we aren’t taught that, we don’t see movies about that, there are no video games where you kill thousands of copy-pasted commies, so we’re set to repeat those same mistakes again. True progress lies in rejecting the illusion that the left is the “good guy” and embracing excellence, hierarchy, beauty, truth, and strength.