In recent times it has become apparent to me that many members of my social demographic (college-educated Boomer white women who think of themselves as liberal) are not as far left as they think they are.
Why does this matter?
Thinking of ourselves as progressives, as opposed to recognizing that we are more conservative than we realized, has led us to finger-pointing at the so-called 1% and billionaires. When in fact we and our wallets are having a lot more influence than we think, and not always for the good.
Also, we end up deceiving ourselves into thinking we actually even have a two party system in the USA still. We need more than two parties, but the two mainstream parties we do have are not enough, by far, to cover the full spectrum of political views.
If we think we’re at a far leading edge, it can lead to complacency. And it can also lead to discouragement — like, are we really as far left as it gets? No worries though, there are lots of very left lefties even in the senior age groups.
I actually never thought of myself as a leftist until maybe a couple years ago, when I took a test called the political quadrant test. I had always thought I was a libertarian, as in right of Republican. Sometimes when I’d be going to vote and I would pass by the Republican information table, I would tease them by saying “Oh, no thanks, you guys are too into big government for me.” And I would wink at them. And because I identified as a libertarian rather than a Democrat, they could at least sort of smile at me..
My reexamination of my political label started a few years back when a couple of Boomer, dyed-in-the-blue-wool Democrat women online were “mansplaining” me, telling me I am a Democrat, and I was trying to tell them no I am not a Democrat I am libertarian.
When I took the test, I found out that what I am in fact is an anarchist. And a rather far leftist one. In any case, not a Democrat.
I didn’t know it, but of course once I saw it laid out it made a lot of sense. There are right-wing anarchists (think Ayn Rand) and left-wing anarchists (Gandhi, Hanna Arendt, Emma Goldberg). We left-wing anarchists can find a fair amount of common ground with some Democrats, which is why we are sometimes mistaken for Democrats.
Also, a lot of us environmentalists get mistaken for Democrats. People automatically assume that no conservatives can be environmentalists, which is absolutely untrue.
I also found out from the political quadrant test that Biden and Trump are very close together in the upper right quadrant, the authoritarian / capitalist quadrant.
In other words, people who think they are progressive liberal just because they vote for Biden are actually just a slightly milder flavor of authoritarian conservative.
The other day, on the page of an account I follow via my deep green Facebook page, a boomer woman was defending some authoritarian attitudes regarding the protesters at Columbia and other campuses. This woman’s profile bore the description that she is a “raging crone” who is so far left that she even embarrasses her progressive liberal friends.
Several people jumped on and called her a bootlicker, to which she took great offense. I posted a comment in response to all that:
1) Well, in fairness, you are talking like a bootlicker in this moment. You are saying the kind of things bootlickers say.
2) Contrary to your profile, you don’t sound lefty at all, let alone so lefty that your extreme leftiness embarrasses your progressive friends.
I am in your same “crone” age group, and I know a lot of other white women our age who consider themselves really super left who are actually not very left at all. It seems to be a pretty widespread phenomenon.
It could be because a lot of us haven’t met that many actual leftists in the course of our daily lives, since we have tended to hang out in the “safety” of established power structures. A kind of blindness sets in, and we end up defending/upholding those structures instead of dismantling them, which actual leftists work to do.
This is a long comment, and I realize it’s risky to communicate sensitive ideas by text w strangers in a thread, because things can end up generating heat rather than light. But maybe some of this will hit a note of truth. Or maybe not.
Oh, I almost forgot
3) We shouldn’t ever go on Black women’s pages and expect them to “defend their stance.”
My words might sound harsh because we are part of a culture that is not used to speaking in a confrontational way unless it’s to fight. But I don’t mean to sound mean.
Peace to you, and may there actually be peace among all the nations someday sooner rather than later. And three cheers for the young people on the campuses!!!
If we “Woodstock Boomers” had stuck with it back in the 1960s and 70s and dismantled the toxic structures, instead of allowing ourselves to get derailed by shiny-shiny in the 1980s, we wouldn’t be dealing with what we’re dealing with today.
<emoticons: green heart, earth, blue butterfly, peace sign>
She didn’t reply to my comment but it got a few likes so at least it’s helping a few people if only to offer emotional validation, solidarity.
Regarding a lefty litmus test, I thought of a one-stop test. It’s from an ongoing issue in my neighborhood. A vacant four-plex keeps getting broken into by squatters. I am sympathetic with the squatters, secretly cheering them on, and frustrated with the absentee property owner.
Meanwhile most neighbors are more focused on getting the cops and code enforcement to keep out the squatters, than they are about getting the absentee owner to fix up the place and make it available to tenants. Or sell it to someone who will live there.
I would say that a person’s feeling on this matter could possibly constitute a quick “lefty litmus test.” Let me know your thoughts on that. And below, I’m posting the link to the political quadrant test. Hope you enjoy it!
OK, here it is. It’s actually called the Political Compass Test. By answering the questionnaire you can learn which political quadrant you fall into, and see some famous people from present and past who share your quadrant, and see some famous figures who fall into the other quadrants.
And finally, if you are adamantly anti-war and discouraged by the “pragmatic” stance of Democrats around you, check out Veterans for Peace. Lots of good company there. There’s even an organization within VFP called the Granny Peace Brigade.