cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/27891382
My social media environment (mostly Lemmy for the last year, after I left Reddit) is very leftist. I’m finding myself floating more and more left because y’all have a point and there’s not many counter-arguments in this social media environment. I sometimes wonder if that’s how MAGA folks feel–floating more and more right because that’s what they’re surrounded by.
Of course, my floating is (naturally /s) based on reason and leftists making good memes/arguments.
Anyways, that’s this morning’s introspection.
Side showerthought: my convictions are based on memes. Anyone have nice, accessible resources for giving those convictions a more solid base? I’d love something like a graphic history of leftist thought (similar to Queer: A Graphic History). Something approachable but with citations. Thanks :)
Progressive politics is about objectivity and empathy. It’s built on fundamental values like equality, freedom, and human rights. These things don’t change depending on who is in power.
Conservativism is entirely based upon personalities. It’s a justification for selfishness, ruthlessness, and narcissism in service of the Self. The Self is defined by the current leader of any given conservative party, and that identity is what sets the agenda.
Echo chambers are bad for both groups, but for different reasons. Progressive echo chambers find their fundamental ideology as self-evident and rational. It’s easy to fall into the idea that everyone thinks as you do, and while everyone may not be selfless, everyone should at least remain consistent in their ideology.
Conservative echo chambers promote a similar trap, except the message is that everyone is just out for themselves, so it’s OK to be as evil as you want to be. There is no good greater than the self, so ideology is entirely negotiable. If you must lie, cheat, murder, enslave, or be rude in order to win, then that action is righteous because it is in service of the self.
Progressives emerge from their echo chamber with naivety and are shocked to learn that everyone isn’t interested in rowing in the same direction. Conservatives emerge as acolytes, dedicated to destroying anyone who would stand opposed to their goals.
There is a lot of overlap between the two mistakes, but they are also fundamentally different in many inportant ways.