Imagine a world in which Congressman Jamie Raskin attempts to deliver a speech on “Democracy, Autocracy, and the Threat to Reason in the 21st Century” and is unable to deliver his remarks because Trump supporters drown him out, and authorities justify the disruption as an exercise in “democracy.” Democrats attempting to raise money for the opposition are surrounded on the street by Trumpists shouting “fuck Joe Biden” and abusing them with racial epithets.

These are the kind of scenes that come to mind when we imagine the authoritarian culture of a second Trump term. They are also events that have not only occurred but have grown commonplace. This pattern of behavior is illiberal and dangerous.

The twist, of course, is that the mobs shutting down the opposition to Trump are not Trump supporters, or at least not right-wing Trump supporters. Pro-Palestinian activists have set out to disrupt Democratic Party officials from speaking and raising funds to defeat Trump.

You are not supposed to criticize us wojak-nooo

But the problem is not one of mere efficacy. Drowning out speakers and disrupting exercises in politics, regardless of its cause or the target, is wrong on principle.

Sir pls, you are not letting me finish wojak-nooo

The most elemental premise of liberalism is that politics should be governed by a uniform set of rules or norms that apply to everybody, regardless of the content of their beliefs. Over the last decade, an increasingly visible fault line has opened up on the left between political liberals and more radical activists.

The illiberal left defines politics as a conflict between oppressor and victim and does not believe the former deserves the same rights as the latter.

yes-comm

  • LaBellaLotta [any]
    ·
    7 months ago

    Liberalism is, among other things, to allow yourself to feel certain in your moral and intellectual superiority because you believe in nothing, have no values, and are therefore always happy to compromise away other people’s rights and lives. All the while patting yourself smugly on the back for how shrewd you are for being willing to compromise on everything and accomplish nothing because you fundamentally do not understand political power or where it derives from.

    When our time comes we must make no excuse for the columnist re-education camps.

    • PKMKII [none/use name]
      ·
      7 months ago

      Either they don’t understand where political power comes from, or they entirely understand and are trying to convince everyone else “no no, political power comes from the pomp and circumstance of the ceremony, really, we promise.”