THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MODERN LEFTISM

6. Almost everyone will agree that we live in a deeply troubled

society. One of the most widespread manifestations of the craziness of

our world is leftism, so a discussion of the psychology of leftism can

serve as an introduction to the discussion of the problems of modern

society in general.

7. But what is leftism? During the first half of the 20th century

leftism could have been practically identified with socialism. Today

the movement is fragmented and it is not clear who can properly be

called a leftist. When we speak of leftists in this article we have in

mind mainly socialists, collectivists, "politically correct" types,

feminists, gay and disability activists, animal rights activists and

the like. But not everyone who is associated with one of these

movements is a leftist. What we are trying to get at in discussing

leftism is not so much a movement or an ideology as a psychological

type, or rather a collection of related types. Thus, what we mean by

"leftism" will emerge more clearly in the course of our discussion of

leftist psychology (Also, see paragraphs 227-230.)

8. Even so, our conception of leftism will remain a good deal less

clear than we would wish, but there doesn't seem to be any remedy for

this. All we are trying to do is indicate in a rough and approximate

way the two psychological tendencies that we believe are the main

driving force of modern leftism. We by no means claim to be telling

the WHOLE truth about leftist psychology. Also, our discussion is

meant to apply to modern leftism only. We leave open the question of

the extent to which our discussion could be applied to the leftists of

the 19th and early 20th century.

9. The two psychological tendencies that underlie modern leftism we

call "feelings of inferiority" and "oversocialization." Feelings of

inferiority are characteristic of modern leftism as a whole, while

oversocialization is characteristic only of a certain segment of

modern leftism; but this segment is highly influential.

FEELINGS OF INFERIORITY

10. By "feelings of inferiority" we mean not only inferiority feelings

in the strictest sense but a whole spectrum of related traits: low

self-esteem, feelings of powerlessness, depressive tendencies,

defeatism, guilt, self-hatred, etc. We argue that modern leftists tend

to have such feelings (possibly more or less repressed) and that these

feelings are decisive in determining the direction of modern leftism.

11. When someone interprets as derogatory almost anything that is said

about him (or about groups with whom he identifies) we conclude that

he has inferiority feelings or low self-esteem. This tendency is

pronounced among minority rights advocates, whether or not they belong

to the minority groups whose rights they defend. They are

hypersensitive about the words used to designate minorities. The terms

"negro," "oriental," "handicapped" or "chick" for an African, an

Asian, a disabled person or a woman originally had no derogatory

connotation. "Broad" and "chick" were merely the feminine equivalents

of "guy," "dude" or "fellow." The negative connotations have been

attached to these terms by the activists themselves. Some animal

rights advocates have gone so far as to reject the word "pet" and

insist on its replacement by "animal companion." Leftist

anthropologists go to great lengths to avoid saying anything about

primitive peoples that could conceivably be interpreted as negative.

They want to replace the word "primitive" by "nonliterate." They seem

almost paranoid about anything that might suggest that any primitive

culture is inferior to our own. (We do not mean to imply that

primitive cultures ARE inferior to ours. We merely point out the

hypersensitivity of leftish anthropologists.)

12. Those who are most sensitive about "politically incorrect"

terminology are not the average black ghetto-dweller, Asian immigrant,

abused woman or disabled person, but a minority of activists, many of

whom do not even belong to any "oppressed" group but come from

privileged strata of society. Political correctness has its stronghold

among university professors, who have secure employment with

comfortable salaries, and the majority of whom are heterosexual, white

males from middle-class families.

13. Many leftists have an intense identification with the problems of

groups that have an image of being weak (women), defeated (American

Indians), repellent (homosexuals), or otherwise inferior. The leftists

themselves feel that these groups are inferior. They would never admit

it to themselves that they have such feelings, but it is precisely

because they do see these groups as inferior that they identify with

their problems. (We do not suggest that women, Indians, etc., ARE

inferior; we are only making a point about leftist psychology).

14. Feminists are desperately anxious to prove that women are as

strong as capable as men. Clearly they are nagged by a fear that women

may NOT be as strong and as capable as men.

15. Leftists tend to hate anything that has an image of being strong,

good and successful. They hate America, they hate Western

civilization, they hate white males, they hate rationality. The

reasons that leftists give for hating the West, etc. clearly do not

correspond with their real motives. They SAY they hate the West

because it is warlike, imperialistic, sexist, ethnocentric and so

forth, but where these same faults appear in socialist countries or in

primitive cultures, the leftist finds excuses for them, or at best he

GRUDGINGLY admits that they exist; whereas he ENTHUSIASTICALLY points

out (and often greatly exaggerates) these faults where they appear in

Western civilization. Thus it is clear that these faults are not the

leftist's real motive for hating America and the West. He hates

America and the West because they are strong and successful.

16. Words like "self-confidence," "self-reliance," "initiative",

"enterprise," "optimism," etc. play little role in the liberal and

leftist vocabulary. The leftist is anti-individualistic,

pro-collectivist. He wants society to solve everyone's needs for them,

take care of them. He is not the sort of person who has an inner sense

of confidence in his own ability to solve his own problems and satisfy

his own needs. The leftist is antagonistic to the concept of

competition because, deep inside, he feels like a loser.

17. Art forms that appeal to modern leftist intellectuals tend to

focus on sordidness, defeat and despair, or else they take an

orgiastic tone, throwing off rational control as if there were no hope

of accomplishing anything through rational calculation and all that

was left was to immerse oneself in the sensations of the moment.

18. Modern leftist philosophers tend to dismiss reason, science,

objective reality and to insist that everything is culturally

relative. It is true that one can ask serious questions about the

foundations of scientific knowledge and about how, if at all, the

concept of objective reality can be defined. But it is obvious that

modern leftist philosophers are not simply cool-headed logicians

systematically analyzing the foundations of knowledge. They are deeply

involved emotionally in their attack on truth and reality. They attack

these concepts because of their own psychological needs. For one

thing, their attack is an outlet for hostility, and, to the extent

that it is successful, it satisfies the drive for power. More

importantly, the leftist hates science and rationality because they

classify certain beliefs as true (i.e., successful, superior) and

other beliefs as false (i.e. failed, inferior). The leftist's feelings

of inferiority run so deep that he cannot tolerate any classification

of some things as successful or superior and other things as failed or

inferior. This also underlies the rejection by many leftists of the

concept of mental illness and of the utility of IQ tests. Leftists are

antagonistic to genetic explanations of human abilities or behavior

because such explanations tend to make some persons appear superior or

inferior to others. Leftists prefer to give society the credit or

blame for an individual's ability or lack of it. Thus if a person is

"inferior" it is not his fault, but society's, because he has not been

brought up properly.

19. The leftist is not typically the kind of person whose feelings of

inferiority make him a braggart, an egotist, a bully, a self-promoter,

a ruthless competitor. This kind of person has not wholly lost faith

in himself. He has a deficit in his sense of power and self-worth, but

he can still conceive of himself as having the capacity to be strong,

and his efforts to make himself strong produce his unpleasant

behavior. [1] But the leftist is too far gone for that. His feelings

of inferiority are so ingrained that he cannot conceive of himself as

individually strong and valuable. Hence the collectivism of the

leftist. He can feel strong only as a member of a large organization

or a mass movement with which he identifies himself.

20. Notice the masochistic tendency of leftist tactics. Leftists

protest by lying down in front of vehicles, they intentionally provoke

police or racists to abuse them, etc. These tactics may often be

effective, but many leftists use them not as a means to an end but

because they PREFER masochistic tactics. Self-hatred is a leftist

trait.

21. Leftists may claim that their activism is motivated by compassion

or by moral principle, and moral principle does play a role for the

leftist of the oversocialized type. But compassion and moral principle

cannot be the main motives for leftist activism. Hostility is too

prominent a component of leftist behavior; so is the drive for power.

Moreover, much leftist behavior is not rationally calculated to be of

benefit to the people whom the leftists claim to be trying to help.

For example, if one believes that affirmative action is good for black

people, does it make sense to demand affirmative action in hostile or

dogmatic terms? Obviously it would be more productive to take a

diplomatic and conciliatory approach that would make at least verbal

and symbolic concessions to white people who think that affirmative

action discriminates against them. But leftist activists do not take

such an approach because it would not satisfy their emotional needs.

Helping black people is not their real goal. Instead, race problems

serve as an excuse for them to express their own hostility and

frustrated need for power. In doing so they actually harm black

people, because the activists' hostile attitude toward the white

majority tends to intensify race hatred.

22. If our society had no social problems at all, the leftists would

have to INVENT problems in order to provide themselves with an excuse

for making a fuss.

23. We emphasize that the foregoing does not pretend to be an accurate

description of everyone who might be considered a leftist. It is only

a rough indication of a general tendency of leftism.

OVERSOCIALIZATION

24. Psychologists use the term "socialization" to designate the

process by which children are trained to think and act as society

demands. A person is said to be well socialized if he believes in and

obeys the moral code of his society and fits in well as a functioning

part of that society. It may seem senseless to say that many leftists

are over-socialized, since the leftist is perceived as a rebel.

Nevertheless, the position can be defended. Many leftists are not such

rebels as they seem.

25. The moral code of our society is so demanding that no one can

think, feel and act in a completely moral way. For example, we are not

supposed to hate anyone, yet almost everyone hates somebody at some

time or other, whether he admits it to himself or not. Some people are

so highly socialized that the attempt to think, feel and act morally

imposes a severe burden on them. In order to avoid feelings of guilt,

they continually have to deceive themselves about their own motives

and find moral explanations for feelings and actions that in reality

have a non-moral origin. We use the term "oversocialized" to describe

such people. [2]

26. Oversocialization can lead to low self-esteem, a sense of

powerlessness, defeatism, guilt, etc. One of the most important means

by which our society socializes children is by making them feel

ashamed of behavior or speech that is contrary to society's

expectations. If this is overdone, or if a particular child is

especially susceptible to such feelings, he ends by feeling ashamed of

HIMSELF. Moreover the thought and the behavior of the oversocialized

person are more restricted by society's expectations than are those of

the lightly socialized person. The majority of people engage in a

significant amount of naughty behavior. They lie, they commit petty

thefts, they break traffic laws, they goof off at work, they hate

someone, they say spiteful things or they use some underhanded trick

to get ahead of the other guy. The oversocialized person cannot do

these things, or if he does do them he generates in himself a sense of

shame and self-hatred. The oversocialized person cannot even

experience, without guilt, thoughts or feelings that are contrary to

the accepted morality; he cannot think "unclean" thoughts. And

socialization is not just a matter of morality; we are socialized to

confirm to many norms of behavior that do not fall under the heading

of morality. Thus the oversocialized person is kept on a psychological

leash and spends his life running on rails that society has laid down

for him. In many oversocialized people this results in a sense of

constraint and powerlessness that can be a severe hardship. We suggest

that oversocialization is among the more serious cruelties that human

beings inflict on one another.

27. We argue that a very important and influential segment of the

modern left is oversocialized and that their oversocialization is of

great importance in determining the direction of modern leftism.

Leftists of the oversocialized type tend to be intellectuals or

members of the upper-middle class. Notice that university

intellectuals (3) constitute the most highly socialized segment of our

society and also the most left-wing segment.

28. The leftist of the oversocialized type tries to get off his

psychological leash and assert his autonomy by rebelling. But usually

he is not strong enough to rebel against the most basic values of

society. Generally speaking, the goals of today's leftists are NOT in

conflict with the accepted morality. On the contrary, the left takes

an accepted moral principle, adopts it as its own, and then accuses

mainstream society of violating that principle. Examples: racial

equality, equality of the sexes, helping poor people, peace as opposed

to war, nonviolence generally, freedom of expression, kindness to

animals. More fundamentally, the duty of the individual to serve

society and the duty of society to take care of the individual. All

these have been deeply rooted values of our society (or at least of

its middle and upper classes (4) for a long time. These values are

explicitly or implicitly expressed or presupposed in most of the

material presented to us by the mainstream communications media and

the educational system. Leftists, especially those of the

oversocialized type, usually do not rebel against these principles but

justify their hostility to society by claiming (with some degree of

truth) that society is not living up to these principles.

29. Here is an illustration of the way in which the oversocialized

leftist shows his real attachment to the conventional attitudes of our

society while pretending to be in rebellion against it. Many leftists

push for affirmative action, for moving black people into

high-prestige jobs, for improved education in black schools and more

money for such schools; the way of life of the black "underclass" they

regard as a social disgrace. They want to integrate the black man into

the system, make him a business executive, a lawyer, a scientist just

like upper-middle-class white people. The leftists will reply that the

last thing they want is to make the black man into a copy of the white

man; instead, they want to preserve African American culture. But in

what does this preservation of African American culture consist? It

can hardly consist in anything more than eating black-style food,

listening to black-style music, wearing black-style clothing and going

to a black-style church or mosque. In other words, it can express

itself only in superficial matters. In all ESSENTIAL respects more

leftists of the oversocialized type want to make the black man conform

to white, middle-class ideals. They want to make him study technical

subjects, become an executive or a scientist, spend his life climbing

the status ladder to prove that black people are as good as white.

They want to make black fathers "responsible." they want black gangs

to become nonviolent, etc. But these are exactly the values of the

industrial-technological system. The system couldn't care less what

kind of music a man listens to, what kind of clothes he wears or what

religion he believes in as long as he studies in school, holds a

respectable job, climbs the status ladder, is a "responsible" parent,

is nonviolent and so forth. In effect, however much he may deny it,

the oversocialized leftist wants to integrate the black man into the

system and make him adopt its values.

30. We certainly do not claim that leftists, even of the

oversocialized type, NEVER rebel against the fundamental values of our

society. Clearly they sometimes do. Some oversocialized leftists have

gone so far as to rebel against one of modern society's most important

principles by engaging in physical violence. By their own account,

violence is for them a form of "liberation." In other words, by

committing violence they break through the psychological restraints

that have been trained into them. Because they are oversocialized

these restraints have been more confining for them than for others;

hence their need to break free of them. But they usually justify their

rebellion in terms of mainstream values. If they engage in violence

they claim to be fighting against racism or the like.

31. We realize that many objections could be raised to the foregoing

thumb-nail sketch of leftist psychology. The real situation is

complex, and anything like a complete description of it would take

several volumes even if the necessary data were available. We claim

only to have indicated very roughly the two most important tendencies

in the psychology of modern leftism.

32. The problems of the leftist are indicative of the problems of our

society as a whole. Low self-esteem, depressive tendencies and

defeatism are not restricted to the left. Though they are especially

noticeable in the left, they are widespread in our society. And

today's society tries to socialize us to a greater extent than any

previous society. We are even told by experts how to eat, how to