What is left-humanism?
There’s no secret that we on the left are a fractured bunch. We have feminists of all kinds, Marxist-Leninists, anarchists, libertarian leftists, and a myriad of other groups. Here I am going to describe the school I am a part of, left-humanism.
As the name implies, humanism understands all people as moral ends within themselves. In our view, people aren’t disposable, but must all be treated seriously as autonomous and worthwhile beings. In short, our aim is full human flourishing.
The “left” part is trickier because the term has become vague. Within the classic cannon of leftist writings, however, there is a profound tradition that is distinctly humanist; alienation. From Marx to the anarchists, there is an understanding that the human species has been alienated from its positive nature and potentialities.
Marxism points out that capitalism alienates the worker primarily from the fruits of their labor. Workers make all the goods and services we enjoy possible while receiving a relatively small portion of profits. Capitalist work also alienates the worker due to the repetitive and disempowering nature of labor. All the while, the endless drive for capital accumulation is the engine of capitalism. Small and large capitalists compete ruthlessly with one another, workers fight over jobs and scraps, and employers of all kinds become obsessed with wringing out every last drop of productivity from the worker.
On the other hand, anarchists have long understood that the state uses terrible violence to alienate individuals from each other. States usually don’t solve problems, but just move them around. Rather than promoting reconciliation between people, the state just throws them in jail. Courtrooms are filled with absurd contests and judgments based on selective facts that often solve little. Wars never solve the underlying tensions between nation-states. Additionally, the state is bound by a similarly toxic logic of capital accumulation as capitalists are. States always want more taxes and capitalists need their special privileges and property enforcement.
In short, capitalism and it’s undemocratic state are natural friends and alienate our species from itself.
Left-humanism aims to change this. We want to create rational and conciliatory political, economic, and social structures. Economies where benefits are socialized, workers have autonomy, and communities have a say. Political structures that are thoroughly democratic and empowering for ordinary people. Social and legal institutions that bring us together and encourage positive development instead of traumatic suffering.
And at the center of it all, a faith that people are worthwhile. However problematic, each life is valuable and worth fighting for. Humanity really can develop towards greater maturity.
As Carl Rogers put it,
“It has been my experience that persons have a basically positive direction. In my deepest contacts with individuals in therapy, even those whose troubles are most disturbing, whose behavior has been most anti-social, whose feelings seem most abnormal, I find this to be true.”
-On Becoming a Person, pg. 26.
