When the Left Can’t Get It Right, and the Right Has Nothing Left
In a standard game of tug of war, both sides equally pull at the rope, trying their level best to pull the other side over the center.
Interestingly, the center is the game’s defining point. When one of the teams crosses the middle, they lose the game.
There is a unique condition, though.
If both sides tug at the rope with equal strength, there is a remote possibility of it snapping! You can now see that the rope’s center, which comes under the most stress, is fragile.
There are definitely times when the center can’t hold.
With many of the friends I’ve met over the years, I’ve noticed something similar. Their political stance (if one existed) has shifted from center to right or left, depending on the influence of their peer group or news feed. Those previously on the left have shifted further to the left, and the same applies to those on the right.
Taking extreme positions is always a detrimental thing; in hindsight, it’s actually a zero-sum game.
Across many democratically governed countries, parties at both ends of the spectrum are now seen to be tugging at the rope with equal vigor and, in some cases, venom. They are unrelenting in their stances on many issues, unwilling to compromise or even budge, and in doing so, they have hardened their positions.
There is no alternative universe in which this kind of political deadlock could possibly produce any positive result.
It’s no surprise that these days diplomacy has been shown the door, and even getting people from different sides of the aisle to agree to disagree and not erupt has become a tall ask.
Why have both sides drifted so far apart?
The Left’s Rights
So how did this movement rise?
When I first heard about Antifa in 2021, at the height of the pandemic, I dismissed it as a right-wing propaganda. They seemed to be the butt end of then-US President Donald Trump’s ire. Naturally, the liberal media dismissed it as a figment of the Fox TV’s imagination, aiming to undermine their pursuit of social justice.
The group first came into the public eye during the Charlottesville protest in 2017. It was then that people realized that they didn’t have a problem taking their battle or protest out into the open. When years of social justice go unaddressed, a president who has no qualms about airing his racist views and lopsided gender opinions could exacerbate the undercurrent.
Following calls to defund the police, mobs rampaged across the US after George Floyd’s killing later that year, demonizing the helpless police force.
This got me thinking.
The left is enraged about a wide range of issues that have accumulated over time.
The middle class has hollowed out significantly over time. Way back in 2011, after the 2008 bailout, the renowned 99% protests (Occupy Wall Street Protest), fundamental to both their ideology and Bernie Sanders’s, were against how corporate greed has devastated families nationwide, while the government rescues wealthy businessmen, who continue to receive substantial bonuses and sail around in yachts.
The system has failed them, which is why they want government intervention. Government intervention entails the implementation of regulations and rules. Handouts are also a big part of their efforts to address some of the inequality prevalent in society today.
The left’s problem is the right’s. In order to battle this, the left has to go further left.
The Right’s Return
What’s the right so upset about?
What the left considers culture, multi-ethnicity, and plurality is what bites the right wing in the butt. The right is aghast at the gradual erosion of conservative values over the years. One key issue that highlights this plight is abortion. The woman’s right is now superseded by the rule of law in some states, thanks to the revocation of Roe v. Wade in June 2022.
The root of this is actually baked into the pudding. In many countries, the right is also tightly knit with religion in a deadly knot that keeps them tightly wound around each other.
Their most recent bogeyman is this term they coined called “Wokeness”. It is essentially their way of resisting the push for greater inclusivity and the need to address the social injustices society has perpetrated over the years against various minorities, including people of color and LGBTQIA individuals. Although the right acknowledges the historical roots of past injustices, they are unwilling to give further ground to a movement they perceive as already established.
In addition, the right views feminism and the LGBTQIA movement as antithetical to everything the traditional family stands for.
Reclaiming the Center
Although there are many topics that these 2 groups differ on. Here are some of the thorny ones: -
These are some of the issues and I didn’t even bring up Immigration. The issue of illegal immigration remains a pressing concern, with migrants arriving at the border in large numbers. There are those who advocate for their deportation, and there are also those who support allowing them to remain, albeit under specific conditions.
In between all this is the American dream, which seems out of reach for many in the middle class. This is what happens when the left and right pull hard at each end of the rope. The center has snapped, and its supporters are floating around the fringes of the other main parties, trying to make sense of how they got to this.
The West needs a Centrist Party.
One that can speak to the majority of people and allay their concerns without the temptation of being pulled towards the extreme end.
An interesting situation developed in the 80s with Ronald Reagan. Although Ronald Reagan was a Republican, he appealed to disillusioned Democrats by promoting conservative policies that resonated with their concerns, particularly regarding economic issues, national defense, and other social values that they cared about.
When he reached across to the aisle to meet voters on the other side, they met him half way. They were known as Reagan democrats. Ronald Reagan indeed had a great presidency.
We need more Reagan Democrats, or Clinton Republicans!
