My ex and I make better friends than a couple. We have very similar views but we used to endlessly bicker over trivial differences reproducing the dynamics of the left in general ;-/. A lot of it was also due to cultural differences..what’s acceptable culturally versus apparently a right wing or inanity red flag..
I read a piece by this left leaning (but not pompously) Indian author, Oindrila Mukherjee years ago which captured it:
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Clear-Orf-Political-Correctness/articleshow/1717438.cms
There’s a type of right wing person (Ayman Al Hirsi comes to mind) who exploits that dynamic to portray the left as stupid and pc...I think of it as confusing the South Park receptive part of the politically neutral or even left-leaning brain. I grew up reading Richmal Crompton which was what SP reminded me of..so I took to the show even though I didn’t agree with some of their politics back then (manbearpig specifically).
We get along very well now as friends. I was always too left leaning to be forced rightwards.
And I learnt a lot from my ex who has a far more sophisticated worldview than I do.
All any intraleft bickering it does is make me separate things into: 1) left but not my style (very serious or humorless ;-/ or too needlessly belligerent..I dislike and resent having had to become as reflexively antagonistic as one has to be these days..but it’s non-optional), 2) “left” bullshitter/right wing plant/useful idiot (low priority fluff or shit stirring, attacking more important left issues-the bullshit left counterpart of the IDW crap), 3) left and incomprehensible (my ex) and 4) finally left/comprehensible. My left views were clear, but not very organized. Couldn’t weather the last decade without coming up with a more exact idea of what it is I think..lol. Beyond a vague soup of “which way to go?” but without a clearly articulated “why?” and “how”.
For someone with no interest in any formal engagement with politics, media etc this was a lot of time to have to expend thinking about politics, but it was unavoidable. I still crib views shamelessly from my ex. He and my best friend from grad school are two of the most reliable people I have come across on politics..and neither of them have any formal connection to politics and wouldn’t..not the personality that does..overt politics is rare among scientists in the hard sciences, though the reality has a liberal bias thing is unavoidable. It’s usually private and separate from work entirely (as it should be). This right wing hoax of defunding the hard sciences using political bs is the worst crap I have ever seen. It’s classic inversion. The RW specialty. I hope I am never connected with anyone I knew. That would suck for them.
I keep hoping my ex meets someone nice…he is not any place ultra liberal so it’s not easy..
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