So people can actually be motivated to counter those trying to address a problem because they really want a whole group to be written off and this becomes less likely if someone says they don't have to be that way.
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I think the most clear example of this is when critics of Islam react very badly to Muslim Reformists. They keep showing me human rights abuses in the name of Islam as tho the reformists are not also specifically trying to deal with those.
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When pushed to explain why, if they are concerned about this, they would not ally with insiders also concerned, they often tell me that they fear that people will rely completely on reformers as an example of the problem being dealt with & not seek any additional measures
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They are in an existential state of fear and they want drastic measures now. There is some truth in the perception that seeing a group trying to fix its own extremists is reassuring and this ties into the argument about why liberal lefties should criticise its extremists.
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The liberal left is currently divided on whether it should prioritise criticising the right or getting its own house in order & trying to oust the extreme identitarian loons.
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Those who argue for the former believe that we need to unify against a common enemy and that dissent in the ranks can only divide and weaken the left. They can become angry & suspicious of the motivations of those of us who criticise our own side.
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Those who argue for prioritising getting our own house in order think that this is the only way to present a credible enough opposition to the right and the issues that concern us that reasonable liberals can get on board with.
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Replying to @HPluckrose
I think it's best not to prioritize at all in this way. We can just do both. Lots of time in the day. We can/should dissent against each other while allying with each other too imo.
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Replying to @Intrinsic29
I certainly think we need both. I can engage with the right when it is religious or when moral foundations are detectable because I understand this ideology & psychology but I engage with the left more because I understand it so much more.
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Replying to @HPluckrose @Intrinsic29
I also find leftist criticism of the right shallow and this is largely because the right-wing issues they address are shallow. There's only so much you can, say, argue for reproductive freedom. We're fundamentally opposed on sexuality, souls, concepts of personhood.
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On the left, those I oppose have the same goals as me but a catastrophically awful approach to them which is also complicated & counterintuitive. Therefore, there is so much more to get your teeth into in trying to argue out the problems and reach consensus on liberal values
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Replying to @HPluckrose @Intrinsic29
But this is a different justification entirely for prioritiizing fixing the left - a personal one. We certainly need people criticising the right but I do think it will be a lost cause unless we get our own house in order.
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Replying to @HPluckrose
I think we totally agree. I'm in a lecture so I can't add much.
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