why is there such a blindspot about Islamic extremism on the left? I feel like I understand a lot of their other blind spots but this one is a mystery to me. Why do they implicitly, often unconsciously, cover for an ideology that ought to be totally anathema to them?
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Replying to @danlistensto
Lots of the left in the western world fetishizes the marginal in society and Muslims are pretty marginal. Plus, American Muslims are relatively secularized so the stereotyping comes across as unfair and cruel, but this also forces them to downplay actual examples when it fits.
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Replying to @NatrlContrarian @danlistensto
Also, a lot of the left in the West has a pretension to multiculturalism that is undermined by acknowledgement that in some places people believe really shitty things. So they have to downplay these differences or else come across as too imperialist.
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Replying to @NatrlContrarian @danlistensto
You also see this come out when, for example, a communist party supports ISIS against American imperialism or people start downplaying the violence of the Syrian state because it looks bad when the far left doesn’t immediately make the U.S. the big bad in some situation.
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Replying to @NatrlContrarian
but this is what I don't understand. you're saying its just pure factionalism then? "I support the enemy of my enemy" is really driving all this shit? Like, they seriously think that ISIS is acceptable because Republicans dislike ISIS?
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Replying to @danlistensto
It’s not all factionalism, but the differential responses to Islamic violence do seem to be motivated by domestic political interests. I don’t think American liberals or most leftists condone ISIS, but they’d just far prefer to ignore it.
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Replying to @NatrlContrarian @danlistensto
Part of this has to do with the miserable failure of the Iraq War and the way that it motivates leftists to try and downplay threats that could legitimate a war. If ISIS is really, truly evil, shouldn’t we bomb the shit out of them?
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Replying to @NatrlContrarian
that's the right wing hawk position (bombing) but I don't think it follows the best response to an evil terrorist organization is airstrikes. seems counterproductive, on examination of the historical record. ignoring is counterproductive too though.
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Replying to @danlistensto @NatrlContrarian
literally nobody knows what an actually effective response is. failure to acknowledge this is the cause of enormous political problems. humility is supposed to be a "conservative" virtue but is completely absent from the "conservative" (hawk) foreign policy establishment.
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Replying to @danlistensto @NatrlContrarian
I just can't get over the absurdity of the left hand-in-sanding it about actual ISIS style terrorists shooting up nightclubs in America though. they don't have a solution either but their response is like straight-jacket worthy.
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*head in sand
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