Just where will the Left go next? Be afraid


In June 2010 I had an article published in Quadrant magazine; “The Trumping Factor”. I went back to it because I remembered writing about how those on the left and the right divide more or less uniformly and predictably across numbers of seemingly unconnected issues. To wit:

One of the mysteries of life is that once you have established that someone is an economic socialist or an economic conservative you can then go on to predict with fair degree of accuracy their views across a range of contentious non-economic matters. Of course, you can also proceed by going from one or other non-economic matter and reach the same end.

Back in 2010, I mentioned, inter alia, that those on the left tend to be critical of their nation’s past, particularly when it comes to colonisation and to the treatment of indigenous people. That they tend to favour apologies and reparations for perceived past injustices; to favour open borders to refugees; to favour a less forceful posture on national defence; and, of course, to favour action, as it were, to heal the planet.

I didn’t try to be exhaustive. But it’s passing strange, is it not, that I made no mention of wokeness, of intersectionality, of transgender rights – to wit, the strange case of 78 gender pronouns or men in frocks beating the pants of women in sports, of hate speech, of CRT and DEI and ESG, of defunding the police, of cancel culture, and no doubt of more things that have blessedly slipped my mind for the moment. However, it isn’t strange at all.

These bizarre developments were still in their gestation stage or less formed than that. Waiting to be sprung on us with a vengeance. They’re the reason that the confirmed leftie Bill Maher thinks his side has gone mad. And I didn’t mention gay marriage, the campaign for which had started but hadn’t gathered real pace in 2010.

My worry is what they’ll think of next to assail our sanity. There isn’t anything left you might say. But that’s what you might have said in 2010. There is no limit to their fevered imaginations allied with their fanatical determination to undo our civilisation. There will be something else to affront our senses. They’re a long way from being finished. Demons are indefatigable.


Subscribe
Notify of
guest

34 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Patrick Kelly
Patrick Kelly
July 22, 2022 10:32 pm

Indeed. That is the point I frequently make to the reluctant listeners in my social circle. I will listen to any argument for this and that providing there is a target that is being argued for. The current campaigns that we witness, while being ostensibly reasonable, never have an end game. Gay marriage, accepted by the majority, has transmogrified into blokes beating your daughters in sport. Environmentalism and conservation have evolved into tyrannical doctrinaire Marxism on every issue other than the environment. The list goes on. I will listen to any argument that explains exactly what it aims to achieve. These bellyachers, however, have no endgame. While we keep ceding ground, we lose. Eventually we will have not ground to cede. Liberals take note.

MatrixTransform
MatrixTransform
July 22, 2022 11:05 pm

I told youse a long time ago.
But don’t listen to me.
I’m just a dumb tradie.

Dave of Gold Coast, Aust.
Dave of Gold Coast, Aust.
July 23, 2022 4:10 am

Reasonably sure the end game is to destroy civilisation as we know it. The absurd “Climate Change” mantra gets louder, the facts get smaller. The “elites” as they like to think of themselves are getting louder, more authoritarian and more arrogant in their mad rush to control the world. Western society and it’s prosperity is their favoured place of attack, they want their form of Marxism to be the world power. To watch and read of the appalling fall of the USA to their frenzied left with the destruction of law and order and their deliberate inflationary decisions Then there is the invasion of privacy there and world wide coupled with Leftist tin pot dictators arising over the last 2+ years Add to that the lying MSM and the mind melting weirdness of the sexual identity debacle and the cold blooded murder of pronouns. Might be time for some fanatics to step back and consider chomosones, not mind snaps for a bit of reality. That is just a small portion of our dilemma.

Winston Smith
July 23, 2022 4:28 am

Peter Smiff:

My worry is what they’ll think of next to assail our sanity

Every time I think I’ve got it nailed, they think of something else.
Perhaps they’ll demand we stop polluting Outer Space. Even though they had a go in the 60’s, I’m waiting for the demand to bring back all the satellites and stop any further colonisation on the moon and Mars. Because Mankind bad and leave the universe alone for the microbes we might find.

Lord Lawgi Dawes-Hall, hon secr. Hutt River Province Wheat Board.
Lord Lawgi Dawes-Hall, hon secr. Hutt River Province Wheat Board.
July 23, 2022 7:08 am

Every time I think I’ve got it nailed, they think of something else.

During the SSM referendum palaver my main agin’ it was, it won’t stop there. To keep myself honest I made a couple of specific predictions about what campaign would come next, they were: Polygamy and lowering the age of consent…. within about a week of the referendum result that Roz Ward(?) fella rolled out the safe schools program.

Forest Stylist
Forest Stylist
July 23, 2022 7:09 am

The list below may be just a sample of the more rational end of woke:
Pets, livestock and plants become sentient beings
Forced medication and counseling
Legalised grooming
Digital currency and ID
Deletion of historical images and objects

Petros
Petros
July 23, 2022 7:57 am

Meanwhile more and more wealthy Aussies are relocating overseas. Consequences, idiots. Perhaps this was how Argentina declined. The smart, motivated people gradually left, leaving behind the corrupt and stupid. The US midterms will be a huge factor in deciding our fate here. Be prepared. Hopefully I live long enough to see the pendulum swing back the other way.

Angus Black
Angus Black
July 23, 2022 9:02 am

It reminds me of the collapse of the Roman Republic as Imperial Rome spiralled into utter insanity. People used to point to the lead piping as a possible explanation…

…but as I read the news, it seems more likely that they just went Woke…

Tom
Tom
July 23, 2022 9:15 am

The best thing about leftism is that the more the public gets a taste of it, the more the public is revolted by it. Leftism is essentially perversion dressed up as hyper-moralism – the same as the temperance lunacy that was used to ban alcohol early last century in America.

What that means is that leftists eventually have to concede that leftism is incompatible with democracy as no-one outside the lunatic fringe will ever vote for it.

In America, we’re now seeing leftism’s next stage where voting is sabotaged to head off the inevitable popular rejection of its madness.

The Revolution is a fascist overthrown of the old order where there is no room for the natural human love of freedom, which must be put down by force.

Ironically, the desire for the leftist overthrow of the existing order grows with the increasing success of the free market in avoiding recessions. That success in turn grows the illusion that wealth is our natural state and can’t be taken away, even in the violent revolution that leftists are preparing us for.

In the end, leftism never works because it puts humans at the centre of the universe, replacing God – the ultimate narcissist delusion.

Rod Stuart
Rod Stuart
July 23, 2022 9:25 am

The cabal, or Deep State, or NWO, WEF if you like, is a very powerful enemy. It is using food supply as a weapon.
I am concerned that the apparent laissez-faire attitude this government has taken relative the FMD outbreak in Indonesia will be the last straw for oz.
If that gets loose in our feral pig population (about 25 million) sthat will be the end of ag on this continent.

Fair Shake
Fair Shake
July 23, 2022 9:27 am

Rights for all vegetables, not just the tasty ones.
Social credit score, cos if you’re against it, what are you hiding?
First Nations peoples are to bethe landlords of all capital cities. always grifting, always will be.
Social inclusiveness declaration of the heart. All residents need to declare to the government and co-governors their actions and tweets to minorities for the previous 12 month period. If you have not created a job for them, then you must give them yours.

I myself will start a new campaign hashtag RBM. Raising awareness and tax deductibility of the endangered Red Blooded Male. To be preserved and returned to their previous numbers government need to immediately leave them them the fuck alone. Campaigning and protests will commence whenever we bloody feel like it. Amen!

Angus Black
Angus Black
July 23, 2022 10:46 am

The world is FUBAHOR. (beyond all hope of repair)

I suggest we switch it off, wait 30 seconds, then switch it back on again. You never know, clearing the cache might be all that’s required.

The Beer whisperer
The Beer whisperer
July 23, 2022 10:58 am

If it’s good, they’ll be against it in good time.

In just the last couple of months, they have all but declared war on agriculture. This is only in its infancy, so now’s the time to fight it at its source and draw attention to the sleepy what’s happening in Holland and imminent in Australia. There’s no reason at this point to disbelieve that foot and mouth is being given every chance to run amok here. I’d be investing in chooks right now.

Katzenjammer
Katzenjammer
July 23, 2022 11:05 am

My worry is what they’ll think of next to assail our sanity.

Remotely controlled smart home meters to schedule reduced power use. North & east sides of streets can cook 4 to 6pm, south & west have 6 to 8pm.

Fines for hoarding books more than three years after purchase. They should have been read and recycled by then to reduce harvesting of trees and toxic runoff from paper production.

A newly discovered third mode of characteristics that overrides both sex and gender, just as biological sex was overridden by the discovery of gender. It will explain why sex with children and animals is quite natural, and is even condoned in properly interpreted BIblical tales.

Alistair Crooks
Alistair Crooks
July 23, 2022 11:41 am

Sorry Peter – your analysis is way way WRONG. Always you call your enemies “Left” but you guys are fighting the wrong battle! This is NOT a Left Versus Right battle – Its a LEFT plus RIGHT versus the World Economic Forum battle. The idea that the World Economic Forum is Left is like saying that Big Corporations, Big Pharma, Big media, Big Oligarchs meeting in Davos to divide the world’s resources amongst themselves have a Communist agenda! WTF!
If you want to see what REAL Marxist think – where the left really stands – ask Bernie Sanders what he thinks of the World Economic Forum and the Swamp. Try this experiment …
Look up Russell Brand’s Youtube Channel and see just how different the perspectives of a genuine Marxist is to a the World Economic Forum.
https://www.youtube.com/user/russellbrand?app=desktop
Now Russell Brand like all Marxists is a fantasist and utopian – But at least he knows what’s Left is and what the is not. At least he has spotted that the World Economic Forum is just using the Green Movement as he proverbial “useful idiots”
Cheers

Boambee John
Boambee John
July 23, 2022 11:44 am

Alistair

The idea that the World Economic Forum is Left is like saying that Big Corporations, Big Pharma, Big media, Big Oligarchs meeting in Davos to divide the world’s resources amongst themselves have a Communist agenda! WTF!

You are correct, they have a fascist agenda.

jupes
jupes
July 23, 2022 2:57 pm

You are correct, they have a fascist agenda.

Which is a left wing agenda where big government controls big corporations. Both benefit.

Anchor What
Anchor What
July 23, 2022 3:22 pm

Gay Marriage – this was a patently political exercise in “getting their way”, or scoring a point in the ongoing game of – dare I say? – one up man ship. Or is it two up man ship? I believe threesomes are popular.
But the gay marriage debate seems tame now compared to what has come (!) after.

Trained Observer
Trained Observer
July 23, 2022 6:22 pm

Last I looked Quadrant was published in Australia. Yet Smith argues from a US perspective, right down to Bill Maher. Locally, there’s nothing like the division and tribal nonsense that dominates US discussion. In fact if you tried to conduct that sort of debate in an Australian living room, you’d probably get a serious talking to from your mum.

Boambee John
Boambee John
July 23, 2022 7:31 pm

T O

Verrry observant, but your mum seems to have a very parochial outlook. Perhaps you should inform her that your observations (trained as they are) clearly indicate that we tend to follow US political obsessions after a delay. Observing things there can provide guidance on what to expect here soon afterwards.

The Beer whisperer
The Beer whisperer
July 23, 2022 9:45 pm

If that gets loose in our feral pig population (about 25 million) sthat will be the end of ag on this continent.

Chickens aren’t hoofed animals so will be free of the scourge of foot and mouth, but not of green lunacy which will decree them sentient despite their pea sized brains.

Mater
July 24, 2022 6:50 am

I see Leftists up thread trying to deny that overbearing governments (National and/or International) are not in fact a Leftist’s wet dream.

Does COMINTERN ring a bell?

Does this 1920 ALP platform position ring a bell?

(c) Recognition of the rights of all people, and the prevention of war through the settlement of international disputes by a tribunal clothed with power sufficient to enforce its awards.

Just because you’re of the Left and don’t like what you are experiencing, doesn’t mean it’s not a Leftist policy position. It just means you were wrong, and were selling evil bullshit in your daily existence.

Would you like another red pill?

Mater
July 24, 2022 8:17 am

The idea that the World Economic Forum is Left is like saying that Big Corporations, Big Pharma, Big media, Big Oligarchs meeting in Davos to divide the world’s resources amongst themselves have a Communist agenda! WTF!

So where we’re all the unions during the Covid mandates?
Standing up for workers rights not to be fired for making a personal health decision?
No fucking fear, they weren’t.

Leftism is collectivism. An essential component of collectivism is BIG government and the associated control.

How anyone can be stupid enough not to see this for what it is, is beyond me. Cognitive dissonance is but one answer.

areff
areff
July 24, 2022 8:47 am

Another milestone: Brad Pitt turns up at some celeb shindig in a fetching skirt and top, much to the delight of the author:

https://thenewdaily.com.au/life/2022/07/23/kirstie-clements-celebrities-men/

NoFixedAddress
NoFixedAddress
July 24, 2022 9:20 am

That Escalated Quickly, New York Times Ponders if we are Ready Yet to Start Eating People
July 23, 2022 | sundance

ttps://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2022/07/23/that-escalated-quickly-new-york-times-ponders-if-we-are-ready-yet-to-start-eating-people/

DrBeauGan
DrBeauGan
July 24, 2022 12:32 pm

green lunacy which will decree them sentient despite their pea sized brains.

What’s wrong with having a pea sized brain? What have you got against AOC?

WolfmanOz
July 24, 2022 12:49 pm

NoFixedAddress says:
July 24, 2022 at 9:20 am
That Escalated Quickly, New York Times Ponders if we are Ready Yet to Start Eating People
July 23, 2022 | sundance

ttps://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2022/07/23/that-escalated-quickly-new-york-times-ponders-if-we-are-ready-yet-to-start-eating-people/

Soylent Green anyone ?

Jannie
Jannie
July 24, 2022 3:22 pm

Tom says:

The best thing about leftism is that the more the public gets a taste of it, the more the public is revolted by it. Leftism is essentially perversion dressed up as hyper-moralism – the same as the temperance lunacy that was used to ban alcohol early last century in America.

Yes, and its on steroids now – which will inevitably collapse the system. I often think the stupider it gets, the closer we are to some kind of relief or resolution.

We are almost past the talking. The Left has not debated any issue for a long time, their response to any dissent or different opinion is to “label” it. Racist, Sexist, Homophobic, Far Right, or Climate Denier. (Have I missed any labels?) Whichever label, they suppress the contrary information, threaten and cancel the dissenter, and worse.

The Resistance is coming sooner or later. How does a civil war happen when there are no geographic boundaries, and the people have been disarmed, and most have been brainwashed? I don’t really know, but there is people power and somebody is going to be taking names. Even if if the names are not written down, they are obvious to see by their arrogance, and almost anybody in the media wears the mark of cain.

The Russians and the Chinese may well find it expedient to support the resistance, in the same way that they did in Africa through the sixties to the nineties. As usual it will probably happen in Europe or the USA well before it ever comes to Australia. Is that not what the UK is now doing by training “troops” (insurgents) to fight the Russians?

Judge Dredd
Judge Dredd
July 24, 2022 6:55 pm

Demons are indefatigable.

Yes.
I don’t know the Lefts next move, but I know their destination

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
July 25, 2022 7:37 am

The green-progressive religion is new. So it is still developing its canon and rituals. Without a holy text they make it up as they go along. And whatever new thing they settle upon rapidly becomes holy doctrine that everyone must do. They’re also in the fanatical phase where they do not tolerate non-believers’ non belief – they must be made to do all the rituals too, for their own good.

Christianity went through phases like this, like the Arian controversy, iconoclasty and the Reformation, where the unbelievers were also made to do stuff for their own good. It doesn’t work. It never works. All it does is cause really nasty wars.

Unfortunately the green-progressives do not learn from history, they erase it. So I think there’s going to be a really nasty war, once the unbelieving population gets sufficiently sick of being told what to do.

Helen
Helen
July 25, 2022 8:45 pm

aref – Brad is way behind, the Scots were doing the skirt and socks thing eons ago.

Helen
Helen
July 25, 2022 8:45 pm

arefffff

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
July 26, 2022 7:17 pm

aref – Brad is way behind, the Scots were doing the skirt and socks thing eons ago.

Yep. Nothing wrong with a manly kilt. It’s what’s underneath that counts.
As this little toon shows, a bit of heterosexual and likely soon to be banned levity for us all amidst today’s woke futures ahead.

sfw
sfw
July 27, 2022 4:38 pm

Test, blog is acting very strange, sometimes I can post, other times nothing. Sometimes the entire open forum stops at some arbitrary time and the only way to get it back is close the tab and reopen the main page and navigate. See if this posts.

  1. Yousaf’s rule is proof that identity politics is the implacable foe of class politics. His is a regime sniffy about…

  2. Surprised it took this long to make the “news” .. but, thankfully, “our” ABC never shirks when the background “truth”…

  3. There, in my opinion, cannot be an unfettered free for all “free markets”.It would destroy civil society.But at the same…

34
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x