That is why it feels like an oxymoron, but it’s not. There is no doubt that if this is indeed the case with Newsome, he is selling his brand as the left alternative to right wing bigotry, but both are authoritarian.
I do appreciate the pearls of wisdom about how Newsome’s social policy in California is exactly the same as the policy in states like Louisiana and Florida. It’s a very helpful argument to distract from the actual point.
And an example of centrist moderate authoritarianism actually masquerading as progressive: Robespierre got a bad rap
Robespierre said that no one has the right to hoard heaps of wheat while his fellow man is starving.
Cool story bro, what did Robespierre do when the commoners were still starving, and he was in full control living large and in charge, and blowing money on a bunch of shit nobody asked for like hiring a poet to come up with a new calendar and names for the seasons?
A. Did he welcome the commoners to come eat at his plentiful table?
B. Did he ask the commoners what they believed he should be doing instead of hiring poets to make a new calendar?
C. Did he send the commoners and anyone that dared to criticize him to the guillotine, and also guillotine the fucking poet his cabinet had hired in a failed attempt to take the heat off of himself?
American examples would be Peter Thiel funding Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie as some kind of progressive/moderate team taking on Trump bc they are his back up plan.
Funny enough, guess what other Democrat from California Peter Thiel funded in the past?
My guess is Californian nationalism. A lot of people seem to have pride in California as “not like those other fascist states” and I think Newsom is playing into that. I have full confidence that most liberals who fall for it won’t wise up, while it will only really fail if Trump or people who oppose him stop it. I’m not sure if Newsom will be able to actually capitalize on this nationalism, but I do think it’ll provide a backbone for future civil war and breakup of America should the military weaken enough.
The key part is that his authoritarian ambitions aren’t left wing in the slightest, merely right wing in a way that opposes Trump as an external enemy. Like many in the corporate aligned world, liberalism is truly dead to him, so for maintaining power he doesn’t really need to consider it seriously. As long as he has a fascist enemy, he can position himself as a bastion of liberalism. Looking at ideology on any political axis is a mistake, it’s all about power. He’s an opportunist through and through.
I’m not calling him a moderate authoritarian. I’m calling the leftist politician who is trying to rewrite history by making Robespierre out to be a progressive who got a bad rap, an example of “moderate” authoritarianism.
Moderate in terms of where her politics actually sit in terms of left vs right. Bc even though there can definitely be leftist authoritarians, I suspect most of the people who are doing these kinds of performances right now are similar to Jill Stein/most likely paid to help promote the right wing agenda for global dominance.
Centrist moderate authoritarianism. I’m going to need an example of such an authoritarian in existence.
That is why it feels like an oxymoron, but it’s not. There is no doubt that if this is indeed the case with Newsome, he is selling his brand as the left alternative to right wing bigotry, but both are authoritarian.
I do appreciate the pearls of wisdom about how Newsome’s social policy in California is exactly the same as the policy in states like Louisiana and Florida. It’s a very helpful argument to distract from the actual point.
And an example of centrist moderate authoritarianism actually masquerading as progressive: Robespierre got a bad rap
Cool story bro, what did Robespierre do when the commoners were still starving, and he was in full control living large and in charge, and blowing money on a bunch of shit nobody asked for like hiring a poet to come up with a new calendar and names for the seasons?
A. Did he welcome the commoners to come eat at his plentiful table?
B. Did he ask the commoners what they believed he should be doing instead of hiring poets to make a new calendar?
C. Did he send the commoners and anyone that dared to criticize him to the guillotine, and also guillotine the fucking poet his cabinet had hired in a failed attempt to take the heat off of himself?
American examples would be Peter Thiel funding Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie as some kind of progressive/moderate team taking on Trump bc they are his back up plan.
Funny enough, guess what other Democrat from California Peter Thiel funded in the past?
My guess is Californian nationalism. A lot of people seem to have pride in California as “not like those other fascist states” and I think Newsom is playing into that. I have full confidence that most liberals who fall for it won’t wise up, while it will only really fail if Trump or people who oppose him stop it. I’m not sure if Newsom will be able to actually capitalize on this nationalism, but I do think it’ll provide a backbone for future civil war and breakup of America should the military weaken enough.
The key part is that his authoritarian ambitions aren’t left wing in the slightest, merely right wing in a way that opposes Trump as an external enemy. Like many in the corporate aligned world, liberalism is truly dead to him, so for maintaining power he doesn’t really need to consider it seriously. As long as he has a fascist enemy, he can position himself as a bastion of liberalism. Looking at ideology on any political axis is a mistake, it’s all about power. He’s an opportunist through and through.
Calling Robespierre a “moderate authoritarian” is kind of a wild claim lol
I’m not calling him a moderate authoritarian. I’m calling the leftist politician who is trying to rewrite history by making Robespierre out to be a progressive who got a bad rap, an example of “moderate” authoritarianism.
Moderate in terms of where her politics actually sit in terms of left vs right. Bc even though there can definitely be leftist authoritarians, I suspect most of the people who are doing these kinds of performances right now are similar to Jill Stein/most likely paid to help promote the right wing agenda for global dominance.