The New McCarthyites

      I have been consciously spending much less time on Facebook or other social media lately because I find that it’s not only a huge time suck but I have noticed how irritated I become with “friend” updates that either broadcast self-obsessed trivia or treat it as an opportunity to shout from a soapbox. The latter posts always carry a preachy message aimed at rousing enough guilt to generate several “likes”by other users out of fear being ostracized or, worse, unfriended.

    While some posts can be informative and shed light on a particular issue, I find more often than not, that I get just plain annoyed at the simplistic sloganeering that seems to pass for discourse.  I have tried to take the laissez-faire approach to these self-righteous posters and gloss over them because I find that these posts don’t really tolerate real debate – they only seek to bludgeon everyone over the head with their tone of moral superiority, demanding absolute consensus.

     I am trying to consider things in balance -- to go back and see reason in the arguments of those who I often reflexively disagree with. I can often find my own views in alignment with these same people on a number of issues so I am no ideologue and remain suspicious of anyone who is.  

  I'm even prepared to back down when confronted with stronger facts in a debate, yet it has become apparent repeatedly that many of the arguments I've wasted my time having on Facebook are with people who claim to be progressive yet display a very narrow and inflexible mindset that is quick to go into pack mode and attack any dissenting voice with insults and labels. It is the ultimate in groupthink -- like devotees of a cult who close ranks around any of the non-believers. They have memorized their tenets and are cued to actively oppose any who defy them.

  Maybe I’ve just gotten old. I can remember not long ago, clinging to a lot of illusions how social justice was immediately attainable, if only we could all agree to outlaw human nature. But I have come to realize that the most stable form of progress isn’t necessarily revolutionary, but incremental, and should not always require hasty legislation in order to placate an aggrieved interest group and to seem culturally relevant.

   Change is inevitable but not all change is desirable. Does that make me a reactionary or a realist?  I don't know but I do know that some will be tempted to pidgeonhole my thinking as a way to vindicate their position.  

    I found myself in the unlikely position of defending the Catholic Church and Pope Benedict in one of my Facebook exchanges recently.  I was the only voice who challenged the poster's sneering dismissal of the Pope as a "homophobe and misogynist" - as if two hyperbolic, unfounded accusations should be the only criteria on which an individual who presides over such a long-established and complex institution should be judged. I got irked at what I thought was the irony of someone, denouncing the Pope for his latter day “heresy” for not sanctifying gay marriage or having more “progressive” views about sexuality.  I objected to how easily these labels are flung around as a way to manipulate with emotional language and gain points while at the same time not having to do the intellectual work of providing evidence and arguments. Granted, Facebook is not a forum for serious debate, still, it is open and public and offers a stage for discussion. 

    I countered that these terms "homophobe" and "mysoginist" were just lazy labels and were misleading as they suggested hatred and mistreatment of women and gays. I added that I doubted that the Pope advocated these kinds of behaviour just because his positions did not take a favourable view toward western lifestyle choices.

    I realize that it is impossible to have a meaningful debate with strident types of any political persuasion and that hardline proponents of one bent or another, are often good at twisting logic around to serve their ideological point of view.  This is precisely where I begin to see anti-democratic strains – and increasingly by those who proclaim to be enlightened and tolerant.

    Take for example, the zeal of some social progressives to de-limit free speech  -  there’s more than a hint of Orwellian thought control at play here. This is practiced by all ends of the political and belief spectrum but when it is coming from those who profess to be so egalitarian and fair, it is more troubling. 

    Just like good Maoist students of the Cultural Revolution, the younger generation of the left is not content to merely tolerate opposite opinions but are compelled to call them out - denounce them and have them dragged before the court of public opinion and shamed. As a student of history, I can see how rapidly those advocating for the new “orthodoxy” are also becoming the new McCarthyites  -- quick to expose anyone who questions their cultural authority as a throwback or a homophobe or a racist -- these ready-made labels once they are thrown, stick to the intended target and can ultimately discredit them.

   Accordingly, purifying language means purifying intent. Purity and uniformity in thought are becoming more and more common among those who see no contradiction between their theories and their methods. I find it deeply ironic and troubling that so many people in my own circles of friends, willingly subscribe to this and have not tempered their views despite the wisdom that comes with life experience.

   To be brash and enamoured by new ideas is almost the duty of the young as they are just testing the waters of life but I feel increasingly alienated from those in my age bracket, who by now should know better than to act like soldiers of any orthodoxy.  I think this reflects the failure of our education system which has preferred to teach people "what" to think not "how" to think. Instead, the  hallmark of the culture wars in academe and public education system is visible, it is one that negates genuine independent thinking and now we see the rise of a lynch-mob vigilance that seeks to drown out dissent with quick and easy labels. 

   I have come to feel unease around those individuals who pride themselves on being "independent and daring" for vocally supporting all the "right" causes especially by smearing anyone who opposes them with quick and easy labels. Perhaps this is just a symptom of aging but I have come to learn that some principles work better textbooks than in life.