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The Inhumanity of the Left
With one disaster unfolding after another with the Biden administration, the focus in America (at least on the right) has been on mistakes, poor planning, confusion, and mismanagement, just to name a few problems. But buried inside all these missteps is an attitude that the Democrats would vehemently deny but permeates everything they do: They are inhumane, and they are either clueless about the implications of their governance or they simply don’t care. Their inhumanity dominates their actions in Afghanistan, the steps they’ve taken (or haven’t taken) on the border, and their handling of the pandemic. I looked up the Merriam-Webster synonyms for “inhumane” and selected the words that I thought best applied:
callous, cold-blooded, compassionless, desensitized, hard, hard-hearted, heartless, insensitive, ruthless, soulless, stonyhearted, unfeeling, unmerciful, unsparing, and unsympathetic
I think these words describe the attributes behind their actions, particularly toward their fellow Americans.
Let me describe how their decisions have devastated so many people in such a short time.
In Afghanistan, their mistakes are painfully obvious. By leaving Bagram Airfield and withdrawing air support, they devastated the Afghans who believe they were deserted (because they were). There was no reason to leave so abruptly, and it not only destroyed the motivation of the Afghan army, but the people felt abandoned as well. When we withdrew, our men and women of the military were distraught about leaving Americans and our American allies behind. Needless to say, the people left behind were/are at the mercy of the Taliban.
Speaking of the Taliban, they assured us they would work cooperatively with us. But just the other day, one of the Taliban leaders issued this statement:
One of the founders of the Taliban and the chief enforcer of its harsh interpretation of Islamic law when they last ruled Afghanistan said the movement will once again carry out executions and amputations of hands, though perhaps not in public.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Mullah Nooruddin Turabi dismissed outrage over the Taliban’s executions in the past, which sometimes took place in front of crowds at a stadium, and he warned the world against interfering with Afghanistan’s new rulers.
‘Everyone criticized us for the punishments in the stadium, but we have never said anything about their laws and their punishments,’ Turabi told the Associated Press, speaking in Kabul. ‘No one will tell us what our laws should be. We will follow Islam and we will make our laws on the Quran.’
They are reviewing their past practices of conducting these executions and maiming people in public. These are the people we are relying on to protect Americans and our allies. Our people have been left to be protected by the Taliban; there are reports that our allies are being executed.
Do these actions sound humane or inhumane to you?
Then there is the southern border. Although illegal aliens should not be trying to cross, the Democrats famously criticized their treatment during the Trump administration as incompassionate and cruel, and they made up lies to back their positions. Now those who crossed have been boarded in disgusting quarters, essentially told they could come to the United States, and the chaos on the border that has ensued is a disaster. Local communities have been overwhelmed and their lives disrupted, unable to deal with the influx. Most recently Haitians are being sent every which way: Some have gone inside our country to communities that are now forced to try to deal with them; supposedly some have chosen to go back to Mexico; and still others have returned to Haiti or to the South American countries they left. Meanwhile American cities have been invaded by migrants who arrived illegally, sometimes with no warning or federal assistance, with a significant drain on resources. Some of those migrants are also criminals who are also going into our local communities, and those communities have no way of knowing who will show up.
Do these actions sound humane or inhumane to you?
The handling of the pandemic at the federal level has also been a disaster. Particularly children have been traumatized by the requirements to wear masks and whatever other restrictions have been mandated by the teachers’ unions. Remote learning has been extremely difficult, especially for children most in need. Parents are fighting with their city councils, their school boards, teachers and principals, and each other, demanding consistency and sanity and a reliance on the science. Family members are fighting with each other, neighbors aren’t speaking, because the policies coming from the federal government are incoherent.
Then there are the vaccine mandates, which make no sense given that the population has reached herd immunity. Those vaccinated are being told that breakthrough infections are caused by the unvaccinated; the unvaccinated are being bullied to get vaccines. And no one in the federal government seems to care about the trauma, stress, confusion, and anger that continue to increase with every ill-planned and contradictory policy.
Do these actions sound humane or inhumane to you?
The cruelty of the left is exacerbated by the other controversial issues of the times: critical race theory; attacks on our history, our monuments, our founders, and the founding documents; gender controversies, propaganda, and confusion; rising inflation; attacks on religions; the teaching of socialist ideas; the rise in crime and attacks on our police departments; cancel culture and the woke agenda. All of these issues inflict a brutality that beats on the soul of America. People feel as if they are left without moorings, with no place to ground themselves. And the left does not care.
The left would probably say that these effects are collateral damage in the war between Marxism and a democratic republic. If Americans would only acquiesce to the left’s expectations, rather than resist and fight back, they would not have to go through the pain of these transitions. Their own stubbornness and backward attitudes are making them miserable, but a better life waits for them when the revolution is over.
Americans need only give up, and give in.
Published in Culture
I think you are spot on. They don’t care about anything but power and their perks.
Everything else is subordinate to those items. They claim to care while dancing on the backs of the rest of us.
I realize that inhumanity might not be a high priority for what some people expect from the government; the feds just need to do their job right? But when the results are repeatedly chaotic and ugly, over a period of time, they should be considering the impact on the people, especially when they are so devastating and we live in such difficult times. So much of the trauma could have been avoided with sensible policies that reflect good leadership and the human factor.
That pretty much emptied my thesarus.
This is because they have the inability to see that their “solutions” do not work – at least at the grassroots level. My guess is the left’s leadership does not care if their solutions work, and frankly, don’t want them to work. Solving a problem means they are no longer needed, so it robs them of a perpetual reason to be elected . . .
Thank you, Bryan. The cost is too high.
I agree! We’ve really become bitter, haven’t we, Stad? They think they guarantee themselves a job. Well, I hope the next couple of elections will clear that up!
I’d say more cynical, not bitter. But yes, I’m hoping there are enough conservative genes in Democrat voters to make them think, “You know, I don’t want my daughter to grow up thinking she’s a boy” or say, “Who’s going to protect me and my family if the police are disbanded?” Hint: Think Second Amendment.
The whole thing with schools and Critical Race theory opened a lot of eyes. Let’s hope minds follow . . .
The left loves humanity in the abstract but tends to hate individual humans. This is because they have a utopian view of mankind as perfectible and of History moving toward progress. The right is hard on humanity in the abstract but tends to embrace individual humans. This is because the right has a tragic view of mankind as a fallen creature and embraces individual humans doing their best to rise above their nature. In the end it is all about expectations. If you think human beings are perfectible, you are constantly going to be disappointed and angry with them when they fail to live up to your ideals for them. If you think human beings are fallen creatures you are constantly pleasantly surprised when by and large they try to do the right thing, also you can have sympathy for when they fall short.
Another problem is seeing people primarily as a collective or primarily as individuals. The left sees people as a collective. Therefore they are all subordinated to the collectives goals. Essentially people are just cogs in a machine or objects to move about on the gameboard. The right sees people as individuals, each with their own hopes and dreams. It is easier to dehumanize people if they are objects then if you recognize them as fellow individuals no different from yourself.
I guess in the end it comes down to religion. The left’s materialistic religion has little patience for those who stand in the way of progress and no compassion for people who fall short. Mostly the right has the moral intuitions of religion, even for people of the right who don’t identify as religious. These include a certain amount of grace, compassion, and fellow feeling.
A thoughtful comment, @raxxalan. I’d point out, however, that although religion is a factor, I don’t think Christianity is necessarily at play, but a belief in G-d. I say that because Jews don’t see people as fallen, since our theology doesn’t include original sin. But both Christians and Jews share a belief in G-d, and that matters a lot.
True but Judaism has a rich history of compassion and forgiveness and definitely has the moral intuitions, I was speaking of. In fact one can say the reason we have those intuitions is because of Judaism.
Yes indeed. Thanks.
How many times have we heard, “The Left loves humanity but hates people”? (As Raxxalan noted.)
Some people might laugh at this but it’s absolutely true and today’s American Left embodies the saying.
To me, it’s very easy to imagine the members of the “Squad” uttering “The death of one man is a tragedy. The death of millions is a statistic”, instead of their idol, Joe Stalin. They don’t give a fat rat’s (you know what) for the average American; they care only for their grandiose plans. It’s what defines them; it’s what they live for. If they did not have this, they might become what scares them the most: people like us.
In reality, their idolization of humanity but hatred for people shows up in our two primary leaders. Neither Joe nor Kamala have been to the border to see the faces of suffering. Nor have they visited people on respirators, nor (I suspect) have they talked to those who escaped from Afghanistan. I don’t think that Joe even talked to the Afghan man who saved him; they talked to each other through the media.
If they actually met, face-to-face, those whose suffering for which they are responsible, they might see events just a little bit differently. But I doubt it. Thanks, CA.
Remember how the Dems have consistently applied the once-unknown label “mean-spirited” to Republicans, or anyone who disagrees with them? We (by which I mean Republicans who have regular media access) need to start applying some version of “inhumane” to them. I’d probably go with “callous” or “heartless” as I think most people would get it immediately, and it would sting the Dems pretty hard. As Kurt Schlicter likes to remind readers periodically, play by their rules. Use their own weapons against them at every opportunity. In this case, it has the additional virtue of being true.
I agree! Labelling them in this way will drive them nuts–if prominent people on the Right would use any of these words, they would fight back, which would only further shine a light on their actions. Thanks, @thecynthonian.
I think the only explanation is that the Chinese already control the most important levers. The big cities may be so corrupt and inept they don’t need china, the smaller cities and towns have legitimate political differences, its the lack of understanding of Washington that gives China the leverage. Democrats believe washington bureaucrats can actually know how to run the infinity of interests across the nation. Too many Republicans live with the same ignorance. Trump understood better than previous presidents and was addressing it. Were it not for the Chinese we might turn matters around over time, but we wont have the time after the next election is stolen.
This discussion paints a pretty accurate portrait of the cynical leaders who’ve risen to the top of “the Left,” but what about those in their voting base? I had some wonderful colleagues in the teaching profession, where I taught in mostly suburban Washington state districts over almost 40 years. These colleagues would never identify as “hard left” but consistently vote Democrat. These people, some of them active church-goers, weren’t stupid and I’d never use the adjectives Susan listed above to describe them.
Most of them have stereotypical opinions about people on the right. They liked and trusted me, but always explained that I wasn’t like the rest of the right.
THIS is what troubles me.
Very good points, @tfiks. I’ve had people say the same thing to me–you’re not like them. But let’s take a closer look at some of the words I listed, these in particular: compassionless, desensitized, insensitive, unfeeling, unmerciful, unsparing and unsympathetic. At first glance, they would seem to be words that your colleagues would use to describe everyone else on the right. If we consider the possibility that your colleagues are not in touch with their unconscious or dark side (and we all have these in us), they may be in denial of their own darkness. I have one friend who is very spiritual and generous in many ways. But she is adamant in her judgments. I had to insist we not talk politics, not because she wasn’t bright, but she was uninformed. To maintain her illusions about the political right, she saw politics from only one perspective, because they maintained the point of view she favored. A person who knows their dark side (and it’s hard work because it’s pretty ugly) is able to recognize those attributes in themselves and therefore doesn’t need to get rid of them. They realize that they have a choice about how they act in the world. But a person who is not in touch with his or her dark side will tell you that they simply don’t have those attributes, and they project them on the people who they think have them. Explaining this to people who are in denial of their dark sides is SO hard, because they could NEVER be like that. And they will do everything they can to deny the possibility. It’s so much easier to just project them and blame others.
I haven’t tried to explain this to anyone recently, so if I’m making no sense, please ask questions! This is probably lots more information than you bargained for! ;-)
An addition to comment #17, using myself as an example. I have a very harsh, judgmental part me of that is a perfectionist. I couldn’t imagine I was so harsh, until I got feedback. When I recognized how nasty I could be to others, because I was so intolerant and impatient, I began to work on those attributes and was able to demonstrate my desire for quality in an empathic and considerate way. I still screw up–it’s a lifetime effort. But well worth it in trying to build trusting and loving relationships.
Susan, I think this is a very, very important subject and point.
For a long time, it has been apparent to those paying attention to the world around us that the actions of the Left have had terrible consequences for society at large.
One the most frequent explanations for this terrible behavior and the Left’s unwillingness to take responsibility for their actions was the belief that the Left was just misguided, had little understanding of how the world works and are just following a foolish, high minded yet fashionable path that sounds great on the surface and but at closer examination does horribly destructive things .
While this explanation I think still works for many of the millions of the low information, media brainwashed Democrat masses, I don’t think this excuse works anymore for anyone with any sort of power within the Democratic party. Too much has washed under the political bridge that is just unbelievably despicable. In fact, I don’t think this excuse still works for anyone that is thought to still have rational thoughts and a modicum of intelligence.
The actions are the core of the Democratic Party, the Progressives and yes the weaselly deranged Never Trumpers over recently from their insistence on draconian and incredibly destructive lockdowns, to their ever increasing calls for censorship and destruction of all our rights, to their fraudulent and murderous attacks on HCQ, Ivermectin and other COVID cures, to the theft of the election, to their persecution of January 6th so-called rioters and insurrectionists, to the their pursuit of “Domestic Terrorists” and what appears to be lawful behavior , to their cover-up of China’s bioweapon COVID attack on free world and most recently their unbelievable behavior regarding Afghanistan, a so beyond the pale, words fail to describe their evil.
I am glad you elaborated on the description of “inhumane”. It seems too clinically cleansed of their behavior’s real destructive force and intent.
The terms“callous, cold-blooded, compassionless, desensitized, hard, hard-hearted, heartless, insensitive, ruthless, soulless, stonyhearted, unfeeling, unmerciful, unsparing, and unsympathetic” seem far closer to the truth. At a minimum there seems to be a ruthless, callous, cold-blooded and unmerciful lack of empathy for the plight of the life ruined by the Democrats, Progressives and Never Trumpers.
But I think it is worse than that. I think the destroyers on the Left want to create so much chaos and ruin that many people, particularly the brainwashed media illiterate, will feel that they have no where to turn to but to this all powerful, all knowing government, so lionized by the media.
So, getting to the heart of this “inhumane” behavior becomes really important.
First of all it gets to the heart of who is really to blame for all this ruin.
But more importantly it attacks directly and ridicules the Democrat psychological profile that is so fundamental to Democrat appeal; the idea that the Democrats are really the “good” people and “conservatives” are inexplicably “evil”.
Susan, I think this is a very, very important subject and point.
For a long time, it has been apparent to those paying attention to the world around us that the actions of the Left have had terrible consequences for society at large.
One the most frequent explanations for this terrible behavior and the Left’s unwillingness to take responsibility for their actions was the belief that the Left was just misguided, had little understanding of how the world works and are just following a foolish, high minded yet fashionable path that sounds great on the surface and but at closer examination does horribly destructive things .
While this explanation I think still works for many of the millions of the low information, media brainwashed Democrat masses, I don’t think this excuse works anymore for anyone with any sort of power within the Democratic party. Too much has washed under the political bridge that is just unbelievably despicable. In fact, I don’t think this excuse still works for anyone that is thought to still have rational thoughts and a modicum of intelligence.
The recent actions at the core of the Democratic Party, the Progressives and yes the weaselly deranged Never Trumpers behavior from their insistence on draconian and incredibly destructive lockdowns, to their ever increasing calls for censorship and destruction of all our rights, to their fraudulent and murderous attacks on HCQ, Ivermectin and other COVID cures, to the theft of the election, to their persecution of January 6th so-called rioters and insurrectionists, to the their pursuit of “Domestic Terrorists” and what appears to be lawful behavior , to their cover-up of China’s bioweapon COVID attack on free world and most recently their unbelievable behavior regarding Afghanistan, are so beyond the pale, words fail to describe their evil.
I’m glad you elaborated on the description of “inhumane”. It seems too clinically cleansed of their behavior’s real destructive force and intent.
The terms“callous, cold-blooded, compassionless, desensitized, hard, hard-hearted, heartless, insensitive, ruthless, soulless, stonyhearted, unfeeling, unmerciful, unsparing, and unsympathetic” seem far closer to the truth. At a minimum there seems to be a ruthless, callous, cold-blooded and unmerciful lack of empathy for the plight of the lives ruined by the Democrats, Progressives and Never Trumpers.
But I think it is worse than that. I think the destroyers on the Left want to create so much chaos and ruin that many people, particularly the brainwashed media illiterate, will feel that they have no where to turn to but to this all powerfulgovernment, so lionized by the media.
So, that is why getting to the heart of this “inhumane” behavior so important.
First of all it gets to the heart of who is really to blame for all this ruin.
But more importantly it attacks directly and ridicules the Democrat psychological profile that is so fundamental to Democrat appeal; the idea that the Democrats are really the “good” people and “conservatives” are inexplicably “evil”.
We may have gotten in a little over my head here, but it’s an important discussion. Let me think out loud for awhile.
I don’t know whether I can call my friends’ stereotyping of people on the right as a product of their dark side. My best conclusion is that making generalizations is often necessary as we go about our daily lives. We characterize snakes and spiders as dangerous, even though many of them are harmless. We might say that our dark sides produce our negative attitudes towards those creatures, but some spiders ARE poisonous and therefore our unwillingness to cohabitate with them is morally ok. To further develop this analogy, a lot of people are unwilling to learn more about all orders of arachnida because they’re repulsed by them.
I think that is where my Democrat friends are: comfortably nestled in an ignorant bunker of contempt for the people and ideas of the right. The only information they let into their bunker is that which confirms their assumptions. I guess, now that I think about it, that this may be a feature of our dark sides. Unlike the Good Samaritan, we know who our neighbors are and they’re certainly not those unclean unbelievers in political groups we oppose.
It’s probably not sinful that we allow our ignorance condemn all spiders, but probably is a sin to let our willful ignorance condemn half of our fellow Americans.
I think you get it, @t-fiks. The “bunker of contempt” (I believe) is where the darkness rests. But most people don’t know there’s a bunker at all. Great examples.
They have rejected God.
I think they believe there are ever so close to permanent Democrat power and perks brought about by the election ‘reforms’ they keep pushing that they can taste it. But I think elected Democrats may be merely playing the Kerensky role and once they have pulled off their Revolution they’ll find themselves overthrown by the hard core communists waiting in the wings to take over. To paraphrase the line from A Man For All Seasons – where will they hide when the communists turn round on them , the laws all being laid flat?
So you don’t put them all in the same category? Interesting…