Leftism is based on individualism. Conservatism is not.

Our esteemed Western Chauvinist recently brought my attention to a brilliant article, which I can’t stop thinking about. If you haven’t read it, you really should: “Leftism is a Death Cult” by CA Skeet. His purpose in writing the article is to explain why Democrats must support abortion, and he succeeds, in my view. But in so doing, he does a masterful job of explaining what a modern leftist is. He understands leftists very well, which I appreciate, because I do not.

Modern leftists are clearly not socialists or Marxists or communists – their ideology does not seem to fit neatly in any of the groups historically associated with the political left. Today’s left appears to be an odd coalition of widely diverging special interest groups who seem to have little in common with one another. So what do they have in common? What makes them leftists? I have struggled with this for years. I just don’t understand.

I was not the first to observe that Islam is a political system masquerading as a religion, and leftism is a religion masquerading as a political system. And Mr. Skeet draws several parallels between leftism and religion. For example, leftists believe they have achieved an understanding that the rest of us lack, so they hate heretics (black women who vote Republican) more than they hate outsiders (white Christian men). On the other hand, he points out that leftism’s extreme intolerance of internal dissent is more similar to a cult than to a religion (emphasis mine):

But while religions don't allow much room for supernatural error, they allow plenty of room for human error, including misinterpretation and misunderstanding of scripture.

Cults don't allow for such human error. They're convinced they fully grasp the totality of the truth. Religions teach humility. Cults teach pretension.

But Mr. Skeet quickly acknowledges that the modern left is missing something that other cults tend to organize around: A charismatic leader. A cult of personality, who inspires followers to devote themselves to the cause.

I would take his point one step further. The modern left not only lacks a strong leader, but it seems to prefer extraordinarily weak leaders, like Joe Biden, Justin Trudeau, and Kamala Harris. How can an irrational cult function, without a strong central force?

Modern leftism is not organized around a central deity like a religion, or a central ideology like a political movement, or a central personality like a cult. And here Mr. Skeet makes a brilliant point. Modern leftism is instead organized around what he calls “The Cult of the Self” (emphasis mine):

I refer to this phenomena as the Cult of the Self.

In the Cult of the Self, every disciple is its own charismatic leader, subject only to their own whims, desires, and comprehension of purpose. In other words, their "charismatic leader" is the individual Ego, thundering from the podium, to which all thought and energy of the adherent is directed. There are no doctrines, there are no ideological tracts, there are no transcendent truths binding us all. There is Me, and there is what makes Me feel good, at every moment, everywhere and forever. Religions require personal sacrifice. The Cult of the Self abhors the very thought.

Mr. Skeet’s explanation of the dangers of obeying only our own desires is one of the most brilliant paragraphs I’ve read in quite some time. I suggest you read this more than once (again, emphasis mine):

In contrast, the Cult of the Self imposes no behavioral limits whatsoever. If a behavior serves the deity of the Self, it is not only permitted. It is openly celebrated. Theft masked as fairness, tribalism masked as diversity, debauchery masked as tolerance, misogyny masked as multiculturalism, narcissism masked as compassion, and envy masked as reparation are but a few of the "values" practiced by this cult. Their overriding value, their "Golden Rule," as it were, is the complete abdication of personal responsibility at the cost of everyone else around them.

See if you recognize the odd & destructive policies of the Democrat Party, and their explanations in that previous paragraph. I’ll lay them out again below, one by one, to make them easier to digest:

Theft masked as fairness Tribalism masked as diversity Debauchery masked as tolerance Misogyny masked as multiculturalism Narcissism masked as compassion Envy masked as reparation

That’s a pretty good summary of the Democrat Party platform. And again, it made no sense to me before. But Mr. Skeet’s brilliant explanation helps me understand.

What he’s building up to with all this is the importance of abortion to today’s political left. When he contrasts the modern left to religions, he points out: “Religions require personal sacrifice. The Cult of the Self abhors the very thought.”

So it’s not that leftists don’t believe that a fetus isn't a human yet. It’s not that they disagree about whether life begins at conception or at birth. It’s not that they can’t hear a beating heart on a fetal ultrasound like the rest of us can. That’s not their point. In fact, that has nothing to do with their point.

It’s not that they don’t believe in science, it’s that they don’t believe in personal sacrifice.

And nothing requires personal sacrifice like a baby.

So leftists change their focus all the time, from baby seals to trans-sexual volleyball players to the virtues of race riots to solar energy to whatever is popular this afternoon. But the one policy which they simply CANNOT debate is abortion. They can tolerate no dissention on this point. If they ever acknowledge that there is something more important than ourselves, more important than our own ego, then their entire worldview disappears like fog on a sunny morning. Poof. It’s gone.

They lose a lot of votes with abortion policies. You might think they should temper some of their more extreme views on the matter. But they can’t. They just can’t. If they lose that debate, then their entire philosophy unravels, for all the world to see.

So the modern left is not inspired by Marx or Lenin or Hitler or Castro or Mao or any other prominent leftist leader. It is inspired most directly by Aleister Crowley:

Aleister Crowley was raised in a devout Christian household, but became disillusioned with Christianity and became a proponent of, and participant in, recreational drug use, sexual freedom, and explorations of the occult. He founded a religion called Thelema and declared himself to be a prophet of this religion. His writings describing this religion are difficult to summarize, but the over-arching theme is described in the opening sentence of his first book on the topic: “Do what thou wilt.” His drug use, experimental masochistic sexuality, dismissal of conventional religions and ethics, personal philosophy, and political ideology were all based on freeing the individual from the constraints of social norms.

What I find most remarkable about all this is that leftists portray themselves as more focused on cooperation and social togetherness than those independent-minded Republicans. “It Takes a Village to Raise a Child.” Obama called government “The name we give to things we do together.” Democrats don’t praise hard-working, successful, inspiring people. They say, “You didn’t build that.”

Their professed love of community and togetherness is directly at odds with the underlying foundation of their entire philosophy, which is accurately described by Mr. Skeet as “The Cult of the Self.”

Democrats aren’t angry revolutionaries who hate Western Civilization and seek to destroy it. They just resent anything that prevents them from “freeing the individual from the constraints of social norms,” as Mr. Crowley would say. They just want to do whatever the heck they want. With no criticisms, and no consequences.

And then Democrats criticize the radical individualism of Republican voters. Because we don’t listen to Democrats.

Instead, we listen to our God. Or we acknowledge the importance of personal sacrifice. Or we point out the limitations of our own understanding. Or we agree that there are more important things in this world than ourselves. Or something.

Leftism is based on individualism. Conservatism is not. But they are often portrayed in exactly the opposite way.

I thank Mr. Skeet for helping me understand this basic point.

I look forward to reading your perspectives in the comments below.