It's a contradiction in terms, isn't it? Can a left wing person or a left wing principle ever be thought of as wise? I don't think so and the reason is that leftism is an entirely secular ideology. Wisdom is surely a spiritual thing. It must be as it goes beyond logic, reason and, particularly, ideology. We may talk about the wisdom of crowds but that is really a misuse of the word. It just means a kind of natural instinct. Even the wisdom of age is just knowledge gleaned from experience. But true wisdom is perception into the heart of spiritual reality and it cannot be in any way associated with leftism which only relates to social and economic matters, in other words, worldliness. I realise there exist spiritual and religious people with left wing views but I see that as an inconsistency in them, an inability to understand the reality of spirit. It's rather like serving God and Mammon. One of them has to fall by the wayside. A spiritual leftist will always have one foot in this world. He is always grafting his spirituality onto his worldliness rather than taking everything from true spiritual perception.
I am not saying that the political right is in any way wise. That's obviously not the case but the point is that wisdom accepts the primacy of the spiritual world and leftism actually arose as a specific rejection of that. Check your history if you don't believe me. Wisdom is neither left nor right but leftist principles are a categorical denial of wisdom which is based in the reality of God as God and not as a humanist reconstruction of God.
Another point I would make to support this argument is that wisdom is hierarchical whereas leftism is rooted in egalitarianism. That is almost its defining principle. It leaves out the transcendent but wisdom derives from knowledge of transcendental reality.
This may seem a trivial thing but I see it as pointing to something very significant and that is the fundamental emptiness, even inhumanity, of leftist thought. It lacks, it cannot ever have, wisdom and therefore it only touches the most superficial level of the human experience and appeals to the most basic desires and ambitions of the human soul. But today we are ruled by leftist principles. Where are they taking us?
Added note: It might be thought that one could write a similar piece putting the word right in place of left but the reality is that the secular right only exists as an opposition/reaction to the left which was the initial disruptive ideology and therefore is part of the same anti-spiritual dynamic. However, to the extent that it does seek to preserve some vestiges of spiritual understanding, or what would derive from that, it has some small connection to the ground from which wisdom arises.
@William - well said all round!
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is the foundational secularism of the Left that sets it apart; although in most places (certainly the UK with the ruling 'Conservatives') the supposedly right wing party is *extremely* Leftist, and wholly secular.
At this point, the Trades Unionist and Nonconformist Labour Party of a couple of generations ago would be a distinct improvement, spiritually. e.g. Back in the 70s, many of the Labour 'left' used to be anti-EU, anti-gambling, against UK engagement in foreign wars, and in favour of protecting British workers from mass immigration.
But from where we are Now, only a leader/ party that put Christian spiritual aspects explicitly up-front and at the centre, would be of any genuine value in reversing the trend towards active-evil.
"from where we are Now, only a leader/ party that put Christian spiritual aspects explicitly up-front and at the centre, would be of any genuine value in reversing the trend towards active-evil". Yes, but that looks very unlikely when even the leadership of the churches are largely on board with the anti-spiritual agenda.
ReplyDelete@William "that looks very unlikely" - Indeed! And that is putting it mildly!
ReplyDeleteIt is often said that the left is inherently revolutionary rather than evolutionary.
ReplyDeleteThey see human beings as essentially unchanging through the millennia and therefore there need be no account taken regarding the timing of leftist interventions in any area of life.
To suggest to a leftist that a certain form of communitarianism will arise naturally in several centuries time would make their blood boil! It must be done now - there is no reason to wait!
We see this in their desire to drag children into adult activities - to shorten the period of childhood. After all we all grow up - so why bother with the magical years of innocence and wonder at all, seems to be their logic.
I can't think of a single leftist instinct that is not at least borderline Satanic.
Moonsphere, your last sentence is the unfortunate truth. It is horrifying that so few people see this and so many are deceived by the spurious compassion and sense of justice with which leftism coats itself.
ReplyDeleteYou said that Egalitarianism is the defining feature of Leftism. I largely agree . And this is why many people , particularly those with a slant towards reaction, tend to regard Christianity itself as the first manifestation of Leftism. They would point out that it is no coincidence that modernity emerged from the spiritual universe of Christendom. I am not convinced of this charge ; nevertheless , I think it is not without significance that it is in the West that the Perennial world of Tradition began its slow demise .
ReplyDeleteI understand what you are saying there, Chris, but it's only half the story. Egalitarianism emerged as Christianity lost its spiritual force and began to be interpreted on a social level. It is therefore what is left as the supernatural element of the religion, which is its whole raison d'être, begins to be lost. And secondly, the impulse to egalitarianism could be said to derive from the valuing of each individual soul which is a Christian concept and a good thing. But it is a materialistic distortion of this understanding. So, yes egalitarianism may have arisen in a Christian or post-Christian universe but it is a deformation of the Christian ethos caused by the subordination or even rejection of the spiritual element.
ReplyDeleteThe LEFT communicates solely in symbolism so that they always have a black & white binary to address the inexhaustible insanity toward progress and Utopia.
ReplyDeleteOnly we are far too much invested in mass political addresses, propaganda, journalism, and speeches of the lobbying parties. Other forms of communication truly represent the magical and is anti-modern or egalitarian. If the speech were not coming from a machine, then God's word seems more favorable.