A bit less than two millenia ago one could have said “Effectively there’s a position—that Jesus gifted eternal life to humanity -- that’s obviously correct but there are also people who are just too hidebound and change averse to recognize it and progress can’t be made until they die off. But progress will be made because the position is correct.”
I was actually thinking of eugenics, which was once a progressivist “obvious correct thing where we just need to wait until these luddites die off until everything will be great” thing, until it wasn’t. Incidentally a counterexample to “Cthulhu always swims left” too.
It’s a case where “correct”, “right side of history” and “progress” dissociate from each other.
I think you could make a case for totalitarianism, too. During the interwar years, not only old-school aristocracy but also market democracy were in some sense seen as being doomed by history; fascism got a lot of its punch from being thought of as a viable alternative to state communism when the dominant ideologies of the pre-WWI scene were temporarily discredited. Now, of course, we tend to see fascism as right-wing, but I get the sense that that mostly has to do with the mainstream left’s adoption of civil rights causes in the postwar era; at the time, it would have been seen (at least by its adherents) as a more syncretic position.
I don’t think you can call WWII an unambiguous win for market democracy, but I do think that it ended up looking a lot more viable in 1946 than it did in, say, 1933.
fascism got a lot of its punch from being thought of as a viable alternative to state communism when the dominant ideologies of the pre-WWI scene were temporarily discredited.
Seen by some as doomed by history, perhaps. The whole point of US liberalism as I understand the FDR version was to provide a democratic alternative; you may recall this enjoyed some success.
Now, of course, we tend to see fascism as right-wing, but I get the sense that that mostly has to do with the mainstream left’s adoption of civil rights causes in the postwar era; at the time, it would have been seen (at least by its adherents) as a more syncretic position.
Indeed, many of the most prominent supporters of fascism came from the traditional left. Mussoloni was originally a socialist, Mosley defected from the Labour party, and they didn’t call it “national socialism” for nothing. In fact part of the reason why communists and fascists had such mutual loathing (aside from actual ideology) was that they were competing for the same set of recruits. Then again, Quisling and Franco especially were firmly in the right-wing camp.
With such concordance from all sides of the political spectrum it’s easy to see how one could conclude that totalitarianism was the next natural stage in history.
Incidentally a counterexample to “Cthulhu always swims left” too.
Interestingly, if you press the people making that claim for what they mean by “left”, their answer boils down to “whatever is in Cthulhu’s forward cone”.
For a more modern example, wouldn’t that have been said for marijuana a few decades ago?
Everyone expected that once the older people who opposed marijuana died off and the hippies grew into positions of power, everyone would want it to be legal. That didn’t work out. (The support for legalization has gone up recently, but not because of this.)
The point is that decades ago, illegal substance use was popular among people of college age. Yet as those people grew up, they stopped using the substances and did not, once they were in power, try to make them legal. I’m not comparing young people today versus older people today, I’m pointing out that all those marijuana smokers from the 1960′s and 1970′s didn’t grow up and legalize pot. I’m sure back then if you went onto a college campus you’d have heard plenty of sentiment of “when the old fogies die off and we’re running the country, we’ll legalize weed”. The old fogies died off; the people from the 60s and 70s grew up to rule the country, and… it didn’t happen.
According to your link, a poll in 1973 shows 43% of students having tried it with 51% in 1971. That 1979 figure is for people who are currently using it. I suspect the percentage that have tried it, rather than the percentage of regular users, is a closer fit to the percentage who would have supported legalization back then.
Furthermore, even if the percentage was under 50%, it’s clear that once they grew older they didn’t exert the massive influence over marijjuana policy that would have been expected. If 30% or 40% of 25-40 year olds actively support something, even if they are not a majority, that’s going to be very prominent in politics, and heavily drive the discourse, and that just hasn’t happened. (And even 30% or 40% might be enough to pass legalization considering that a lot of the remainder are probably just neutral on the issue.)
If 30% or 40% of 25-40 year olds actively support something, even if they are not a majority, that’s going to be very prominent in politics, and heavily drive the discourse
Not really. US politics is a lot about what the kind of people who donate to political campaign thinks about issues. The Koch brothers are for example old people supporting marijjuana legislation.
It’s not unheard of for people who’ve recently tried various substances to nonetheless support stricter restrictions on them. The usual narrative goes something like “I can handle this, but there are lots of people that can’t, and we have to keep it out of their hands”, though the people in question vary—drawing class, demographic, or cognitive lines is common.
There can be other ulterior motives, too. In the early 2000s, a few marijuana growers in Northern California were among the opponents of a ballot proposition that would have legalized it in the state—because legalization was expected to harm their profit margins, doing more damage than than removing the chance of arrest would have made up for.
The usual narrative goes something like “I can handle this, but there are lots of people that can’t, and we have to keep it out of their hands”, though the people in question vary—drawing class, demographic, or cognitive lines is common.
Or, alternately, “It was a mistake for me to do it, and I was lucky to get away without punishment, but legalizing would encourage other people to make the same mistake.” I seem to recall a few U.S. politicians on both sides of the aisle saying things of this nature.
I would believe that people who used drugs back then would say this now. I find it hard, however, to believe that people who used drugs back then would have said it back then, and the point is that people back then thought they would legalize weed once the old fogies died off.
Was the forceful kind ever an obviously correct/leftist position? To my mind non-violent eugenics is still obviously the correct thing where we just need to wait until the luddites die off—it’s just the association with the Nazis has given ludditery a big (but ultimately temporary) boost.
The authors theorized that the best solution for the Swedish welfare state (“folkhem”) was to prevent at the outset the hereditary transfer of undesirable characteristics that caused the individual affected to become sooner or later a burden on society. The authors therefore proposed a “corrective social reform” under which sterilization was to prevent “nonviable individuals” from spreading their undesirable traits.[4]
Sure, just step back in time.
A bit less than two millenia ago one could have said “Effectively there’s a position—that Jesus gifted eternal life to humanity -- that’s obviously correct but there are also people who are just too hidebound and change averse to recognize it and progress can’t be made until they die off. But progress will be made because the position is correct.”
I was actually thinking of eugenics, which was once a progressivist “obvious correct thing where we just need to wait until these luddites die off until everything will be great” thing, until it wasn’t. Incidentally a counterexample to “Cthulhu always swims left” too.
It’s a case where “correct”, “right side of history” and “progress” dissociate from each other.
I think you could make a case for totalitarianism, too. During the interwar years, not only old-school aristocracy but also market democracy were in some sense seen as being doomed by history; fascism got a lot of its punch from being thought of as a viable alternative to state communism when the dominant ideologies of the pre-WWI scene were temporarily discredited. Now, of course, we tend to see fascism as right-wing, but I get the sense that that mostly has to do with the mainstream left’s adoption of civil rights causes in the postwar era; at the time, it would have been seen (at least by its adherents) as a more syncretic position.
I don’t think you can call WWII an unambiguous win for market democracy, but I do think that it ended up looking a lot more viable in 1946 than it did in, say, 1933.
Note terms like the third position or third way.
Seen by some as doomed by history, perhaps. The whole point of US liberalism as I understand the FDR version was to provide a democratic alternative; you may recall this enjoyed some success.
Indeed, many of the most prominent supporters of fascism came from the traditional left. Mussoloni was originally a socialist, Mosley defected from the Labour party, and they didn’t call it “national socialism” for nothing. In fact part of the reason why communists and fascists had such mutual loathing (aside from actual ideology) was that they were competing for the same set of recruits. Then again, Quisling and Franco especially were firmly in the right-wing camp.
With such concordance from all sides of the political spectrum it’s easy to see how one could conclude that totalitarianism was the next natural stage in history.
Interestingly, if you press the people making that claim for what they mean by “left”, their answer boils down to “whatever is in Cthulhu’s forward cone”.
For a more modern example, wouldn’t that have been said for marijuana a few decades ago?
Everyone expected that once the older people who opposed marijuana died off and the hippies grew into positions of power, everyone would want it to be legal. That didn’t work out. (The support for legalization has gone up recently, but not because of this.)
Guilty as charged.
The point is that decades ago, illegal substance use was popular among people of college age. Yet as those people grew up, they stopped using the substances and did not, once they were in power, try to make them legal. I’m not comparing young people today versus older people today, I’m pointing out that all those marijuana smokers from the 1960′s and 1970′s didn’t grow up and legalize pot. I’m sure back then if you went onto a college campus you’d have heard plenty of sentiment of “when the old fogies die off and we’re running the country, we’ll legalize weed”. The old fogies died off; the people from the 60s and 70s grew up to rule the country, and… it didn’t happen.
The peak year for the popularity of marijuana use among young adults (18-25 years old) was 1979, and it was still less than half.
According to your link, a poll in 1973 shows 43% of students having tried it with 51% in 1971. That 1979 figure is for people who are currently using it. I suspect the percentage that have tried it, rather than the percentage of regular users, is a closer fit to the percentage who would have supported legalization back then.
Furthermore, even if the percentage was under 50%, it’s clear that once they grew older they didn’t exert the massive influence over marijjuana policy that would have been expected. If 30% or 40% of 25-40 year olds actively support something, even if they are not a majority, that’s going to be very prominent in politics, and heavily drive the discourse, and that just hasn’t happened. (And even 30% or 40% might be enough to pass legalization considering that a lot of the remainder are probably just neutral on the issue.)
Not really. US politics is a lot about what the kind of people who donate to political campaign thinks about issues. The Koch brothers are for example old people supporting marijjuana legislation.
It’s not unheard of for people who’ve recently tried various substances to nonetheless support stricter restrictions on them. The usual narrative goes something like “I can handle this, but there are lots of people that can’t, and we have to keep it out of their hands”, though the people in question vary—drawing class, demographic, or cognitive lines is common.
There can be other ulterior motives, too. In the early 2000s, a few marijuana growers in Northern California were among the opponents of a ballot proposition that would have legalized it in the state—because legalization was expected to harm their profit margins, doing more damage than than removing the chance of arrest would have made up for.
Or, alternately, “It was a mistake for me to do it, and I was lucky to get away without punishment, but legalizing would encourage other people to make the same mistake.” I seem to recall a few U.S. politicians on both sides of the aisle saying things of this nature.
I would believe that people who used drugs back then would say this now. I find it hard, however, to believe that people who used drugs back then would have said it back then, and the point is that people back then thought they would legalize weed once the old fogies died off.
How do you know that this wasn’t the cause?
Because as army1987 points out, legalization is supported by the young, not by people who were young in the 1960′s and 1970′s.
Was the forceful kind ever an obviously correct/leftist position? To my mind non-violent eugenics is still obviously the correct thing where we just need to wait until the luddites die off—it’s just the association with the Nazis has given ludditery a big (but ultimately temporary) boost.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsory_sterilisation_in_Sweden
Do you actually mean non-coercive? There are great many ways to apply pressure on people without actually getting violent....