The Marriage of Regressive and Progressive Extremism
Obviously, “progressive extremism” and “regressive extremism” are both dangerous in and of themselves, but their convergence is even more worrisome.
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If you are like me, you have been asking yourself over and over again why on Earth people are effectively celebrating Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists in Western cities across the world.
To the literal-minded — and others who do not yet recognize the character of the pathologies emanating from “identity politics” — it may seem head-scratching, for instance, to see LGBTQ-plus organizations cheering on a Hamas victory, irrespective of how Hamas actually deals with folks in the LGBTQ-plus community.
Many in the climate change movement, which presumably has nothing to do with Israel or the Palestinians, have also openly expressed their desires to “crush Zionism.” Indeed, those were the words of climate activist Greta Thunberg.
And the exclusion of the deaths and suffering of Jewish women demonstrated by so-called feminist causes has also been well-documented during the last six months.
All of these instances are known as “progressive extremism” — which many people, including many Jews, are unfamiliar with.
Instead, Jewish history has largely been ripe with “regressive extremism.” It gains popularity by promising to uplift weaker members of society, often using social welfare programs and/or religion to establish trust and mobilize the masses. Once in power, regressive extremists impose tyrannical and authoritarian rule, and violently quell dissent.
Modern-day regressive extremist regimes include Iran, Qatar, and Russia.
Then there is “progressive extremism” which gains popularity by promising to uplift weaker members of society, and uses extremely socialist rhetoric and “identity politics” to gain trust and mobilize the masses. This type of extremism thrives in quasi-liberal environments, such as on university campuses and in certain aspects of the media.
What is most disturbing, however, is that it has gained steam in mainstream Western institutions like government, education, pop culture, and NGOs.
South Africa is probably the best example of a modern-day progressive extremist regime, and governments in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Spain, France, Sweden, and the U.S. are on the brink of becoming progressive extremists.
Obviously, “progressive extremism” and “regressive extremism” are both dangerous in and of themselves, but their convergence is even more worrisome. And that is precisely what has been happening over the last few decades, only to be amplified by the October 7th Hamas-led massacres that preempted this Israel-Hamas war.
This convergence is known as the “Red-Green Alliance” — a marriage between progressive and regressive extremists. Hence the systemic exclusion of Jews from progressive spaces, even as Jews have historically supported just about every social reform movement on this planet.
The “Red-Green Alliance” is also severely impacting the Western world’s foreign policy, by paralyzing its support for the Jewish state (Israel) while minimizing criticism of extremist anti-Western governments like the Islamic Republic of Iran and Qatar.
Ukraine (a Western ally) gets invaded by Russia, and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced last week that “Ukraine will become a member of NATO.”
Israel (also a Western ally that likely does more for the West than Ukraine) gets invaded by Hamas, and Blinken says that the Jewish state is on the verge of becoming “indistinguishable” from the terror group that was responsible for murdering in cold blood 1,200 people on October 7th; wounding thousands more; raping dozens of women, both dead and alive; burning whole families to death; and kidnapping 250 people, including children, women, and the elderly.
At the same time, there has been minimal mention by the West of Iran’s involvement in October 7th and thereafter, including with its proxies in Lebanon (Hezbollah) and Yemen (the Houthis) which have become additional fronts against Israel.
An ultra-conservative political group in Iran recently said that slain Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Mohammad Reza Zahedi was involved in the planning and execution of the October 7th Hamas-led massacres in Israel.1
Hence why the IDF just assassinated him in an Iranian consulate building in Syria — and why it is so obvious that Iran and even Qatar were significantly involved in October 7th, despite so many Western politicians trying to lie to us that they were not.
“Being weak towards your enemies (Iran) and harsh towards your allies (Israel) is a strategy that has never proven itself,” wrote Amichai Chikli, an Israeli minister.2
Perhaps most perturbing about the “Red-Green Alliance” is that Islamic extremists are jumping into bed with progressive ones. While “progressives” might be naive, ignorant or just plain stupid, Islamic extremists are very measured in their aim: to dismantle democracy and democratic values across the world.
“When I was an extremist Islamist fundamentalist, I would only vote Left,” said one Muslim. “Why is that? I saw them as very stupid. I would fear the conservatives because they come with principle. That’s not someone they can brainwash. But the Left, I know they have no values and no principles to begin with. I dare you to find one Islamic extremist that votes for Donald Trump.”3
“They give their vote to the leftist who wants to run around in Pride parades. Islamic extremists are against gays and homosexuals and transgenders, but they want the Left to go and get busy with that. They want them to go speak about the climate, go speak about abortion, go kill yourselves, go do that,” he added.
What is the fundamentalist and jihadi agenda for the West? The future of the West “has to be Muslim,” this Muslim man said. “This is the correct religion. This is the religion that all of humanity needs to be a part of Islam. And we will not stop until it enters every home.”
October 7th further emboldened these sentiments and gave rise to anti-Western Muslims who live in the West and their extremist progressive “friends” — all of whom are more interested in burning down the West than in, for instance, promoting decent policies.
In San Francisco a few days ago, for example, “pro-Palestinian” activists marched through the streets and spray-painted “death to Israel and the U.S. of America” on nearby stores. Yet most reasonable people, because they are reasonable, cannot believe that the goal of the far Left is to end the West.
What’s more, we have seen the escalation of “activist” messaging go from relatively reasonable criticism about Israel, to both implicit and explicit calls for the complete annihilation of the Jewish state. Incitement, violent rhetoric, and rallying for attacks on Jews are not just coming from the far Right, as they historically have. They are now the bread and butter of the far Left, the progressive extremists.
According to these leftists’ calculus, when 44,000-plus terror attacks are committed in nearly 70 countries since 9/11 — exclusively by Islamic extremists — not a single Muslim is to blame. In fact, some “progressive extremist” organizations are now trying to promote the narrative that the word “terrorist” is a “racial slur.”
But when Israel retaliates against Hamas in Gaza and, in doing so, regrettably kills innocent people, all Jews across the world are to blame. As such, London is now the most antisemitic metropolis in the West.
Heck, the environment there is not only hostile towards Jews, but also towards the British. When even Big Ben and a statue of Winston Churchill are not out of bounds, nobody can feel safe. And San Francisco, Paris, Amsterdam, New York City, Johannesburg, Sydney, Toronto, and Chicago are not far behind.
To add insult to injury, internet companies — such as Facebook, Instagram, Google, TikTok, and OpenAI (which have the largest, most immediately accessible audiences) — are increasingly run by far-Left folks who habitually inject their treacherous “identity politics” and dogmas into these products.
The internet does not live in a silo, of course. It drives people into Western streets who are “literally tripping over themselves in their eagerness to demonstrate that they cannot distinguish between those who intentionally kill babies, and those who inadvertently kill them, having taken great pains to avoid killing them, while defending themselves against the very people who have just intentionally tortured and killed innocent men, women, and yes, babies,” as philosopher and neuroscientist Sam Harris described it.4
“Whether you’re an antisemite or just an apologist for atrocity is probably immaterial,” added Harris. “The crucial point is that you are dangerously confused about the moral norms and political sympathies that make life in this world worth living.”
These progressive extremists then elect officials in the West, which pretend that they have a clue about deeply complex, historical geopolitic issues like the Israel-Hamas war. They make absurd, completely irrelevant statements and cute, nicely worded social media posts that effectively encourage their constituents to continue their pursuit of burning down the West.
This sociological pathology is now pervasive, contributing to the “soft bigotry of low expectations” that forms part of modern “identity politics” in the West.5 And, as foreign policy becomes increasingly conflated with the culture wars, this pathology has now expanded beyond the West’s borders, to places like Israel and Gaza.
The result is that the application of “progressive” moral double-standards is becoming a key decision-making factor in international politics, including but not limited to the West’s handling of this Israel-Hamas war. We have produced a dialogue in which deviancy is grossly limited for Jews and Israel (the “oppressors”) and extraordinarily expansive for Arabs and Muslims (the “oppressed”).
It should be noted that having sympathy for the Palestinians does not necessarily indicate that you are a progressive extremist, so long as you also have genuine sympathy for Israelis, Jews, and other groups of people who are also experiencing suffering around the world.
Just like agreeing with aspects of communism (during the Cold War) should not have meant that you were automatically a Soviet spy, sympathizing with the (mostly Palestinian-inflicted) plight of the Palestinian people should not immediately imply that you are a terrorist sympathizer and hateful bigot of the West.
But, if you are exclusively or overly focused on the Palestinians, and if you predominantly blame Israel (i.e. the Jews) for the plight of the Palestinian people, then yes, you might be a progressive extremist.
And if you are a progressive extremist, then you are an enemy of democracy and democratic values, no different than the far-Right variations.
“Iranian General Killed In Israeli Strike Was Architect Of October 7.” Iran International.
Amichai Chikli on X
Wall Street Apes on X
Harris, Sam. “Making Sense with Sam Harris.”
Moynihan, Daniel Patrick. “Defining Deviancy Down.” The American Scholar. Vol. 62, No. 1 (Winter 1993), pp. 17-30.
The internet and the welcome end of The Deferential Society means that everybody now gets the chance to question Authority. This is a very good thing. But Far Right Nazi Elements high inside The State are now using Touch-button issues, like the Israel-Palestine issue, Immigration and Demographics, and The Gay-and-Trans Identity Politics Debates, to ferment Hatred amongst the Masses using the Press and TV channels, so The Elites can ride herd on us all. We have been monitoring this for years now (here in The United Kingdom), and have dug out the Nazis to show how this Hatred works. THIS IS HATRED AS THE POLITICAL OBJECTIVE to pave the way for Far-Right Politics. Be Aware! The Real Enemy is The Nazi inside The State and The Reason is because they then use Hatred to have people killed.
Joshua, these are such wise words. The world needs to listen!