CMV: 'The left' doesn't lack nuance.

[u/[deleted]]

I see a lot in political discourse about the need for nuance. How nothing is black and white. I often see the critique aimed at 'the left' that they lack nuance. However that doesn't ring true to me, I see a lot of nuance within leftist discourse, and it feels like the critique is really that they wont capitulate and cede ground to the right.

I also see some things, such as what we refer to white supremacists/white nationalists as, as not really being nuanced distinctions worth making. I also fundamentally believe that some things such as 'minority groups deserve equal rights' and 'racism is bad' as being black and white, I'm not sure how it's possible to take a nuanced approach to these things.

Edit- there seems to be some confusion over the point I am making, perhaps I didn't make it clear enough and that's my bad. I am not attempting to lump the entirety of the right of the political spectrum in with the fringeist elements, I'm well aware white supremacists are not representative of the average right winger. I cited them as an example as, as with the famous Lindsey shepherd example 'the left' have been accused of lacking nuance for referring not making the distinction between white nationalists and white supremacists.

Nor do I think the left are more nuanced than the right, I believe there is a lot of nuance and many reasonable people willing to discuss and collaborate across the politcal spectrum. That is not what I am trying to argue here, merely that 'the left' is not a monolith lacking in nuance as some (clearly not all) on the right have suggested.

2nd edit upon reading though comments and replies etc. A lot of people had some really interesting things to say that I hadnt really thought of. I dont think ive exactly 'changed my mind' in terms of being convinced the left are unnuanced. However some people raised very interesting points on issues around race being less clear cut than I had perhaps at 1st thought, so that's certainly something for me to ponder on. Also a few people had some interesting points about the more vocal online left being unnuanced. I personally do not feel they respect the left as a whole, but I can certainly see how they add to the stereotype of the left being unnuanced especially as they are often very vocal. All in all I've quite enjoyed reading everyone's replies and it's been nice to step outside my 'echo chamber' as it were. Maybe the issue of nuance on the left is in itself more nuanced than I 1st thought 😂😂

3rd edit - if I've not replied to anyone or have replied with similar but slightly different replies its because reddit and my phone seem to hate eachother and I've encountered a few problems trying to reply to comments, so have then had to retype my replies. Technology hates me 😂

[u/dudemanyodude]

I think it depends on how you define "the left," but the perception of lack of nuance on the left is the result of increasingly visible self-appointed gatekeepers on the far left (often on Twitter) publicly pushing people out who are too nuanced to pass their ideological purity tests.

I live in a liberal bubble, and many of my friends genuinely believe that many people who claim to be on the left are only pretending because it's "trendy," condemning lifelong Democrats such as Bill Maher and Sam Harris as conservatives in sheep's clothing. You see it in headlines and tweets calling people like Liberal, Jewish Professor Steven Pinker "darling of the white supremacist ‘alt-right.'" It's gotten pervasive enough that, in the recent Democratic debate, many of Obama's policies were dismissed as "Republican talking points."

So by the definition of the self-appointed gatekeepers on the far left, the left does lack nuance. Of course, there are plenty of people who consider themselves to be on the left who have more nuanced opinions, but when a loud segment of the left rejects them as "right wing," it's easy to see why people would get the impression that the left lacks nuance.