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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forumswhat the hell is the "Far Left"?
It's constantly spewed on the msm and they never come out and say, "this far left sympathizer feels they should get a living wage" or "people on the far left are demanding voting rights ".
Your definitions would be appreciated. 
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The Unmitigated Gall
(4,619 posts)Perpetuated endlessly by complicit media.
AntiFascist
(12,976 posts)but at least in the UK people will stand up and massively march against the "Far Right" threat as they see it, and the MPs will call them out as such.
ThePartyThatListens
(243 posts)
Initech
(102,511 posts)They usually just spout some bullshit about Rachel Maddow, BLM, and trans rights and that's it. They can't define what it is. 
Bettie
(17,389 posts)would be called the center.
Suggesting that maybe health care shouldn't be a for-profit industry, kids should have enough to eat and not get shot in school, people should have places to live, we should have a robust social safety net, and even poor people should even be able to sleep indoors and eat food....those are the "far left" ideas they love to tell us are too much.
LearnedHand
(4,221 posts)
Bettie
(17,389 posts)Bookmarking to steal later!
I love this graphic.
Dorian Gray
(13,736 posts)Those are liberal policy positions. They're progressive. But that's not what the media means when they refer to the "Far Left."
Bettie
(17,389 posts)well, and anyone with a D after their name on the TV labels.
The media puts everyone who thinks that any one other than straight white religious men, are human beings with rights into the "far left" category.
Cherrycheeks
(186 posts)Which means black people. Mfkers!😠
Jack Valentino
(1,510 posts)~ Michael Dukakis, 1988 Democratic presidential nominee
They defined him as "far left"....
Have to presume that they don't want "good wages"...
surfered
(3,729 posts)acronyms for the gullible: Woke, DEI, CRT, radical, traitor. See the following GOPAC Memo from Newt Gingrich in 1990:
https://www.transcend.org/tms/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Newt-Gingrich-Language-A-Key-Mechanism-of-Control-1990.pdf
The Wandering Harper
(772 posts)many seem to not get this and it's frustrating.
A while back I was brainstorming ideas for counter-propaganda and I posted about it here.
Most or all of the replies that had ideas were overly complicated and came across
like they were trying too hard to be clever
Basso8vb
(458 posts)We are all Emmanuel Goldstein now.
MineralMan
(147,987 posts)I think I remember Manny.
H2O Man
(75,778 posts)Inside traffic at the western edge
WarGamer
(15,749 posts)Political Ideology is like a belt...
Somewhere around the buckle is the political center... where moderation and compromise thrive.
Work your way one direction or the other to the front pocket area and you see the strong ideological positions emerge
Continue to the hip area and you have the most divergent positions you'll see...
For example, no-limits abortion or a complete ban on abortion.
HOWEVER, continue PAST the hip area, towards the back of the belt and ideologies start to become more similar as they become more authoritarian and anti-Liberty.
The classic example is Hitler-era fascism vs Stalin-era Communism... a distinction without a difference.
MineralMan
(147,987 posts)Bettie
(17,389 posts)stuck on the far right side, heading toward the back.
-misanthroptimist
(1,226 posts)...anyone who does not worship the Great God Market. It's even worse if they are not prepared to sacrifice their fellow Americans on the altar of that God! Then, they are communists.
returnee
(333 posts)Anyone who openly advocates for economic and social justice falls into the category is how it is intended by people who use the term. The leftmost wing of the Democratic party isn’t even close to how the term was used in the past: Socialists and Communists who actually advocated for the overthrow of the government and seizing the means of production.
Kaleva
(38,541 posts)You'll see a number of comments like that here
Folks that applaud the execution of someone out in a street.
Don't bother with a trial. Just shoot them in the back
Folks that think certain media outlets should be censored or shut down.
marybourg
(13,214 posts)Far left positions in this society would be: de-fund the police, de-criminalize misdemeanors, give all illegal migrants amnesty, raise minimum wage to $50/hour.
Kaleva
(38,541 posts)Far leftism is authoritarian in nature. Pol Pot, Mao, Stalin. Weather Underground, the Red Brigade are examples of the extreme far left
GreenWave
(9,442 posts)And more leftist was far left.
Passages
(1,430 posts)Pick an issue, any issue. Corporations do not like the word(s) regulation and higher taxes.
Saying cancel student debt is a big one, but bailing out banks and their executives is normal.
ha ha sad but true.
Dem4life1234
(1,981 posts)If you don't agree with batshit ridiculous policies from Rethugs, the idiots will consider you to be some granola munching radical leftist (not that that's a bad thing). That's how their small brains think.
Oneironaut
(5,808 posts)
BannonsLiver
(18,203 posts)John Farmer
(234 posts)
rampartd
(871 posts)
Renew Deal
(83,065 posts)The term typically is used refer to extremism. In reality, it’s more common to see adherence to strict ideology despite the facts.
Uncle Joe
(60,265 posts)in turn challenge the oligarchic power structure; of which the corporate media is owned by, to dominate the American People with policies that favor the mega-wealthy and powerful over the average person.
That's what scares the fecal material out of them, because it's the corporate media's gravy train so they use that term a lot to counter-balance propaganda fear from the very real rising threat of fascism to our nation.
In short those most opposed to oligarchy and corporate supremacy are the "far left."
Thanks for the threads onethatcares
Bettie
(17,389 posts)Thanks for the quick definition.
Brenda
(1,355 posts)There really are a handful of people who probably do consider themselves Far Left in America and advocate for things like defunding all law enforcement, confiscating land for communal property, etc. Sometimes those few people are erroneously used by media/politicians as if they represent massive numbers of left-leaning people and as if they matter or have any power whatsoever.
The nutty Christo-fascists will tell you that Bernie and his followers are far left. Same with Occupy Wall Street, climate activists, BLM, and a whole lot of other people.
But of course they are just regular liberals and Democrats.
Ping Tung
(1,423 posts)Lettuce, yes, Turnips, no, Maoists, nope, carrots, OK, Trots too egotistical, Stalinist too dogmatic, Anarchists and Red Hot Chili Peppers too unpredictable.
Take your pick and spread the word without hurting anybody.
As for me, back in the 60s I tasted a lost of them and saw some great ideals promoted but it was too often tainted by dogmatism and the lure of violence. Now as an old man I see myself as a sort of Fabian Socialist or Democratic Socialist.
"I never submitted the whole system of my opinions to the creed of any party of men whatever, in religion, in philosophy, in politics, or in anything else, where I was capable of thinking for myself. Such an addiction is the last degradation of a free and moral agent. If I could not go to heaven but with a party, I would not go there at all." --Thomas Jefferson to Francis Hopkinson, 1789.
,
thebigidea
(13,321 posts)I generally think those posturing weirdos are the "far left."
C_U_L8R
(45,764 posts)you end up in the same libertarian hellhole.
H2O Man
(75,778 posts)There is the "far left" of the Democratic Party, which would be like AOC. There is the "far left" of the US population, that can include a tiny number of Democrats as well as former Democrats, among never members of our party. In its early days, DU had a number of "far left" members.
The media -- and especially maga cultists -- incorrectly refer to the actual "far left" as Democrats. Few things could be further from the truth. Those among the "far left" that are registere voters are 99.99% independents.
DBoon
(23,170 posts)They used to call it "antifa" that that lost its shine
Gore1FL
(21,990 posts)
eppur_se_muova
(37,662 posts)lame54
(37,206 posts)lame54
(37,206 posts)
KT2000
(20,949 posts)he seems to be the authority of perusing insane internet postings for crazy ideas he pins on the far left.
Voltaire2
(14,870 posts)EX500rider
(11,545 posts)Because it never works out.
Socialism is an economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse economic and social systems characterized by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership.
Voltaire2
(14,870 posts)EX500rider
(11,545 posts)Multi-billion dollar companies can't have group meetings with all million employees (2 million in Walmarts case) every time they need to make a decision.
Also to remain completive and not go out of business they can't afford to pay everyone what they would like and no ones going to vote themselves a low pay scale.
Nothing stopping anyone from starting Co-Op companies right now but they do not well in large scale or we would see more of them, wouldn't we?
Voltaire2
(14,870 posts)There is zero evidence that cooperative organizations cannot scale and cannot survive amidst competition from capitalist enterprises.
soandso
(1,631 posts)In the simplest form, far left is communist and far right is fascist. Both are totalitarian and collectivist, with the individual being inferior to the group and the collective represented by the state. Both seek to eliminate hierarchy and class distinction and both are Utopian. There are differences, of course, but the similarities are more important because both end in terrible oppression and violence. Both ultimately rely on force, neither are about liberty. Either might work if we humans were an ant colony or beehive but we're not. In reality, humans are complex creatures who can't be neatly corralled and put into these boxes and they end up fighting. I see them both as toxic European ideologies. No system is perfect, as acknowledged by the founders of the United States but what they created maximizes freedom without anarchy. There is no homeostasis, though, and things are always in flux so it's pretty tenuous, which those founders also warned about. So, once again, people fight. Sigh.
Wolver
(6 posts)There are actually two factions within the far left historically. Anti-statists and authoritarian statists. Unfortunately, the authoritarian statists won that battle within the far left. Historically speaking, the working classes were not freed from their chains in any way. By staking the claim to be the "vanguard" to save the working class, the authoritarian statists instead enslaved it in a different form. Left-wing anarchists, left-wing communists, individualist anarchists, anarcho-socialists, revolutionary syndicalists and many other factions have nothing whatsoever to do with authoritarian statist ideology and totalitarian communism.
Making broad brush proclamations, without an understanding of the history, does nothing but sow confusion. There are many who do understand the history, and then make broad brush proclamations anyway. It's usually people indulging in rank sophistry to defend capitalism and master and slave social relations as the end of history.
If people are honest, and actually want a full understanding of the rich and storied history of the "far left", they should actually study that history. A good place to start would be here in the link below. It's far from only an archive on Marx and Marxism. It's a good primer on everything from Marx to Bakunin, everything in between, and much of what came before from the "far left." Cheers
https://www.marxists.org/archive/index.htm
AntiFascist
(12,976 posts)between the "mob" and those who have the foresight of leadership.
Unfortunately, as we are about to see under the Trump Admin, those who have immense wealth are NOT the most qualified to lead.
Trump is trying to rectify this problem by utilizing Musk and other high-IQ technocrat wannabes, but this will only lead to Libertarianism on a grand scale.
Voltaire2
(14,870 posts)canuckledragger
(1,992 posts)As the far right MAGAts get more extreme, the more they try to scapegoat groups they don't like.
RedWhiteBlueIsRacist
(290 posts)Being far left is not unconstitutional. Kinda like the Constitution protects the MSM as well.
Voltaire2
(14,870 posts)RedWhiteBlueIsRacist
(290 posts)on lots of things.
Sympthsical
(10,397 posts)I say ostensibly, because many on the far Left are really just over-privileged people cosplaying oppression (see: various campus movements).
They're authoritarian, revenge-minded, oftentimes extremely racist, and seek to create systems that would punish their enemies and leave themselves wholly in charge.
If the question is - where is the boundary between Left and Far Left?" it's there in the authoritarianism. A liberal seeks equality in status and justice for all within society. A far Leftist simply wants to rearrange the decks on the ship (with them being on the top deck, of course). Ignore the rhetoric. They say an awful lot. Watch what they do, how they behave, who they target, and how they treat heretical thoughts and people. Authoritarians. They'd just end up another Soviet-like state if they ever actually managed to gain power (which there is about zero danger of in this country, because no one serious takes them seriously).
At least, that's how I divide it in my own mind. I know Europe's Left and America's Left is different, blah blah blah. But I live in America, so I define these things within American context and its own relative terms.
Wolver
(6 posts)Depends really, but in the economic sphere, it would most likely be some form of anti-capitalist ideology, despite the nonsense of the right wing which labels everything to the left of unadulterated capitalism "far left." Liberals, Progressives, Social Democrats, Left Wing Populists, and the Democratic Party have ZERO to do with the "far left" in the economic sphere.
https://dissidentvoice.org/2010/04/misrepresenting-the-left-we-are-not-liberals/
Misrepresenting the Left: We Are Not Liberals
https://www.marxists.org/archive/pannekoe/1947/public-ownership.htm
Public Ownership and Common Ownership
SunImp
(2,375 posts)Wolver
(6 posts)There exists mountains and volumes of writing on historical realities, but nobody bothers anymore. It's much easier to throw around soundbites and slogans that fit their subjective feelings of what they want to believe. Historical reality matters, but that's boring I guess. Maher, and multiple millions of people like him consider themselves educated and intelligent. They're anything but that. If your education and intelligence rests on a foundation of garbage in and garbage out, that education and intelligence isn't worth a damn.
Jeebo
(2,315 posts)When Bernie Sanders first announced his candidacy for president in 2015, Thom Hartman on his show ran a segment in which he listed all the issues on which Bernie's position agreed with upwards of 60 percent of the American electorate. It was a long list and it took Hartmann a while to get through it. While I was listening, I kept wondering, how much longer would that list be if it were only 50 percent instead of 60? Bernie Sanders is not some far-left liberal as the right-wingers are always trying to portray him. He's actually solidly in the mainstream of American politics. There's no such thing as the "far left" but there is a "far right" and it has now seized control of our federal government. I don't look forward to the next four years.
— Ron
Kaleva
(38,541 posts)Like shutting down Fox?
And that progressives favor supporting the 1st Amendment?
LearnedHand
(4,221 posts)Kaleva
(38,541 posts)Fox is a threat to Democracy and should be shut down is the basic sentiment
LearnedHand
(4,221 posts)It applies to authoritarian personalities for sure, and I sort of understand people feeling that way. But it’s definitely not a characteristic of far-left “philosophy.”
Johonny
(22,241 posts)The MSM created them in the 1980s and has been attacking them ever since. The type of liberal that demands litter boxes in schools. They don't exist, but we hear all about them.
Kaleva
(38,541 posts)Like some here who want Fox News to be shut down? A position the ACLU wouldn't support.
Ilikepurple
(148 posts)Is the call for censorship of Fox the issue of the week? I’ve seen this issue referenced more than I’ve read calls for censorship. Not just by you, but it seems to be one of the pet finger wags of the week. I know the election results has emboldened some to go after those further left than them, but there’s no need to create some artificially monolithic far left. You might find yourself and your beliefs bundled under that term at times. Do people really think there’s some Platonic Ideal that is “the far left” rather than a term defined by its use? All of a sudden we have more to fear from those left of us than those to the right? Mission accomplished I guess.
Kaleva
(38,541 posts)As to your question, can you provide examples of DUers who favor unrelenting admonishment of other members?
As this is a discussion board, it should be expected that if one member posts a view, that they'll get feedback and it could be negative. A progressive would support the free exchange of ideas and opinions within the rules of this site. A far leftist would have a problem with that and be upset with negative feedback
TBF
(34,748 posts)and stay tuned, you may get to see that in this country very soon.
Bonx
(2,235 posts)'The far left' is a political term that refers to people or groups who hold extreme left-wing political views. These views often include a strong commitment to social equality, redistribution of wealth, and opposition to capitalism and other forms of economic inequality. The term 'far left' is often used in contrast to more moderate or centrist political positions, and can encompass a range of ideologies including communism, socialism, and anarchism. However, it's important to note that the specific beliefs and values associated with 'the far left' can vary widely depending on the context and the perspectives of those using the term.
LearnedHand
(4,221 posts)markpkessinger
(8,587 posts). . . There is barely even a left in this country, let alone a "far left!"
no_hypocrisy
(49,195 posts)It's communism, y'know?
LearnedHand
(4,221 posts)This is libertarian as opposed to authoritarian, not the Libertarian political philosophy.
https://www.politicalcompass.org/
LymphocyteLover
(6,978 posts)
Turbineguy
(38,503 posts)He'd be a lefty now.
Jit423
(429 posts)That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Emile
(30,787 posts)someone who wants Single-Payer Healthcare, someone who wants to legalize weed at the federal level, etc. etc.
Think. Again.
(19,058 posts)...the need for Democratic party ideologies to our guiding principles.
onecaliberal
(36,318 posts)Equality for all.
Dorian Gray
(13,736 posts)who exploded into protesting colonialism the day after Israel was attacked. They demanded revolution and expressed joy at the death of Israelis.
The far left believes that the United Health Care CEO deserved to die in the way he did.
The far left is the mirror image of MAGA, both distorting democracy and embracing chaos to get their ends.
Some may say the far left are socialists, but I believe it's something different. it's people willing to destroy society to get to an ideal that will never exist. They'll run over every single cause, BLM to climate to trans rights to zionism and bleed it dry, leaving the people they purport to defend in a worse state than when they activated their support. And when it garners them little attention, they'll move on to the next thing.
The Far Left attack democratic politicians, senators, presidents, representatives way more than they attack the right.
Skittles
(160,304 posts)with the far right we get FASCISM
DBoon
(23,170 posts)
Have any of you attended events like this? Are you a member of groups that sponsor these events? Do you have a membership card in the some kind of communist party? Do you know the secret communist handshake?
I suspect not.
Then you are NOT "far left".
You are a thinking person who wants to make America better. To some that makes you a scary extremist.
There has not been a "far left" in this country for many many decades. Even when there was, the far left spent most of its energy making things better for the worst off Americans.
Dorian Gray
(13,736 posts)some pretty large Far Left orgs out there in the wild. Within Our Lifetime and The People's Forum are two that come to mind. They do exist, and their activism (in my opinion) hurts the communities they purport to uphold.
LogDog75
(164 posts)Is the equivalent of telling a child to be afraid of the Bogey-man. Conservative use "Far Left" to implant an idea in stupid adults that Democrats are Bogey-men and you should be afraid of them. Nothing more, nothing less.