It's Time To Stop Being So Fucking Polite

(Originally posted at my livejournal, 6th Nov, 2007 )

This post began in my head as a result of an exchange I was involved in, in the comments section over at Comics Should Be Good, on the subject of feminism in comics culture. but while it was percolating through the layers of my sick little brain, rachel_edidin linked to this which touches on some similar thoughts, although in a more specific context....

One thing that struck me about the conversation/argument/slanging match at CSBG was the way several people who actually agreed with me took it upon themselves to attempt to chastise me for the harshness of my tone. "You'll never get anyone to change their mind with that attitude" is the basic core of the objection.

But really, that assumes willingness on the part of the person one is talking to change their mind. And as I think that little adventure made clear, this is not always the case.

I am so sick of bloody liberals.

Let me explain...

Now, I'm a lefty. When asked about my political leanings, I generally describe myself as a socialist, although I think of myself as an anarchist. Ideologically and idealistically I am both, I suppose. I would like to see humanity one day become civilised and mature enough to make an anarchist society work; 'till then, I think that socialism is the most humane and just way to run things. I suppose that in some ways this makes me a pretty traditional marxist, actually.

Here in the UK, that isn't all that unusual, although it does seem to be becoming rarer all the time. If TV and movies are anything to go by, it is somewhat more of a novelty in the US, where socialism would seem in the minds of the majority to be synonymous with communism, which itself seems generally to be equated with fascism. Socialism, then, would appear to be beyond the pale, a form of extremism. The American left is instead liberalism- which would be regarded in Europe as the centre position.

The reasons for this are of course not hard to root out, we all know about the McCarthy witch-hunts and the way they effectively silenced the left in the American media. And no matter how much work has been done to reinstate that voice in the last fifty years, it's still a game of catch up. And so the only voice with any strength to it that remains to argue with the right is the one that, traditionally, should be bridging the gap between the two and attempting to find a compromise.

And thus we begin to see just how the Western world got so badly screwed up.

The conservative element of our culture has become far too used to being able to expect it's opponents to approach any debate in the spirit of compromise. Christians feel able to claim persecution in countries where their sacred days are national holidays, and where schoolchildren are taught their holy songs as a matter of course. They feel able to claim that allowing certain members of society to have equal rights to marriage is an act of oppression.

Men feel able to claim their rights are being curtailed when they are asked not to belittle and objectify women; white people feel justified in claiming discrimination when they are asked to ensure that ethnic minorities are given equal opportunities for employment.

Why?

Because when they say these things, they are not told to shut up and stop being so bloody stupid. Because rather than standing our ground and giving not an inch, we are instead bound by doctrine to always respect our opponent's point of view.

Well, I'm sick of respecting the point of view of people who think that certain of my friends are not proper human beings.

I know right from wrong, damn it. And having confidence in my own opinion is not the same as being closed minded.

If you think it's okay to reject someone's opinion on the basis of gender, ethnicity, sexuality, social status, or any other reason save the actual substance of that opinion- then frankly, you have no right to expect anyone else to treat your own opinions with any kind of respect.

And I am sick to back teeth of being told that I need to try and compromise my beliefs in order to appease a group that has absolutely no intention of shiftng their own postion. That's how we got into this state in the first place. Look at the political stances of the main parties in the UK and US over the last thirty years. Observe how the left has crept ever closer to the right, to the point that the supposedly socialist Labour party here in the UK is now to the right of our Liberal party- while the Conservatives and Republicans haven't moved an inch.

That's where respecting the other side's opinion gets us, when they don't respect ours. When faced with an opponent whose stance is both offensive to you and essentially unchangeable, then there is no reason at all to be polite, because then all you are doing is lending credibility to their views.

The problem - as I see it - is that in the "great debate" in our society, there is a voice that has gone quiet. There is, of course, a place for liberalism, for compromise... but for compromise to have any meaning it has to be between two different things. I'm not advocating opposition without any chance for compromise, or descrimination against those whose views we don't like.

I'm saying that we should let those who actually believe that compromise is the best way- which is practically the definition of liberalism- be the ones who advocate it. If your own opinion is diametrically opposed to someone else's - as socialism is to free-market capitalism - don't waste time trying to find a middle ground yourself, someone else will do that for you. And the only way for it to be a genuine middle ground is everyone is honest about where they stand.

So if you think that health care should be offered free of charge by the government, paid for out of taxes; and if you believe that better public services are worth paying higher taxes for; and if you believe that big business cannnot be trusted to regulate itself; and if you believe in a minimum wage and the unionization of the workforce; and if you believe in the absolute seperation of church and state; then for goodness sake don't call yourself a liberal; and don't try to find a middle ground with the conservative right because there isn't one. You are a socialist. Bloody act like one. Have confidence in your beliefs; and don't worry about offending conservatives, because every thought you have offends them.

And if you do believe in compromise, in finding the middle ground- if you really are a liberal- recognise the difference between yourself and those on the left. Don't try to approach me in a debate as if we are on the same side, because we aren't. I'm over here on the left, and you're over there in the middle; and you need to work just as hard to convince me as you do to convince that bible thumping fascist on your right. Remember that.