Modern leftism, much like the communism of old, often presents itself not merely as a political movement but as a kind of secular religion. Its dogmas are professed with the fervor of the deeply devout, and its heretics are persecuted with a zeal that rivals that of any inquisitor. However, beneath the surface of this ostensibly moral crusade lies a more base emotion that drives the movement: envy. This envy is not the benign envy of a neighbor’s new car but a corrosive envy that seeks to destroy what it cannot have. In understanding this, one begins to see the contradictions and the fault lines within the progressive coalition, a behemoth powered by resentment yet riddled with internal conflicts.
At the core of this worldview is envy masquerading as a moral crusade. It is an ideology that targets the well-formed and the successful – not through the pursuit of excellence on its part but through the destruction of these qualities in others. This destructive impulse is rationalized and sanctified as a fight for equality and justice, but beneath this veneer lies a darker motive: a deep-seated resentment towards those who possess what the envious lack. This is not the noble aspiration to raise the fallen to new heights but to bring the elevated down to the level of the mob.
This is a movement that has, either consciously or unconsciously, elevated envy to the status of a virtue. It is cloaked in the language of fairness and equality, but these words are often used to obscure a simple fact: that the movement is driven by a hatred for the good, the beautiful, and the true. This hatred is born from the knowledge that the individuals within this movement are, for various reasons, unable to achieve or become these things themselves. Rather than seeking to cultivate beauty, goodness, or truth within their lives or societies, they seek to tear down those in whom these qualities naturally reside.
The tools of this crusade are manifold and manifest. The mob, both in its physical and digital incarnations, serves as the foot soldiers of this ideology. They enforce conformity not through the superior morality of their ideas but through sheer force—both physical and social. Censorship, once the hallmark of totalitarian regimes, has been embraced under the guise of protecting public sensibilities, controlling speech through the proliferation of what can and cannot be said on public platforms.
Propaganda, too, plays a critical role. The media, often sympathetic to leftist ideals, crafts narratives that uphold the demonization of success and the victimhood of the unsuccessful. The narrative is controlled so tightly that any deviation from the party line is treated as heresy, a social sin that must be publicly repented lest the heretic be cast out.
Criminal prosecution and legal harassment become tools to silence dissent. Laws are interpreted in increasingly broad ways to make the mere act of disagreement a potential crime. Here the left reveals its final contradiction: while professing to champion the rights of the least among us, they infringe upon the basic human rights of free speech, free thought, and free association.
The progressive coalition is a motley crew, a veritable Tower of Babel of competing interests and grievances. Each group within the coalition has its own axe to grind, its own perceived oppressions to avenge. Yet, despite their often wildly divergent goals and methods, they are united in their shared hatred of anything that reminds them of what they are not and cannot have. This unity in hatred is tenuous at best and is frequently shattered by infighting and conflict. The fault lines within this coalition are not merely cracks but chasms that threaten to swallow the movement whole.
These contradictions are not incidental to the movement; they are fundamental to it. A movement built on the foundation of envy cannot help but be contradictory. Envy is a negative emotion that seeks to destroy rather than to build. It cannot form the basis of a coherent political philosophy because it is inherently destructive. The leftists know this, whether they admit it to themselves or not. Their movement is not about creating a better world but about dragging everyone down to the level of their own misery.
The targets of this movement are always those things that are reminders of what the envious lack. Beauty in art and culture, goodness in conduct and morality, and truth in discourse and academia are all under assault by a movement that finds these concepts not only unattainable but offensive. The beautiful, good, and true are not to be aspired to; they are to be destroyed so that no one may have them if the envious cannot. This is the ethos that underlies the push to redefine these concepts, to claim that all art is subjective, all morality relative, and all truths personal. It is an attempt to dethrone these virtues, to bring them down to the level of the common and the vulgar.
Consider the strange and uneasy alliances within the progressive coalition. Transgender activists stand alongside conservative Muslim groups, despite the latter’s often stringent opposition to the former’s way of life. African-American civil rights advocates align with radical feminists, despite historical and ongoing disagreements over gender politics and priorities. Marxist radicals call for the overthrow of capitalist systems yet find themselves defending and supported by the very corporate behemoths they vow to dismantle. And perhaps most paradoxically, liberal pro-Israel Jewish donors find themselves financially supporting movements that house activists vocally sympathetic to Palestine, chanting for a geopolitical solution that implies the eradication of the Jewish state.
This coalition does not merely stretch credibility; it defies the very principles of coherent alliance and ideological integrity. It is a testament to the overwhelming power of a unifying hatred for the status quo—so strong it transcends deep ideological chasms.
At the heart of this bewildering alliance lies a raw, unbridled lust for power. The left, in its various incarnations, seeks not merely to reform or improve society but to overturn it, to dismantle it at its very foundations. This desire goes beyond the pursuit of justice; it is an impulse towards total domination—over institutions, culture, and thought itself.
The mechanisms through which this power is pursued are manifold. Cultural institutions are co-opted not through meritocratic excellence but through ideological purity tests—what can be said, who can speak, and what thoughts are permissible are all dictated by the progressive orthodoxy. Education, from elementary schools to universities, becomes not a means of enlightening the mind but of indoctrinating it, where historical revisionism masquerades as fact, and all teaching is political.
Economically, the movement champions policies that ostensibly aim to redistribute wealth but more often than not consolidate power in the hands of a few—a bureaucratic elite that governs not by consent but by decree, deciding who deserves what, who is privileged, and who is oppressed.
The civilization built by generations—through the slow accumulation of cultural capital, the pursuit of scientific truth, and the refinement of moral philosophy—is torn down in mere decades. The spoils, such as they are, are distributed not according to need or merit but according to loyalty to the cause. The client classes of the progressive movement receive their share under the condition of continued allegiance. This is not the elevation of the downtrodden; it is the creation of a new class hierarchy based entirely on ideological submission.
This is the grim tableau that confronts those who still hold dear the concepts of individual liberty, artistic beauty, and objective truth. The choice is stark: capitulate to a movement that seeks power for its own sake and vengeance against perceived historical slights, or stand in defense of the civilization that, though imperfect, has brought us the highest standards of living in human history, the greatest freedoms, and the most profound beauties.
The left, as it is currently constituted, cannot hold. A movement bound together by hatred and revenge, by the desire to destroy rather than to build, is doomed to eventual collapse. But the damage such a movement can do in the meantime is profound. It is incumbent upon those who value the legacy of Western civilization not merely to oppose this movement but to offer a positive alternative: a vision of society that rewards creation over destruction, unity over division, and truth over ideology.