Leftist is not an identity
On action, agency, and winning
I’ll start with the overly obvious, which is that being on the left is not an identity marker like race or gender or ethnicity. This point probably doesn’t need stating, but we live in a world where the dominant ways of thinking through who we are have become quite limited, and where political beliefs have come to be viewed very much like other core identity markers by millions of people. In the U.S. huge swaths of the population see being a Democrat or Republican as a core part of who they are, and the extremity of the right in this country has both created a deeply committed and deluded fascist movement that holds their beliefs as central to their identities, and understandably created a similar and opposite reaction among liberals. And, now, big chunks of the growing left view political identification similarly.
In short, “I am a leftist” is an increasingly common phrase, and the way people tend to understand these signifiers is as an identity. This political position is simply part of who I am, because of what I believe. We all know that political viewpoints are more subject to change than most other aspects of identity, but the essential framework remains: I believe in lefty ideas, therefore I am a leftist.
And this is not an unreasonable approach. I’m not here to shame anyone who thinks this way. But I am, unfortunately, here to say that it ultimately comes up short. There are just two reasons I want to look at here when it comes to why this way of thinking, which is so very normal in our society, doesn’t work for us on the left. The first is that, when it comes to the political, our beliefs alone are rarely, if ever, sufficient to be translated into action.
What I mean is that we do not functionally live in a democracy. The will of the people, the beliefs of the people, rarely translate into policy. We see this statistically, with immensely popular ideas like universal healthcare, increased spending on public transit, free higher education and more going nowhere or at best moving at a glacial pace on the national level. However, the beliefs and desires of the wealthiest 1% are a different story — those translate frequently and directly into law. Yet, crucially, that is not just because the rich hold these desires, but because they back up those desires with large, well-financed organizations that grease the many levels of power needed to turn a desire into legislation, and to turn legislation into law.
And so we see how believing in a set of ideals isn’t sufficient. I am not so concerned with whether or not it’s ‘right’ to view being a leftist as a core part of our identity, in fact, in some ways I think the common nature of this approach to being on the left as a sign of our relative success. It has only recently become normal (again) in the U.S. to think of oneself as a leftist, but growing the movement into its next stage requires something more. Specifically the current predominant way of thinking isn’t enough to win, and being on the left should be in no small part about winning, being effective, building the world we want and need. This brings us to the second issue with ‘leftist’ as identity marker.
One of the things happening right now, one result of seeing our political beliefs as primarily about signaling who we are rather than about the building of power and the creation of a new society, is that people strive to live up to that marker. In countless different exchanges, social media posts, and in-person discussions over the last few weeks I’ve seen people lead with the line “You’re not a leftist if…” or “Real leftists…” And I do believe that there are significant virtues to demarcating the left. I think wanting to replace capitalism, opposing racism and homophobia and sexism and bigotry of all kinds, fighting fascism and more are essential characteristics of the left, and of the people who want to build the left. But I also think the goal is not “being a leftist.” Let me explain that last part.
When “being a leftist’ is the primary goal people have in their political approach, things get skewed. You can reach, or appear to reach, this goal by saying the right things online, making the proper comments around your friends, consuming the correct media and content, reposting memes and so on and so forth. The one issue here is that being a leftist in and of itself should never be the real goal. I am a lefty because I want a world filled with justice, a world where no one is hungry or homeless and where people are able to thrive and explore and turn their dreams into reality. I want a world where we, humanity, can explore in every way, thrive, and not be burdened by the daily struggle to survive, by the fear of violence and war, by scarcity. I find myself on the left because I’ve found out that these are the people who share these goals, and who I hope are meaningfully working towards them, not because being a lefty is itself the goal.
I know a lot of this might seem obvious, but I see what seems to be a cart before the horse situation proliferating. And in many ways it makes good sense. We were taught that we live in a democracy where if enough people believe something it comes to pass. Now we know that’s not how it works, but changing long-held beliefs about how society functions and our role in it isn’t easy. Shifting from the idea that holding a view is sufficient to the idea that it is our duty, and not someone else’s, to turn our views into realities is a difficult process. None of us were taught political, labor, or community organizing in school, none of us were taught that real democracy takes constant participation and a culture where everyone works to build and maintain society collectively. But these are the truths that require our embrace. If we, on the left in particular, do not take it upon ourselves to become organizers, to become active participants, to act as people with agency in building the world we want to see, that world will never come.
This is not some call-out piece, it’s just a reminder and maybe a little something to bring about a mindset shift. Being on the left isn’t something inherent, it’s not an identity marker, it’s not just who we are – it's not even just what you believe. To be a leftist in a meaningful way is about what you do, what we do. What we oppose matters, of course, and what we believe matters tremendously as well because it shapes how we act in the world. But the ultimate measure, the truly significant analysis of our beliefs comes in how we practice them. Our goal cannot be to think the “right” things or believe the “correct” leftist ideology. The goal must be to create a better society, a better world where real freedom, real joy, real flourishing is all available to us all. How we get there matters, it matters a lot, but we will not arrive at a better planet by holding up one another’s beliefs to measuring sticks and hopping on soap boxes to denounce one another. We’ll get there through praxis – through learning and experiments and organizing in good faith with one another, and through being willing to admit when we’ve made mistakes. We’ll get there through humility and love for one another, and through seeing ourselves, each and every one of us, as organizers who together can form something greater than the sum of our individual efforts. It’ll ultimately take mass action, but within that mass will be thousands and millions of us making the individual choices to play our part, to learn, to improve, and to use our agency to power this revolution.
The simple question at the end of all this is: what are you doing? What organizing are you active in? How do you work towards the creation of a better society, one with real democracy, worker ownership, the end of systems of oppression and the injection of justice and equity and peace, into your daily life? How do you exercise your agency, and build power? It’s not easy, but it’s necessary. No one is coming to save us, we collectively must save ourselves. So, what are you up to?
P.S. One last time I’ll plug a recent piece with six ways to get invovled in organizing and spring into action: www.jphilll.com/p/so-what-now. I hope it’s helpful!
Thank you for this! I've recently decided I identify as a humanist, rather than a progressive or Democrat or leftist. Humanism puts people first, always. And humanism sees the very real human emotions that underpin people who push policies that I fundamentally disagree with. Acknowledging that others' fears and concerns exist and feel very real, even if they're not true, prevents us from becoming what we purport to hate. We recognize the humanity of all and work towards a future where equity can become a reality.
There are those who see being on the Left as an end in itself, taking part in a game of tribal politics, and those who see being on the Left as a means for a better world. We should ignore the first ones; we should listen, be inspired by, befriend the second ones.