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Do liberals adopt leftist personas to avoid confronting the consequences of liberalism? (hexbear.net)
submitted 2 weeks ago by yunqihao@hexbear.net to c/asklemmygrad@lemmygrad.ml
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cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/7373861

This might be a silly question, so I want to preface it with an apology in advance and if you think there is a better place to ask please let me know.

I’ve come across a large number of self-described “anarchists” or “non-communist leftists,” or the like, mostly online,thanks to where I live (谢天谢地). But whenever you look a bit closer, the pattern is the same: underneath the aesthetics and language, it’s just liberalism. Pro-NATO positions, contempt toward the global periphery, and extremely reactionary responses when imperialism or capitalism are seriously questioned.

So my question is: Is adopting these leftist identities a kind of defensive mechanism (an attempt to distance themselves from the real-world damage caused by liberal ideology) or am I misunderstanding what’s actually going on?

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[-] ProudCascadian@lemmygrad.ml 9 points 2 weeks ago

I mean, Liberals adopt Leftist personas all the time, e.g. Karl Kautsky, Bill Clinton, Ian Kochinski. As for the purpose, it mostly seems to be:

  • to fill the Left with tons of reactionary opinions like the need for border security;
  • mislead the Left by misrepresenting actual Leftist arguments such as "decolonization" and "Socialism in one country";
  • and making the Left feel hopeless by demonizing actually successful revolutions such as the USSR, PRC, Cuba and DPRK.

I suppose the consequences of Liberalism would be such balderdash being found out. Liberals are otherwise quite respected across the First World, and don't really need to hide themselves in shame.

this post was submitted on 18 Jan 2026
57 points (98.3% liked)

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