“....the left gradually realized, was that socialist economics had become an albatross. Increasingly, the democratic parties of the left in Western countries downplayed socialism or even decoupled from it, leaving them free to pursue the anti-institutional, relativistic moral crusade that has been in the DNA of the left all along...”
Bingo
But they never have an answer to the question that if the social issues are not important, why don't THEY stop pushing them so that us sheeple won't get so polarized and can vote ourselves a little money from the taxpayer.
“....the left gradually realized, was that socialist economics had become an albatross. Increasingly, the democratic parties of the left in Western countries downplayed socialism or even decoupled from it, leaving them free to pursue the anti-institutional, relativistic moral crusade that has been in the DNA of the left all along...”
The author has hit on a part of the truth. And this is merely a part of it’s current central thrust. The core of the current central thrust of the left is “feel good about yourself.”
That includes, “do whatever you want sexually, whenever you want, without consequences.” So Feminism, no-fault divore and contraceptives are part of that equation, as the author points out. But so too are Oprah’s ridiculous machinations and the “everyone gets a trophy” movement. So too are homosexual marriage and the left’s ridiculous elevation of men who have their genitals removed so they can be “women” and vice versa. So too are abortion and the enormous resources devoted to AIDs research—there cannot be any consequences.
All of this centers around feeling good about yourself, no matter how you behave.
And, in consequence, I proudly present you Rosseauian Natural Man liberated from the constraints of society—laying in a bathhouse, naked, waiting for a stranger to pop his head in and suggest a quick round of anal intercourse. And Natural Single Woman, driving to work to support her only kid, the first four lying in trashcans. Both wonder why life seems so empty and why they don’t feel good about themselves. Both get rabid furious at the idea that right and wrong have something to do with how they feel.
It is so powerful a doctrine because it tells us sin is not sin and that doing what we wanted all along is not just OK, it should be celebrated. And, until far too late, it tells us there are no consequences.
But everyone knows of sin, at least deep down. Everyone knows they needs redemption. So the left has had to invent a religion with sin, sacraments and absolution (environmentalism). What’s handy about that is it lets the sex-anesthetized masses move quickly toward a totalitarian state and feel good about themselves.
The left is nothing special. It is just the same old deceiver in a new, and particularly appealing to his disciples, guise.