A recent issue of The Economist was largely devoted to discussions about the evils of the illiberal left. The magazine acknowledged that the right is a bigger threat, but had nothing else to say about the danger from that quarter.
I will fill in the gaps for you:
- While the illiberal left takes philosophical positions that are debatably false, the illiberal right accepts “facts” that are demonstrably false.
- The illiberal left does not have a following among prominent members of the Democratic Party. The last American President is the leader of the illiberal right, and he has plenty of company.
- The base of the Republican Party is unambiguously illiberal. The leadership has no interest in persuading it to change its views. Democratic voters chose a liberal to represent them in 2020.
- The illiberal right supported an attempted insurrection. The Twitter left has never attacked liberal democracy in this country.
I don’t have much use for the illiberal left, but it should be obvious why I don’t waste much time and energy worrying about them.