The Left Has Abandoned Moderation and Become Entirely Far Left
Source: https://www.facebook.com/americanspectator/. "Why All Leftism Is Now Far Left | The American Spectator | USA News and Politics." August 12, 2026. spectator.org
The Gist
The author argues that the political left has completely transformed from an economically-focused movement into an extremist identity-politics movement, and claims there's no more 'moderate left' left—it's all far left now. He supports this by pointing to how fringe ideas became mainstream, how the left allegedly preys on vulnerable people, refuses to debate, abandons free speech principles, and controls language and institutions.
Conclusion
There is no longer a moderate 'left'; all contemporary leftism, regardless of party or label, is now far left and must be confronted as such.
Premises
- Issues once considered fringe 'far left' positions (identity politics, gender ideology, open borders, defunding police, rewriting history) are now the mainstream agenda of major left-wing parties like the Democratic Party.
- The contemporary left targets and mobilizes psychologically vulnerable or 'malleable' populations (trans people, immigrants, those with fluid identities) rather than persuading informed, free-thinking individuals, similar to how 20th-century leftists targeted working-class people.
- The modern left refuses genuine dialogue or debate, treating any disagreement with their orthodoxy as evidence of fascism or moral failure, unlike the 20th-century left which at least engaged with substantive economic arguments.
- The modern left has abandoned commitment to classical liberal values like free expression, presumption of innocence, and equality before the law when these values conflict with their ideological agenda.
- The left has captured cultural institutions (media, universities, corporations, international bodies like the UN and WHO) to advance its agenda while the right remained ineffectively focused on parliamentary politics.
- The left has successfully controlled and redefined language (terms related to sex, gender, race), which is characteristic of extremist and totalitarian movements seeking psychological dominance.
- Even self-described moderate factions (e.g., European social democrats) merely disguise an extremist agenda that reveals itself wherever they hold power or influence.
Assumptions
- The historical 20th-century left (class politics) can be meaningfully distinguished from and treated as more legitimate than the contemporary 'identity politics' left.
- Targeting or mobilizing a particular demographic group is inherently evidence of manipulation rather than legitimate political coalition-building.
- The absence of engagement with the author's preferred terms of debate constitutes 'refusing dialogue' rather than a disagreement over what counts as a legitimate debate topic.
- Cultural and institutional influence (media, universities, corporations) by one political side is illegitimate 'infiltration' while presumably similar influence by the right would not be characterized the same way.
- There exists a clear, objective standard for what counts as 'moderate' versus 'extreme' political positions that the author is applying consistently.
- The psychological state of individuals who adopt progressive identity positions can be characterized as mental illness or vulnerability rather than genuine belief or lived experience.