The Postmodern Left's Moral Posturing Is Hypocritical Performative Goodness
Source: https://www.facebook.com/americanspectator/. "The High Priests of Performative Goodness | The American Spectator | USA News and Politics." September 26, 2026. spectator.org
The Gist
The author argues that today's progressive Left only pretends to be morally good—they talk about caring for others but never actually sacrifice anything themselves, they blame abstract forces like 'capitalism' instead of taking responsibility for failed policies, and they get emotional and aggressive instead of using reason, especially when their arguments are weak. In short, he's saying their compassion is fake performance, not real virtue.
Conclusion
The postmodern Left's claim to moral superiority ('goodness') is fraudulent performative posturing rather than genuine virtue, because it demands no personal sacrifice, refuses accountability, rejects reason and science when inconvenient, and relies on selective, self-serving emotionalism.
Premises
- Genuine goodness (as in the Christian tradition) requires self-denial and sacrifice, but the postmodern Left's version of 'goodness' demands sacrifice of nothing personal—only the imposition of costs on others (e.g., practicing charity with other people's money).
- Their policy solutions do not solve problems but instead level outcomes downward (e.g., fighting poverty by impoverishing the rich, fighting academic failure by ensuring universal failure).
- They never accept responsibility for the negative consequences of their ideas, instead consistently deflecting blame onto abstract structural forces like 'capitalism' or 'the patriarchy.'
- Unlike the classical Left, which championed reason and science, the postmodern Left now treats reason and science as hindrances or even 'fascist' when results conflict with ideological commitments to equity and diversity.
- Their moral appeals are driven by performative emotion/sentimentality rather than consistent principle, as shown by their selective compassion (e.g., claiming to care about the vulnerable while not showing genuine concern in cases like abortion or tax policy affecting the middle class).
- They exhibit disproportionate arrogance and hostility relative to the quality of their arguments, becoming most aggressive (toward dissidents or Trump) precisely when their reasoning is weakest.
- They adopt a self-righteous, quasi-religious posture of moral authority ('secular saints') while being unable to admit error, reflecting intellectual immaturity dressed up as sophistication.
Assumptions
- True moral virtue necessarily requires personal sacrifice, and goodness without cost is inherently inauthentic.
- The political and rhetorical behaviors of a few prominent figures (Guterres, Harris, Biden, AOC) are representative of 'the postmodern Left' as a whole.
- Policies aimed at equity or redistribution are accurately characterized as 'making the rich poor' or 'making everyone fail' rather than addressing structural inequality.
- Emotional or compassion-based moral reasoning is inherently less legitimate than reason/sacrifice-based moral reasoning.
- The author's own political and religious framework (Catholic conservatism) provides a neutral standard against which to judge others' sincerity.
- Rejecting certain scientific or reason-based conclusions in some contested cases (e.g., gender identity debates) is equivalent to rejecting reason and science generally.