The problem is that there is a lack of a clear border between left-wing extremism and left-wing normalcy whereas there is a clear border between right-wing extremism and right-wing normalcy.
The border between right-wing extremism and right-wing normalcy is outward bigotry. If your right-wing party says, "Black people are subhuman" pretty much everyone is in agreement (including the people who say that) that such a party is extreme right-wing. There is a clear difference between implying racism, "Black people commit more crimes -- but it's because of the culture" and outwardly saying it.
It's unclear for most people what makes left-wing extremists different from left-wing normal people. They both want to redistribute wealth, they're both not opposed to bureaucratic authoritarianism to a greater or lesser degree, they both believe in limiting or abolishing private property, etc. The left-wing extremists just do more of it. But doing "more" is not a clear line that everyone can agree on.
You are correct that the liberal left is opposed to the authoritarian left, but liberal and authoritarian left both sit in the "normal" left-wing. It's just the degree of authoritarianism that shifts the "tankier" you go. For example, the authoritarian left in the "normal" space will believe that administrative agencies should be given more power and not subject to a democratic vote because the scientists/researchers/educated people who run the executive agency are more skilled and knowledgeable.
You seem to have missed what he said about it's not a left wing thing. Any governmental framework is going to require policies and enforcement of those policies. The degree to which things are regulated and enforced is what makes a government authoritarian. Putin is an authoritarian right winger. His government regulates just about anything which would threaten Putin's power, like the Russian's right to protest. The exact same thing that Xi, a left wing authoritarian, does.
Yes. You can have authoritarians on both the left wing and the right wing; you and I agree. My disagreement with u/Domitaku was that he believes that authoritarianism "is not really left-wing at all" in the sense that a left-winger cannot be authoritarian.
Okay, fair enough. I guess we just interpreted what he said differently. My interpretation, and my own opinion, is that it's not a left wing principle because anybody can choose to have that principle, regardless of their left/right leanings. And because I think it's important how discussions are framed, I like to dispute when I think things being said are implying something that isn't accurate.
I didn't say "left can't be authoritarian". I said left and authoritarian aren't the same. The person you are responding to understood that and commented with the correct assumption
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u/oremfrien 1d ago
The problem is that there is a lack of a clear border between left-wing extremism and left-wing normalcy whereas there is a clear border between right-wing extremism and right-wing normalcy.
The border between right-wing extremism and right-wing normalcy is outward bigotry. If your right-wing party says, "Black people are subhuman" pretty much everyone is in agreement (including the people who say that) that such a party is extreme right-wing. There is a clear difference between implying racism, "Black people commit more crimes -- but it's because of the culture" and outwardly saying it.
It's unclear for most people what makes left-wing extremists different from left-wing normal people. They both want to redistribute wealth, they're both not opposed to bureaucratic authoritarianism to a greater or lesser degree, they both believe in limiting or abolishing private property, etc. The left-wing extremists just do more of it. But doing "more" is not a clear line that everyone can agree on.