The author points out that the left has been guilty of helping to create the conditions for our toxic political moment. He cites several ways in which left-of-center politics have repudiated liberal values, including:
1. Starting from collectivist and racialist assumptions, rather than individualistic ones.
2. Treating progress as zero-sum, where one person’s gain is seen as another’s loss.
3. Being willing to employ state power on behalf of one side in contested questions.
The author argues that these approaches have led to a siege mentality among some groups, particularly white men, who feel resentment and rage over being denied respect and opportunities based on attributes outside their control.
He also notes that the left has abandoned free speech and other liberal values, using state power to impose its views on others. This has created an enormous amount of acrimony toward “liberal” elites who are not, in fact, liberal at all in this sense of the word.
The author believes that prominent figures like Matt Yglesias have begun drawing attention to the left’s illiberal turn, and he welcomes their contribution to the cause. He argues that liberalism offers an alternative, but it requires more self-awareness from people on the left of center than we’ve seen so far.
Source: https://reason.com/2025/12/11/the-far-right-is-powered-by-left-wing-illiberalism-and-hypocrisy