Progressive Politics

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TokenBoomer@lemmy.world

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The phrase "purity test" was popularized by establishment Democrats only recently, as a thought-terminating cliché to shut down criticism of the party's drift towards the Right. (infosec.pub)

submitted 2 months ago by skisnow@lemmy.ca to c/progressivepolitics@lemmy.world

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought-terminating_clich%C3%A9

As the party fielded more and more candidates who championed economic-right policies in order to attract corporate donations, the idea of "purity testing" was turned into a stock phrase to attack critics using labels, instead of justifying it on its own terms.

Phrases like "moral purity" now serve two functions: firstly, to dismiss criticisms from the Left wholesale without having to discuss them directly, and secondly, to blame them for the rise of fascism.

In theory it was also supposed to serve a third function of bullying the Left into voting Democrat, but that didn't work.

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[–] eupraxia@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 2 months ago (1 children)

My impression is this is primarily an issue in online spaces, without a clear goal in communication. When you meet leftists involved in a specific project, bigger-picture disagreements tend to fade away into focus and concern around a shared goal. It's a lot easier to stay focused on the things that are immediately relevant when the route to making a real impact is right in front of you.

[–] MonkRome@lemmy.world 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Absolutely true, I fear that some here don't understand that distinction and stay away from left leaning activism because they are so paralysed in online spaces.

[–] eupraxia@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

I could see it, yeah. I like Lemmy for a lot of reasons but it's still social media. Commenting here isn't activism and it doesn't represent the irl dynamics of leftist circles. Engagement via comments and votes are the only things shown here, there's no way to track the number of people that see a comment and think "you're maybe not wrong, but you're definitely splitting hairs..." and then move on. IRL, though, the dead air in the room would be deafening. (and could be a learning experience!)