A new study on Gen Z men revealed that Andrew Tate and Jordan Peterson are among the most trusted influencers.
It also found that 52% of UK men believe a “strongman” leader is needed to improve the country. Meanwhile, this article highlights how the right has been incredibly successful at indoctrinating young men into their ideology.
Why the hell is right-wing content so much more effective at gaining support? And why do left-wing influencers consistently fail to do the same? I’ll tell you why: we decided that social issues should take precedence over everything else, and by so doing have thrown all nuance out the window in the process.
The left—and I don’t want to hear Marxists bitching about how progressives “aren’t really leftists” because this kind of in-fighting is part of the fucking problem—needs to radically rethink its approach. Right now, the priority isn’t pushing our agenda. It’s stopping the worldwide fascist takeover.
And yes, this might mean abandoning identity politics entirely, as it is largely responsible for driving people away from the left and toward right-wing populism.
We need left-wing influencers who can effectively use populist tactics. We need less extremism from the progressive left, because in our obsession with social issues, we’ve lost the plot. We need to refocus on the economic needs of the people and stop alienating those who would otherwise support us.
The clock is ticking. Germany’s elections are coming up, and Elon Musk has already shown support for the AfD—the most far-right party in Europe. If we don’t correct course now, we’ll soon be living in a world where fascism dominates and equality is a pipe-dream.
I get what you’re saying about the right being more unified, but writing them off as dumb is a mistake. The reason their messaging works isn’t just because their audience is less intelligent, it’s because it speaks to their material concerns and fears. The left needs to stop assuming people will just ‘figure it out’ and start actually meeting them where they are.
Yes, the left has more ideological diversity, but that shouldn’t be an excuse for why we keep failing at mass mobilization. The right has factions too - libertarians, religious fundamentalists, corporate elites, working class conservatives - but they manage to unite under a common goal. We need to do the same instead of endlessly debating who is the ‘most correct’ leftist.
Also, the idea that leftists don’t need influencers because they already know who to be mad at is exactly why the left struggles with mass outreach. Working-class people aren’t sitting around reading theory; they need someone to break things down in ways that feel relevant to them (and this is one area where Marxists get things right). Right-wing influencers do this effectively, while many left-wing figures get bogged down in purity politics or academic jargon.
If we really want to win, we have to get better at messaging, outreach, and coalition-building, not just hope that people are naturally smart enough to come to the right conclusions on their own.
Yeah I think the mark was missed here. Is everyone on the right dumb? No. Are people who lean right statistically less educated? Yes. But more to the point, on the right horizons are closer (the world is smaller).
You are, I believe, more likely to fall into a majority segment on the right: white, Christian, middle class or lower, average education, not a world traveler, speak one language, etc etc. in that world, what is different is what is scary and so it’s easy to influence and rally. You speak to the 70% and you basically hit the mark. It’s easy to influence because obviously what you think quietly is what everyone else thinks and it just isn’t always easy to put into words. Your religion is under attack, your money doesn’t go as far and it’s going to people who don’t deserve it instead of to you, you don’t even know any trans people or people with different pronouns so why is the government messing with that instead of fixing the stuff that affects everybody?
On the left we are, in the best possible casting, a diverse group of honestly militant weenies. There is anger and pushback growing, but it is slow to catalyze. It’s a culture of everyone needing to be best and set a good example, which, sure, under ideal circumstances is true. But everyone on the left has an issue that is obviously the most important. We don’t take turns or wait in line on issues, we have no clear leader or group driving prioritization, so we are constantly incapable of producing a majority front. If you try to influence this group you will be shouted down by anyone whose issue you at not actively resolving.
Maybe the most accurate thing to say is that as a bloc the left is more heterogeneous and our interest are not necessarily directly aligned. It sure would be nice if we could just group together, but it has yet to happen.
Just a minor correction, I never meant the entirety of the right wing population isn’t as intelligent. Just the ones who gobble up the slop that certain influencers put out. Its also worth mentioning that a lot of right wing influence also comes from common social media and the news. They have a lot more control, so while they are more diverse than I initially stated, it’s easier to herd these people to a common goal.
With all that being said, I do agree with WHY we should have more influencers. But atleast for myself, I don’t need people to break down theory for me. I’ve picked up quite a lot passively from various different places, mostly common places for discussion, such as here on Lemmy and with friends that are smarter than me irl.
Of course, that’s just me, and I should probably be more cognitive of that and use better understandable language in my posts, and recognize that not everyone is the same as I am.
But good points all around.