The debate over media regulation in the last week has highlighted a tendency within many in the middle class, and particularly those in the left (this happens from the centre and the right too, but I am going to focus on the left today, as I think it has specific consequences for left movements). We seem to treat the working class, or ‘regular people’, as if they are all complete morons.
Whilst to me it is clear that debate over media regulation is needed, so much of the debate from the left’s perspective has been based around the idea that we need media regulation so the working classes will no longer be ‘duped’ by the mainstream media. The underlying idea is that the reason people are ‘so stupid’ to vote for Tony Abbott and the Coalition is because they have been fooled by the media. People simply aren’t smart enough to look beyond News Ltd. and we therefore need to broaden media coverage so people can be told ‘the truth’.
It is a common thread through much of left wing politics; one which assumes a stupid general populace that need to be educated.
Just look at the discourse by the elite in many arenas. Much of left rhetoric is focused around ‘educating’ and ‘raising awareness’ of major issues of the day. If we just teach people about the important issues of the day, they will finally ‘get it’ and change their principles and vote.
When people don’t change their vote, we then treat them as if they’re morons. “The majority of the population is full of idiots” we say. “How could people be so stupid as to vote for Tony Abbott?”
Look at some specific policy issues and we see the same trend. For example our talk about climate sceptics is laced with a superiority complex. Clearly we educated folk are just smarter than those who ‘don’t understand the science’, and what we need to do is ‘educate them’ about why they are wrong (or why they are so stupid). As I’ve pointed out before this ignores the very real reasons behind climate denialism.
This is discourse that is elitist, classist and worst of all extremely destructive for left-wing causes.
Firstly, an assumption of stupidity behind right-wing views is rather simplistic. It doesn’t feel like this needs to be said, but the idea that right wing beliefs are connected with stupidity is not true. And whilst the left may believe that they have ‘evidence’ on their side around so many issues, this is not an objective belief. Ideas of what are true and correct are subjective, and so our understandings of what is right, wrong, and who is smart and who is stupid are too. We all understand these ideas differently, and just because we read evidence differently to others doesn’t make us inherently smarter than them.
More importantly though, people do not engage in politics necessarily through ideas and rational thought. Whether we like it or not, people, including those on the left, engage in politics through their emotional brains. We engage in politics through values. We may not like other people’s values, we may campaign against them, but they are not based on intelligence levels. This is really important for understanding how destructive this rhetoric can be. The left is often so focused on talking about facts and evidence that it forgets that people actually connect through values, meaning that our campaigns are often useless.
Even more importantly though, treating the working class, or ‘ordinary Australians’ as if they’re morons is a completely elitist, and isolating approach. There are two ways in which we manage to isolate people through this. Firstly, this approach is rather off-putting for people who have values that are different to ours. Treating people who have different values as if they are idiots is a perfect way to ensure they don’t listen to you, making sure we never are able to engage with them to discuss, question and challenge their values base.
Beyond this though, this approach has the ability to isolate many whose values we share. This superiority complex is often directed at groups of people based solely on particular traits – often education and location. It assumes that all ‘bogans’ are stupid people who could never share our values. The uncomfortable reality for many people though is that these people we deride are also the same people that hold our values. It seems unlikely though that we are every going to be able to work with people the moment we decide to talk down to them.
As a collective, the left is supposed to be inclusive and looking at ways to work together for a greater good. The approach of many in the movement however directly contradicts these ideals – looking at people’s educations levels, lifestyle choices, and political opinions through the lens of a superiority complex. It’s about time we got over it.