Jan. 25, 2017 - Rubin Report - Dave Rubin
08:08
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| Speaker | Time | Text |
|---|---|---|
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unidentified
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(upbeat music) | |
| You're not gonna believe this, but we have to talk about the regressive left today. | ||
| I've actually been trying to get away from discussing the regressive left lately, and instead talk about the ideas of classical liberalism which I believe in, but current events keep dragging me back. | ||
| I see on social media that people are using the phrase regressive left a bit less lately, and replacing it with terms like bigotier, the control left, or the illiberal left. | ||
| Whatever name you use for this well-meaning yet painfully misguided set of ideas is largely irrelevant. | ||
| We needed this phrase to identify this backwards ideology which puts groups before people, and sometimes you need a label to get people to understand an idea. | ||
| The portion of the left which is no longer progressive, meaning for progress, but regressive, meaning going backwards, has been identified, and now we're clearly bringing people to the side of reason. | ||
| All of you who talk about this with friends and family, who use the regressive left hashtag on Twitter, and share these videos are part of this political awakening. | ||
| Yes, it seems like these backwards ideas are getting stronger in some circles, but at the same time, finally, for the first time in a long time, those of us who are liberal and open to new ideas are coming together and being heard. | ||
| Whether or not you like Trump, his win was a huge rejection of the identity politics of the left. | ||
| But don't take my word for that, Bernie Sanders said it himself. | ||
| The only thing which can replace the regressive dissent of the left is a return to true liberalism. | ||
| A liberalism which defends free speech and expression, a liberalism that is for liberty and rights of the individual, and most importantly a liberalism that is one for human liberty. | ||
| I now believe that this regressive ideology is the biggest threat to freedom and western civilization that exists today. | ||
| With the rise of Trump and the constant comparisons they make of him to Hitler, the left now has the perfect boogeyman to use to excuse anything. | ||
| If your opponent is a vile racist, then you can use violence and any means necessary to stop him. | ||
| The regressive left has already begun using violence as a tactic and I fear that that's just getting started. | ||
| If you're only now getting up to speed on what the regressive left is, allow me to recap quickly. | ||
| The regressive, control, liberal left, whatever you want to call it, is a group of people who place identity, usually based on immutable characteristics, in a pecking order of social importance such as race, gender, and religion, where victimhood is the highest virtue to be had. | ||
| This oppression olympics allows groups to compete for who is the most oppressed Thus the most virtuous. | ||
| And if someone isn't as oppressed as you, then you have full authority to oppress them accordingly. | ||
| So Black Lives Matter can protest a gay rights march in Toronto. | ||
| White gay men can be banned from leading LGBT organizations on college campuses. | ||
| Pro-life women can be kicked out of women's rights marches and so on. | ||
| This backwards ideology, which demands we judge each other not on the content of our character, but on the color of our skin or some other baked-in trait, puts the collective ahead of the individual. | ||
| It loves all of its minority groups to behave as monoliths, so if you're a true individual, meaning you don't subscribe to the ideas that the group think has attributed to you based on those immutable characteristics, you must be cast out. | ||
| Many of the guests on my show have suffered from this backwards backlash. | ||
| Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Maajid Nawaz, Sarah Hader, and Ali Rizvi all have felt abandoned by the left because they speak out about the problems within Islam. | ||
| They dare to fight for a more tolerant, more truly progressive Islam in tune with the modern society and basic liberal values, and for that they're labeled bigots or worse. | ||
| The Southern Poverty Law Center even labeled Majid as an anti-Muslim extremist. | ||
| In reality, Majid is a former Islamist who has devoted his life to trying to reform Islam from the inside, to try to reconcile his faith with the modern world, fighting for gays and atheists and women and any other free thinkers living under theocratic rule. | ||
| For this, he is called a porch monkey and other vile names by supposed progressives, while at the same time he is admired by many on the right for being outspoken. | ||
| This is the absolute height of absurdity. | ||
| But it all makes sense when you value groups over individuals. | ||
| The individual must be sacrificed at the altar of the collective. | ||
| So when any of these people dare speak out and call for true tolerance, they find their tolerance met with intolerance. | ||
| The left loves diversity in skin color, not diversity in thought. | ||
| Of course, this regressive ideology isn't just tied to Islam at all. | ||
| My guest this week is Larry Elder, a black conservative who has had every label and smear thrown at him. | ||
| Again, like with the previous guests I just mentioned, these slurs come from people on the left who would rather silence and dismiss their opponents than actually engage them in an honest way. | ||
| People often ask me which interview I've done that's changed my views the most, and I almost always say that it was the first time I sat down with Larry Elder. | ||
| He challenged my views on systemic racism, as well as the need for a strong family, and was one of the people that helped sell me on why small government is important. | ||
| If you haven't seen the video, we'll post the link right down below. | ||
| Larry challenged me, and I wasn't ready, so I can't say that it was my best moment on camera, but I listened and learned, and just as importantly, we didn't edit any of it out. | ||
| So I'm looking forward to picking up where Larry and I left off. | ||
| And as for where we left off, this is where I feel there might be nothing left for me on the modern American left. | ||
| You all know most of my positions on important issues. | ||
| I'm for free speech, even for white supremacist Richard Spencer to speak and not get punched in the face as happened just a couple days ago. | ||
| And I'm still a card carrying liberal by the way. | ||
| I'm for gay marriage, I'm pro-choice, I'm pro-legalization of marijuana, I'm against the death penalty, and the list goes on. | ||
| At the same time though, I'm against this suppression Olympics, I'm against safe spaces and trigger warnings, I'm against labeling all my opponents bigots and racists, and I'm against deplatforming speakers, especially at colleges where ideas are meant to be challenged and debated. | ||
| I'm also for states' rights, for following the Constitution, and most importantly for having a limited government that gets out of the way so that you can live your life to the fullest. | ||
| I've said a few times on the show that defending my liberal principles has become a conservative position. | ||
| Interestingly, I've also heard conservatives like Andrew Klavan and Dennis Prager say that they are conservatives because they really are liberals. | ||
| This is where we might get lost in the definition of liberal in the modern sense versus classical liberal. | ||
| So if you're still confused about that, check out a video I did a couple weeks ago called Why I'm a Liberal. | ||
| We'll put a link to it right down below. | ||
| The point is that if the issues I care about most, free speech, rights of the individual, and limited government designed to maximize liberty, now have almost nothing to do with the modern left. | ||
| My positions basically haven't changed, but I've watched as my team has gone off the deep end. | ||
| The battle of ideas always gets to a tipping point, and I sense that we're closing in on one right now. | ||
| If we can't rein in this madness on the left, then Donald Trump will be all too happy to show them his authoritarian side. | ||
| Both sides are ramping up for a showdown. | ||
| So, while I absolutely believe that the new center, filled with liberals, conservatives and libertarians and others, is rapidly growing, maybe I've lost the left and maybe that's okay. | ||
| But to end this direct message, I now kick this back to you guys. | ||
| If you're liberal, is there anything left for you on the left? | ||
| Or are you left out? | ||
| Is it now the conservative position to truly be liberal? |
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