Maybe this rant is fueled by my failure to date people in higher tax brackets despite having similar interests, or maybe this rant is rooted in exposure to online discourse that frequently drops leftist theory terminology as a defense against the most inane low-stakes arguments. But I am honestly so tired of speaking to upper class intellectuals, and in a way the system is at fault for giving people the feeling of fulfillment simply by acknowledging its current harm in a post-object economy.
Time and time again I have seen a disparity of speaking to upper middle class intellectuals (or those who use upper class intellectual talking points) as someone who has roots in the lower class, and the conversations I have are both fulfilling yet alienating. Fulfilling in a sense that I have the ability to have discussions with someone who has the time and energy to know the figures I’m referencing, yet alienating in a way that they lack a tolerance that exposes my background. At the same time, these intellectuals speak of the lower class with sympathy and strong conviction, yet show discomfort or disgust when faced with the source of their benevolence.
I despise them for their disconnect, as oftentimes the ideological victim is glorified and the real victim who is much more complex is rejected. There seems to be an unwillingness to even acknowledge the complex actions of systemic victims such as being a class traitor. No amount of theory prepares someone to engage in the messiness that is being a victim of society, and instead these victims are painted as ideologically pure in a way that can be dehumanizing and rooted in disconnect. All actions committed by the victim evades responsibility, lacking complexity because of the victim’s deprived autonomy. The upper middle class intellectual does not see the victim as an equal, where the personhood is stripped by the system and by the person who advocates on their behalf. There is no possibility that the victim’s contentment in their lifestyle is rooted in a low threshold of satisfaction, and even the benefits of dehumanization by evading responsibility.
Also seen in intellectual circles is the push for victimhood in order to evade personal responsibility for a lack of action. Where one is satisfied with existing in oneself despite having no positive contributions due to their victimhood, where ideological purity is given to those who have less accountability for themselves because of extraneous circumstances. One chases victimhood in these circles the same way one escapes personal responsibility. Being a system’s collateral is commodified as a kind of social currency.
It’s frustrating to exist in a space where group semantics over ideological purity becomes cannibalistic, unable to prioritize practice over theoretics, believing that internal ideological purity will triumph over real world change.
The upper middle class intellectual is forced to reckon with the disparity of their theory and the uncomfortable reality, and oftentimes cannot handle it. The “filth” of lower class mundanity is often layers of complexity caked onto an individual who has been horrifically neglected by the system, and it is those who were born in the same filth that has the strength to recognize when to abandon their own kind. This is something that an upper class intellectual does not have the life experience to understand. The filth exhibited is misunderstood by the upper class to be surface level, and it strikes a fear in the intellectual that through their critical theory they understand that this filth is not something genetic but can “infect” anyone through enough extraneous circumstances.
Leftists are left to grapple with the final question of nature versus nurture, reckoning with the possibility that someone raised just like them could have naturally reached a different conclusion that is less sympathetic. Or an even worse alternative: If they would have become more ideologically corrupt if they were born less advantageous. From my observations, many believe in good will simply because they have surrounded themselves with advocates that work to benefit the disadvantaged and not the population of those passive or even content perpetuating the cycle of harm.
By no means is this trying to indicate that I am for or against one party in the United States, I’m just honestly sick of speaking to people who are disconnected with my struggles but I still acknowledge their good intentions and believe in their good will.