Tyler on the Ethos of the Left
I would not quite say that progressives are against [initiative, hard work, and individual responsibility], but where does it stand in their pecking order? Look at fiction, such as famous left-wing or progressive novels, or for that matter famous left-wing and progressive movies. How many of them celebrate “an ethos of initiative, hard work, and individual responsibility”? Is there one? Maybe as part of a broader struggle against a corrupt system or against “The Man,” but that tripartite of values is not celebrated in its own right. Do any of these novels and films have business heroes? To be sure, hard work from labor is celebrated, provided the workers are tough, exploited, but nonetheless hearty and worthy of respect…. Many progressives are genuinely unaware of how unusual a moral code they often are communicating and celebrating, if only implicitly.
Why mince words? The left has absolutely no interest in hard work or individual responsibility.
I’ve never really thought of it this way but Tyler’s observation appears to be accurate.
Yeah, I know what he means. In movies the villain is often a greedy businessman willing to do anything to get ahead. Rarely is the villain a progressive willing to do underhanded things to advance a social agenda.
Ditto Bruce.
This is playing out in the “Occupy” movements around the nation. The ethos of the left is for the richest 1% to take care of the rest of us.
Making broad generalizations about “famous left-wing or progressive novels…or movies” is pretty idiotic. What is a left-wing or progressive novel anyway? Most novels and movies I have read and seen are works of art rather than vehicles for a particular political ideology (except for several books I have read that were clear, unsubtle vehicles for a particular ideology, I’ll let you guess who wrote them).
@Buster – Whistlerblowers are another big one used in movies. But usually they are blowing the whisle against something in business.
I tend to think it’s more about a victim mentality than a lack of initiative.