When one is referring to either the "far right" or the "far left" we are, of course, not referring to the great mass of the population. However, just as people are concerned about the small number of "alt right" people or "hard right" folks, it is just as important to be guarded against the far left. Neither is a myth. Neither is irrelevant.JimC wrote:Sure, in academia there are people with at least some of the ideas you mention, and many of them are pretty hard-line and irrationally sure of their own position. Some mild versions of their ideas intersect with some pretty tame trends in modern society, which are typically no more than attempts to reduce structural inequality. But their ability to migrate hard-core left ideology into effective real world change is limited, to say the least. You are vastly exaggerating their true impact.
The thing with the far left is that they are actually making gains. The far right never gets sympathy from the middle, or the mainstream media, and rightly so. But, the far left gets a pass (as we saw on CNN and other news outlets when the far left committed acts of extreme violence in "defense" against what they say are hateful ideas....), and the far left is making inroads into legislation with hate speech legislation, pronoun legislation, Title IX inroads against due process of law, etc. So, while I admit that referring to the far left is not the same thing as referring to left of center moderates, I would not go so far as to say I "exaggerate the true impact of the far left." I think the far left is something to be concerned about. The postmodernist, leftist ideologies are very destructive, and when they claim the right to use violence against ideas (as they do), people should take notice.
People should also be vigilant against the far right, racism - and fascist ideologies. But, it has to be recognized that these are not mainstream views either, and not only are they not mainstream, but the government, politicians, the public, the media, businesses and employers, etc., have about a zero tolerance rule for far right garbage. However, there is quite a lot of tolerance for far left garbage. You can see antifa douchebags burning down businesses, smashing windows, and assaulting/battering people with clubs, and the media will downplay it, and if possible blame it on the "right wingt demonstrators."