Setting aside the “Leninist” thing for a second, and the fact that, okay, sure, this is just one random tweet... this resonated with me. I’m always bewildered by how many people you encounter on the left whose fundamental motivations and instincts seem wholly illiberal.
I don’t mean “against liberalism”... I mean “against freedom.” People who’re desperate for mechanisms of command and control, and who seem to be involved in politics in order to insert themselves into positions of influence and power within such mechanisms.
The enduring, and intertwining, legacies of Stalinism and technocratic, statist social-democracy explain a lot of it. The fact that the left is weak and marginalised, and therefore especially susceptible to the development of sect mentalities, explains some more.
Whatever the origins, it’s pretty fucked. We’re meant to be a movement for human liberation and a world remade on the basis of solidarity and equality. Probably worth reminding ourselves of that from time to time.
