Political Theory for the Institutional Left Part 0

The New Jordan Peterson

What is the Left political theory?

Until recently, there was a very clear answer: Postmodernism and Intersectionality. Now, it's no longer so clear. Democrats are left reckoning with Trump’s victory and backing away from their least popular positions. Conservative and reactionary political theory has become ascendent, while parts of the Left’s political theory has been absorbed into elements of the Right like MAHA.

First of all, what is political theory? I specifically refer to an amoral understanding of how power flows, like an org chart for the government. But not just for the government, but for the kind of extended government: the things that decide an election, media, and public opinion.

Political theory is central because it shapes how a political party or movement forms narratives, tactics, and laws. Implicitly or explicitly, political theory shaped the Trump realignment.

The reactionary political theory is very easy to define. It comes from old thinkers like Machiavelli, leading up to more modern thinkers like Curtis Yarvin. Their argument about how power works is clear: academia and journalism create consensus, which directs the permanent bureaucracy – the real government of the United States – which engineers votes and public opinion to protect itself. Curtis will always claim that A.G. Sulzberger, the owner of the New York Times, is the most powerful man on Earth. Regardless of whether you agree with the reactionary political theory, it is clear.

The Petersonian Turn

Krystal Ball, co-host of Breaking Points articulates the Left’s “lost in the wilderness” moment well. Breaking Points, a Youtube news show with over 1.4 million subscribers, is a re-invention of Crossfire with one Krystal co-hosting on the Left and Saagar Enjeti co-hosting on the Right.

When I listen to her blistering news monologues criticizing the political theory of Marc Andreessen and Curtis Yarvin, I can’t help but be reminded of the early-youtube speeches of anti-woke celebrities like Jordan Peterson and James Lindsay.