There is a lot of recurring debate in the comments repeatedly about who is a leftist, especially pertaining to subcontinental politics.
Rather than aim this post at a specific country or an individual, I would like to give some general thoughts regarding this.
Firstly, what is a leftist? This is the Wikipedia definition.
Left-wing politics or leftism is the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole
So you can say that democracy is a very leftist idea as it achieves a semblance of “social equality”. No matter how rich or poor you are, no matter your gender/race/caste/creed, you get one vote which counts the same as everyone else’s.
Similarly equal rights for all is also a very leftist idea as it aims for “social equality”. Of course, in real life it is not so clear cut because certain groups do have advantages over other groups due to historical reasons. But having equal rights “on paper” is at least a start towards leftist utopia. If you don’t have that at all, then equality is a non starter.
So you cannot be a leftist if you:
- Support the dismantling of democracy by dictatorships – whether it is the military kind in Myanmar, North Korea, Pakistan etc or the Islamic kind in Iran etc
- Support unequal rights for citizens – whether it is restrictions on women in Iran or minorities/Ahmadis in Pakistan etc
Now there are many people who fall into two categories (and some of the commentariat on here also falls into one of these two categories)
- Support illiberal policies in your own home country while support liberal politics in some other country – Mamdani in the USA, Rahul Gandhi in India etc.
- Live in a liberal first world Western country while supporting illiberal policies both in your homeland as well as other countries.
Now the thing is, I won’t say that this is “wrong”. This self-serving behaviour is very much human nature. Rather than adhere to any lofty ideal, each step is basically taken to maximize personal benefit. So when you are in the majority, support majoritarian policies which benefit you and won’t harm you. When in the minority, support progressive liberal politics to safeguard your rights.
To be a “true” leftist is actually very admirable, especially if you come from a privileged background because it means incurring personal loss for the greater good. One could always argue that in the larger scheme of things, there is a gain because having your share of the pie becoming smaller is compensated by the pie getting a whole lot bigger (ideally). But it still requires you to give up benefits for your ideals.
Now, you can always support illiberal policies which don’t really affect you while labeling yourself as a “leftist” for a sense of smug self-satisfaction. That is fine, you are free to do what you want. But do not expect the rest of the world to see you that way.
Like in The Emperor’s New Clothes – you might imagine yourself decked out in the finest livery but the world sees you for what you really are – naked.