EclectEcon

In my student days of the tumultuous 60s and early 70s, I was pretty left of centre, as were most of my friends. One of the reasons I drifted toward the right was that I saw too many instances of people on the left trying to take away freedoms rather than create or enhance freedom.

I didn't realize that so many leftists are also racists. It seemed back then that leftists were the most active in the fight against racism. But not so any more in Europe, according to Flemming Rose. From an article in Reason, reflecting on the Danish cartoon controversy [h/t to BenS]:

I think many people betrayed their own ideals. The history of the left, for instance, is a history of confronting authority — be it religious or political authority — and always challenging religious symbols and figures. In this case, they failed miserably. I think the left is in a deep crisis in Europe because of their lack of willingness to confront the racist ideology of Islamism. They somehow view the Koran as a new version of Das Kapital and are willing to ignore everything else, as long of they continue to see the Muslims of Europe as a new proletariat.