What the Left Fear Most

I often wonder why conservatives are subject to the level of hate and vitriol they receive from the left. After all, aren’t we all simply engaged in the battle of ideas?

Unfortunately, it seems that any conservative who dares to poke their head above the leftist parapet will be subject to a public mauling with a savagery (and celebration) not seen since the gladiatorial battles of ancient Rome.

Given the plethora of left-wing propaganda outlets and their apologists evident in every aspect of the media, it seems their apoplectic reaction to the relatively few public challengers to their ‘progressive wisdom’ is entirely disproportionate.

In the words of the late Professor Julius Sumner Miller: “why is this so?”

The answer, it seems, is fear. Despite what the left will say, their views are not reflective of the mainstream. They cater to a vocal subsection of the community who seek to dominate public debate by shutting down the voice of common sense. They are scared of common sense conservatives exposing just how narrow their agenda and support base actually are; they are derailing their ideological agenda.

How else can one explain the hatred directed at those (relatively) few conservatives who are prepared to speak up?

In the media Andrew Bolt, Miranda Devine and Piers Akerman are subject to the most outrageous abuse from the leftist elites, yet prove themselves to be the most popular newspaper columnists among the Australian majority.

In politics, straight talkers like Barnaby Joyce (and yours truly) are regularly ridiculed by the media yet our message resonates strongly with mainstream Australia. In my case, the critics spend an extraordinary amount of time and effort trying to convince themselves how ‘ineffective and useless’ I am at thwarting their agenda – a sure sign I am effectively getting under their skin!

However, the common sense conservatives have a great deal of work to do simply because there are too few of us prepared to engage in the public debate.

For too many fellow travellers, despite the importance of our message, the public price of engaging with the left is simply too high. Unfortunately, challenging the left means risking character assassination, personal abuse and career limitations.

The evidence exposing the hypocrisy of treatment is overwhelming.

Challenge the leftist claims in respect to anthropogenic climate change and you are a ‘science denier’; despite the evidence that green groups, governments and scientists have colluded in one of the greatest scientific and political frauds in human history. If you doubt that, just read the latest batch of leaked emails from the Hadley Research Centre. However, agree with the fallacies and you will be hailed as a champion (or a Nobel Prize winner!).

What if you seek to preserve the definition and meaning of something as simple as a word? In this case the word is ‘marriage’. The dictionary defines it as “the state of being united to a person of the opposite sex as husband or wife in a consensual and contractual relationship recognised by law.”

Now, rather than come up with their own term for a lifelong commitment, the left want marriage redefined in their own image. We might as well start calling a dog a cat, or ignore Shakespeare’s doctrine that a rose can smell as sweet by any other name.

Of course, to say so in this brave new world is to be a ‘homophobe’ or to support discrimination. Naturally the facts don’t support the assertions but that has never bothered the left.

The left activists specialise in smears. If you are in any doubt check the new media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. For the old school, read a periodical like The Monthly which takes its name as much from its publishing schedule as its regular smearing of the conservative activist.

In the interests of disclosure, I was its most recent target via an article replete with falsehoods, gratuitous and misleading commentary and a serious dose of journalistic bias. In a market economy we have to accept that ‘he who pays the piper calls the tune’ and thus magazines like The Monthly provide fodder for their intended audience.

Yet when anything critical of the left, or one of their sacred cows, appears in the public domain it is deemed ‘hate press’ or challenged through the courts, ACMA or some government funded anti-discrimination tribunal.

One example was the artist forced to pay the legal expenses of a woman who claimed his work ‘vilified’ her religion despite her withdrawing the case. Then there was the radio broadcaster forced to defend himself against an anonymous complainant who took offence to the factual statements (supported by religious scripture) about Mohammad’s marriage to Aisha – a six-year-old girl.

At a national political level, there is an inquiry into the media because Greens leader Bob Brown took offence to scrutiny of the Greens’ political agenda by the ‘hate media’; that being loosely defined as any media who wants to hold the Greens to account for their hypocritical statements and ridiculous policy agenda.

Which brings me to the ‘agenda’ of the left.

I believe it is to dismantle the enduring structures of Western civilisation and democratic capitalism. This means to subsume Judeo-Christian faith and values in a haze of moral relativism, reduce national sovereignty via international treaties and global commissions, create government dependent societies and undermine the importance of the traditional familial structure.

The public defenders of these structures are the enemy of the left. The silent majority who support them are cowed into compliance by the dominance of the leftist message in the public discourse; too afraid to speak up for what they believe, in the mistaken belief that their views are in the minority.

That such a circumstance can exist in Australia today should worry all who value common sense above political correctness. We are travelling down a path that has been proven to be disastrous for those who have previously dared travel the same route. The economic, social and cultural woes of Western Europe are testimony to such folly.

For us to avoid the same, we will need to restore common sense and re-endorse the frank exchange of ideas as central to determining the best course for our nation to take. Unless we do so, the future of our nation can be found by examining the current state of many other Western nations around the world.