A concept that has come to mind several times over the past couple of weeks as I’ve pondered on the marvelous opportunity we all have to watch an empire collapse in real-time is Horseshoe Theory, an idea described in 1972 by the late French philosopher Jean-Pierre Faye. Horseshoe Theory asserts that the extreme ends of a political spectrum are ideologically closer together than they are to the center; hence, the spectrum is not a straight line, but is shaped like a horseshoe.
According to the theory, far-left and far-right ideology and resulting policies are often virtually identical, and regard political, social, and economic life as a zero-sum struggle in which any advantage for the other side is an existential threat to one’s own. Both sides express political sentiments in unambiguous, “us vs. them” terms, and regard “them” with extreme, often dehumanizing hostility; view most of the rest of the world’s societies and political systems in similar terms, and otherwise hold strongly to simplified worldviews (views on climate change and what to do about it are a good example). Both sides also tend to identify disfavored groups as sources of trouble – often based on race, origin, religion, or social or economic class – and take punitive actions against them. Both sides also favor an authoritarian approach to governance, characterized by significant government intervention in economic and social policy.
The details, of course, do differ, but the political mindset is virtually the same. The most oft-cited and simplest example, and the one that Faye discussed at length, is the relationship between Soviet Communism and Nazi Fascism. For all their savage enmity and specific differences, they were joined by a surprisingly high common denominator in more ways than not. Especially in the highest common denominator of all, the erasure of personal freedom and self-determination.
Before some pedantic nerd jumps in here and points out that Horseshoe Theory has not really stood up to proper academic research and is generally considered discredited as a political theory, let me point out that yes, I know that. But I also think most of the criticism misses the point, because in reading Faye’s original work (Théorie du récit: introduction aux langages totalitaires), it doesn’t exactly come across a political theory, but rather as a low-res observation that people, and the systems they form, are more alike than different at a fundamental level. In the context of understanding history, and why certain broad patterns endless repeat themselves, it is very helpful.
At this point, you may be saying to yourself, “That’s great. So what are we supposed to do with this new-found knowledge?” Look, that’s up to you. I’m not your mom. But I suppose I can offer a couple of my own insights.
First, it explains my growing distaste for the rhetoric of the left, which is increasingly simply a reverse mirror-image of the rhetoric of the right. For what it’s worth, in my view the morals and principles of the left are correct – for the most part – while the beliefs of the right are, for the most part, reprehensible, inhumane, and evil. Those two ends of the horseshoe, however, are like the poles of a magnet; you are not going to convert any one of them to your side, nor they you, and all your bluster is simply preaching to the choir. Maybe that’s cathartic, but if that’s the case, then recognize it for that.
Likewise, you are not going to drag many from the middle ground, the vast, weak bottom of the horseshoe, to your side. Those people are in the middle because they do not feel the same way you do, and it is unlikely that will change. Some hold out hope that the politically moderate (or ambivalent) may become radicalized as a result of suffering from the regime’s policies, and that may happen in a few cases (relatively speaking; the US is a big country), but not for most, for the simple reason that most of the regime’s punitive policies are directed toward them, they are directed toward you.
And that brings me back around to my post from a couple of days ago. The only way this changes is if you fight. The two poles of the magnet can never meet, and so the only solution is to smash one of them. The other side has already figured this out, it seems, and so we’ve got some catching up to do.
Fight now and rebuild later, but if there’s one last thing that Horseshoe Theory should tell us is that if those of us on “the left” do not change when that victory gives us the opportunity to do so, sooner or later, everyone will be right back where they started.
Hey, The Who even wrote a song about that, a long time ago.
