By: mag. Tadej Ian
Who in the West today is not familiar with political activism? Hysterical left-wing political activists demand that we stop using oil, abandon all Western traditions, or introduce socialism and other self-destructive absurdities that would ruin our civilisation. Some Slovenian left-wing political activists rank very high on the scale of Western foolishness/madness.
Political activism – or more precisely, political action – has played a major and very important role in the development of Western civilisation. Political activism itself is therefore not a negative phenomenon. Societies that are stagnant or developing slowly need dynamism, or action. This is triggered by courageous individuals who are insightful and recognise the need for political change in order to achieve progress that will improve the lives of everyone in society. Such individuals often put themselves at personal risk and pay a heavy price.
How political activism in the West has degenerated
There is no doubt that the rapid development of the West after the Middle Ages was made possible by political activists. One of the most prominent among them was Christopher Columbus. The decision in 1492 to send three ships westward toward the yet undiscovered America was, at that time, primarily a political one, since people believed that the world ended in the West – there was “nothing” out there. But today, Western political activism has degenerated. Since the French Revolution, the West has become increasingly restless, turbulent, and unstable – a trend that became evident in the 20th century and is even more pronounced in the 21st. Rather than peacefully processing the legacy of the bourgeois French Revolution, the West has, for the past 250 years, continually churned out new (read: insane) revolutionaries eager to reform and radicalise society nonstop.
With the emergence of the hippie movement in the 1960s, the West suffered a major blow, as political activism became a lifestyle of rebellion for its own sake. The hippies grew up – and old – but raised a generation of sons and daughters who became hobbyist political activists and part-time revolutionaries. They passed on their destructive lifestyle to their children, who then passed it on further. The West is now engulfed in the chaos of absurd and irrational political activism, spanning multiple generations.
How political activism works
The core characteristic of every political activist is single-mindedness in pursuit of a goal. A political activist is deliberately one-sided (pushing just one agenda) and does not regard the world as a complex, interconnected reality. They must act this way, because they need to focus all their energy on a single cause, ignore the broader picture, and be unfair and ruthless – because these things are often required to achieve a political breakthrough. If the goal is noble, this approach makes sense: the breakthrough enables progress and better lives for all. After the breakthrough, things can settle, complexity can be acknowledged, and fairness can be restored – leading to a new stability at a higher level, made possible by the activist’s efforts.
But if the political goal is harmful and leads to regression, worsens quality of life, or is anti-developmental, then political activism becomes nothing more than a relatively controlled descent into chaos and societal breakdown. And this is exactly what is happening in the West today due to leftist political activists. They are pushing for radical environmentalism, which, in its attempt to save the planet, already threatens Western economies; militant feminism, which is destroying already fragile gender relations in the West; LGBT+ value indoctrination across society, which is deeply confusing the youth and future generations; democratic socialism, which hinders Western progress and will ultimately collapse Western economies; and the ideology of “white guilt”, which erodes Western traditions and creates a submissive posture toward non-Western cultures. Any further growth and political success of leftist activism will inevitably lead to the fall of Western civilisation.
Leftist political activism is dangerous to the West
In the past, political action by progressive individuals was beneficial because such people uncovered new societal patterns and methodologies that helped civilisations grow. Today, the opposite is true. Foolish and delusional Western political activists – driven mainly by leftist ideologies – are actively undermining and dismantling Western civilisation. These activists fail to understand – or wilfully ignore – the fact that the world is multipolar. As Western power wanes, other civilisational entities – like China and the Islamic world – watch Western leftist activism with disgust and contempt, further reinforcing their belief that something is deeply wrong with the West. These other civilisations, never fond of the West’s global interference, are waiting for the West to grow weak enough to be defeated once and for all. In this context, leftist Western activists function as an internal fifth column. Ironically, if the West were ever occupied by a foreign civilisation, those activists would be the first to be eliminated.
The rise and fall of Slovenia’s “bicycle movement”
Leftist political activism reached its peak in Slovenia during Janez Janša’s last government and the COVID-19 pandemic. The moment his government began, leftist activists hit the streets. Because gatherings were banned due to pandemic restrictions, they protested by riding bikes in groups through Ljubljana – bicycles became their trademark. Slovenia’s so-called “bicycle movement” is a textbook case of the limitations (or stupidity) of modern leftist political activism. They were not for anything; they were just against something – in this case, against the idea that Slovenia could ever have a government that was not fully left-wing. They were upset simply because the government included a right-wing party. But alternation of power is completely normal – and even beneficial – in a democracy. Once Janša’s government was gone, the bicycle protesters were satisfied and quieted down. Today, there are no protests, even though the current government is, by any objective standard, performing far worse.
Slovenia’s bicycle movement is therefore a perfect example of modern Western leftist activism: not driven by positive goals, but by opposition and destruction. Even in constructive activism, tearing down the old is necessary – but only to build something new and better. Today’s leftist activism does not build anything. It only destroys and corrodes, offering no replacement or solutions. Its primary goal is the dismantling of what exists.
In this way, modern Western leftist activists are like stubborn little children who only know what they do not want – but have no idea what they do want. Modern Western leftist activism is a clear sign that the West is collectively losing its mind.
