In the lead-up to the 2024 election, there has been much ‘discussion’ among Clarkies about political semantics. A popular topic has been what it means to be a leftist – what the requirements are, who you would vote for if you were one, and whether or not certain people qualify. 

This is all good and fine, but a lot of Clarkies involved in this discourse have rarely thought to consider: what if this entire thing isn’t about them?

A good portion of college students involved in activism lack the skills to have an effective conversation about difficult topics. There should be no goal of an individual asserting themselves as ‘the most right’ when having these conversations – the point of talking with others is to listen and understand each other, and to further develop ideas. 

There is also some element in these “I’m right” monologues of working towards being ‘the ultimate’ activist. This often involves telling others that they’re not as qualified as you are or as radical as you are, whether implicitly or explicitly. Being a leftist simply means believing in ideas beyond the liberal or conservative binary of establishmentarian capitalist American politics, with one of the primary goals being to prevent further injustice to oppressed peoples. It is ironic that the people controlling these leftist or otherwise left-leaning narratives on campuses are often white in lieu of voices of people of color or other minority groups – marginalized voices should be at the forefront of a movement focused on liberation. That is not to say white people have nothing to add, but how is a movement supposed to serve a population that isn’t at least consulted in decision making?

Providing barriers to including yourself as part of a group, such as saying, “If you don’t vote third party, you’re not a leftist” or “If you don’t participate in protests, you’re not a leftist,” fail to understand the nuance behind what it means to subscribe to a set of beliefs. Gatekeeping political identities reduces the strength of a political ideology by dividing its members. The only requirement to being a leftist is whether or not you believe in the general premise of preventing fascism, anti-capitalist values and holding views that are considered radical by more centrist liberals. How you act based on those premises is up to you. For example, two people may believe that eating meat is wrong, but one is vegan and one is vegetarian. They both believe in the same basic principle. However, their practice looks different. This is the same for any belief set.

All of this is not to say that just ANYBODY can be involved in a movement. Sometimes, people do things that are dangerous to those involved or things that are directly against the movement’s agenda. However, there should be nothing beyond an agreed set of base beliefs as a requirement. Anything beyond that is divisive and does not contribute to effective action and discourse.