Is there such a thing as liberal extremism?

[DW44]

One of the phrases being used repeatedly in the Pakistani mainstream, as well as social media, is of ‘liberal extremism.’ I have repeatedly heard and read that Pakistani society is polarised – and both the ‘extremes’ are equally harmful.

A few columnists and anchor persons continuously point towards the ‘dangers’ emanating from liberal extremists. Some way or the other, our media is trying to project itself as striking the vital middling position and professes ‘miana ravi’ or moderation in opinion.

This term is no longer just restricted to the media but has also found its way in everyday conversations and drawing room discussions.

Well, at least semantically, a phrase like liberal extremism or liberal fascism can only be termed as an oxymoron. From a philosophical point of view, you cannot be a liberal and a fascist at the same time. However, since in everyday political terminology, the word liberal corresponds to certain positions, therefore at least theoretically it is possible for someone to be a ‘hard core’ liberal. Even from that angle, you can only be called an ‘extremist’ if you are ready to resort to violence or take extremely inflexible and fringe positions.

It is important to know as to what liberal values espouse. Liberalism is not a strictly defined doctrine and has meant different things at different times and places. However, broadly speaking we can say that ideas with liberal underpinning are: women liberation, religious tolerance; preference of self-introspection over irrational patriotism; separation of state and religion, increased role of state for levelling income inequalities, less ambitious external policy; and a passive yet alert military with no expansionist aspirations built around romantic nationalism.

In Pakistan, those who espouse these values are rare and in media – they are restricted to merely English print and web. Moreover, they do not use violent tactics the way religious fundamentalists do and therefore to label them as fascists is a gross exaggeration.

In addition, the local category of liberals is fully cognisant of the fact that Pakistan suffers from acute religious sensitivity and therefore while projecting their point of view in the public sphere, they often carefully word their opinion. They have to otherwise run the risk of being slain. In fact, even their vocal opposition of blasphemy law was mostly on the ground that the said law was against the ‘true’ spirit of Islam, rather than on the fact that there is no place for religion inspired law in the matters of state.

The fact is that liberals in Pakistan are not the ‘hard-core’ variety but rather close to centre and have to argue from position of severe disadvantage. The media does not give them the space, and when they speak, they have to tread very carefully and consequently often end up projecting a much compromised point of view.

And despite this, a sizeable number of people categorise them as some kind of fascists or Western elitists. This in my opinion just shows as to how orthodox and schizophrenic our society has become. Here some of the people claim to be following a ‘balanced’ middle simply on the grounds that they do not out rightly support religious extremism. Yet a substantial number of such people may be giving what is known as ‘soft’ support to the militants through weird conspiracy theories and at times apologetic defence whereby extremists are acting violently due to some sort of ‘reaction’.

In my books, this mind-set is also ultraconservative and extremist though its manifestation is in a different way.

The central issue in my opinion is that in Pakistan, on the ideological spectrum, the orthodox positions virtually dominate. In fact the opinions which would fall under the category of fringe opinions in the West are actually the mainstream opinions in Pakistan. When extreme conservative opinions become the mainstream opinion then even moderately liberal opinions start appearing as the ‘other extreme.’

Moreover, unfortunately the mainstream media has successfully projected liberal values as some kind of a modus operandi cum intellectual vehicle to westernise Pakistan and to undermine the existing ‘rich’ patriotic culture and values.

Consequently, anyone vying for the liberal values is immediately bracketed as some kind of a western liberal extremist and even a fascist. When even moderately liberal points of views are categorised as extremist then clearly there is something wrong with our conception and ideological direction.

Moreover, this is proving seriously detrimental because liberal opinions are being simply shot down as liberal extremism without even being properly considered. Consequently in the battle of ideas, only the variants of one kind of narrative are reigning supreme and counter opinion is virtually absent in the public sphere.

Instead of a balanced middle which emanates from conflation of competing ideas, what we are witnessing in Pakistan is just the dominance of variants of conservative ideology. Hence it is no surprise that intellectually we are becoming bankrupt.

Source: http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/40727/are-there-any-liberal-extremists-in-pakistan/

In recent years, mainly since Imran Khan coined and popularized the term 'liberal fascists', it has become something of a trend in Pakistan to counter any liberal criticism of extreme religious or conservative elements with the cliche that liberal extremists are just as bad as religious ones which is absolute bunkum. What surprised me is that it took so long(half a decade give or take) for someone to come up with a decent rebuttal though I doubt it will gain much traction in a society as stiflingly conservative as ours.

The point, as the article states, is that the phrase liberal extremism is an oxymoron. The very idea of liberalism is, as stated in the article, a free and fair society where people are largely free to do as they please unless it directly harms others and the whims of one party cannot dictate the lives of others as they do in Pakistan.

As stated in the highlighted part, Pakistani liberals aren't even particularly liberal by any reasonable standard. Given that the vast majority of them are still Muslim(which makes some of the more basic liberal values a no-go even for the liberals among us) and the fact that you actually run the risk of ending up on the business end of a mob or lone wolf Islamic vigilante's guns if you're perceived to be even slightly out of line, the Pakistani brand of liberalism, so often decried as liberal extremism, is fairly centrist by modern standards.

One of my pet peeves is how Pakistani conservatives conflate liberal values with western culture. Does the west have a monopoly on basic human rights, personal freedom and civil liberties? Is it reasonable to say that it's better to be subjugated, repressed and oppressed because our culture/religion promote these values while a superior system is out of the question because, and I quote the millions who say so on a daily basis, it's western? Exactly what is it about the idea of free speech, freedom of religion, freedom from religion for those not religiously inclined, basic women's rights and equal treatment for religious minorities that makes them western? Are these not general standards that any reasonable society should aspire to or is it because the west adopted them first that these values are now defined as theirs?

As things stand, the imbalance in power between conservative religious and liberal elements in Pakistan is at levels unheard of virtually anywhere else in the world bar the likes of second rate tinpot dictatorships like Saudi Arabia and Sudan where it has come about as a result of conservatism being imposed from above by authoritarian governments for decades. For those PPers who have traveled the world, has anyone experienced a similar example of such a massive imbalance between the left and the religious right anywhere in the world? I'd like an objective answer given that the vast majority of the most well traveled folk here come across as extremely conservative themselves based on their posts so a little bit of neutrality will be appreciated when answering.

 

[Pakistanian]

Here in America, marxism and communism is considered liberal extremism.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Liberal thought can't survive in a bubble, liberals around the world still rely on the guns of armies to protect their way of life. So when we say freedom of thought and speech, there's a limit to everything before you start putting noses out of joint, as that rascal Anjem Choudhery found out.

 

[Mian]

Pakistani liberals are living in their own bubble with their extreme ideas about liberalism.

 

[Loralai]

Pakistani liberals are living in their own bubble with their extreme ideas about liberalism.

Could you share these extreme ideas you're referring to? Do you mean tolerance, justice and equality for all citizens of Pakistan regardless of religious or ethnic background?

 

[Mian]

Could you share these extreme ideas you're referring to? Do you mean tolerance, justice and equality for all citizens of Pakistan regardless of religious or ethnic background?

Last time i replied to you i never saw you coming back with a reply so my dear first learn to engage in a discussion before seeking answers you have this habit of selective replies and ignoring the posts when you can't answer them

 

[AdamM97]

Pakistani liberals are living in their own bubble with their extreme ideas about liberalism.

Being a quasi-liberal myself, i can assure you that most so called Pakistani liberals are not liberals but leftists who think that the two ideologies are the same thing.

 

[Pakistanian]

Ethnofascists/ ethnic nationalists can't be considered liberals, their political and social views have nothing to do with liberalism.

 

[Angrez Pakistani]

Yes there is. They all want to steal your babies and turn them into gays, communists and atheists. Next.

 

[Robert]

Liberal fascism is oxymoronic.

Liberalism and fascism aren’t left or right. Think up or down instead, like a y-axis.

Liberalism basically means internationalism, free trade, small government, personal freedom from state control and localism. Fascism means nationalism and authoritarianism.

“Extreme liberalism” doesn’t really mean anything except perhaps anarchy.

 

[shaaik]

Do u mean the dollar -khoor liberals.. I dont much know about other countries but the Pakistani liberals are as fake as they come, at least a sizable majority of them..

 

[Bewal Express]

Liberal fascism is oxymoronic.

Liberalism and fascism aren’t left or right. Think up or down instead, like a y-axis.

Liberalism basically means internationalism, free trade, small government, personal freedom from state control and localism. Fascism means nationalism and authoritarianism.

“Extreme liberalism” doesn’t really mean anything except perhaps anarchy.

In PK it means big lifafas from Corrupt parties