Will the Far Left and the Far Right Officially Merge?

I have commented extensively about the increasing similarity and affinity of the Far Left and Far Right in American politics.  While at first these extremes might seem to be polar opposites, the true situation is that politics is not a linear continuum but a complicated space.

Fundamentally, the contemporary Far Left and Far Right are both characterized - possibly even defined - by their allegiance to conspiracy theories and their disdain of change through the usual democratic process.  There is also the omnipresent antisemitic memes and anti-Israel rhetoric.  Already this makes them more like each other than either is like the vast middle of American politics.  Beyond that, they both embrace extreme foreign policy isolationism, also a view in which they have an affinity with each other but not with the middle.

However, there have always been huge, but partially aesthetic, differences between the Far Left and the Far Right which has kept them seeing each other, and others seeing them, as mortal enemies rather than natural allies.  These differences are at the heart of people's cultural allegiance.

1) Patriotism:  The Far Right has historically been pro-American (their version of what America is all about, of course), while the Far Left has been internationalist and anti-American

2) Women's Liberation and Gay Liberation:  The Far Right has historically been in favor of traditional family structures while the Far Left has been hostile to those structures and in favor of feminism and gay rights

3) Christianity:  The Far Right has historically been religious or allied with fundamentalist churches, while the American Far Left has been unfriendly to Christianity

4) Capitalism:  The Far Right has historically been adherents of capitalism while the Far Left has viewed it as an oppressive system

5) Race:  The Far Right has historically maintained white supremacy of some form while the Far Left has been dedicated to (some would say obsessed with) the causes of brown and black.

------------------------

Today we face the remarkable situation that on at least some of these issues, which across the board have been the sharpest political wedges in America for 40 years, the Far Left and Far Right are becoming less dissimilar.

Patriotism:  The past several years have seen a marked drift in the Far Right away from patriotism.  It seems that two election victories for a center-left black President has made its permanent mark in this regard, as has more than a decade of failed foreign wars.  There is now a lot of chatter on conservative blogs about how America is a lost cause.  The Far Right now often talks about secession for this state or that, rather than making (or remaking) America in the image that they want.  In general, much Far Right - and more general Conservative - rhetoric has moved from "America first" to "Me first".  The pretense of national greatness has declined.  The anti-nationalist and anti-religious "I gotta get mine" philosophy of Ayn Rand is increasingly popular, displacing notions of "God and country".  I think that patriotism is absolutely in the process of disappearing as a distinction between the Far Left and Right.

Women's Liberation and Gay Liberation:  In this case, it has been the Far Left that has changed course.  Arising from their zeal to excuse any regime or society in the world that can be perceived as anti-American or "nonwhite" or "nonwestern" in any way, the Far Left has largely dropped their interest in women's or gay liberation.  Witness their absolute embrace of Hamas, a regime that executes suspected homosexuals and has prevented women from participating in sports, which has nonetheless been welcomed as part of the "global left" by Far Left icon Judith Butler

"Understanding Hamas/Hezbollah as social movements that are progressive, that are on the left, that are part of a global left, is extremely important."

In an equally ludicrous episode, the head of San Francisco's Human Rights Commission recently praised the Iranian regime - a regime which both executes homosexuals and denies their existence - for the purported relative ease of obtaining gender reassignment surgery in Iran.

One also wonders at the nearly complete lack of female genital mutilation, a horrific and barbaric procedure practiced in startling numbers throughout the Middle East and Africa, from the radar of human rights organizations.  When it is mentioned by them, it is often dishonestly mentioned in the same category as male circumcision, which is entirely different because it is a minor procedure that has no effect on the functioning of the body, while female genital mutilation involves dangerous procedures that remove sexual organs and cause permanent disfigurement.

There is also, in perhaps a sign of the times, the case of Leftist folk / punk music icon Michelle Shocked, who recently shocked (no pun intended) audiences and fans with Christian-inspired homophobic rants, on the heels of several years of homophobic comments.  Of course one can't generalize from the ramblings of one individual, but it is interesting to note that in spite of the homophobia apparently building for years, Shocked was a (presumably welcome) participant in the Occupy movement.

I think it is safe to say that women's and gay rights is in the process of disappearing as a barrier to the Far Left and Far Right unifying.

--------------------------

That leaves Christianity, capitalism, and race as the remaining cultural and political distinctions between the Far Left and Far Right.  Can these be overcome?  Well, as recently as 15 years ago it was probably inconceivable to most observers that patriotism and gender and gay liberation would disappear as meaningful barriers between the Far Left and Far Right.  I think it is entirely possible that given another decade the Far Right could effectively turn its back on Christianity and capitalism, and the two sides could reach a sort of accord on white nationalism.

As far as Christianity is concerned, there is already an element of the Far Right that is non-Christian.  On the end closest to the mainstream right there are extreme libertarians and Ayn Rand devotees who see religion as a quasi-socialist fraud.  On the farthest right end of the spectrum, various Aryan and neo-Nazi groups embrace (largely invented) forms of Nordic paganism, and believe that Christianity itself is actually a Jewish plot.  This was the viewpoint of Holocaust Museum shooter James von Brunn, for example.  Whether these non-Christian viewpoints can make further inroads into the Far Right remains to be seen.

It is, additionally, not difficult to envision a scenario where the Far Right becomes less enamored of capitalism, as the fortunes of non college graduates and the working class continue to decline in our economy.  This is another question which time will reveal the answer to.

Finally, I believe there is also a way towards common ground between the Far Left and the Far Right on the issue of race.  Already there are extreme isolationist viewpoints within the Far Left that effectively want the United States to disengage from the rest of the world entirely.  It is a kind of provincialism or localism taken to a ridiculous extreme.  At the same time, the Far Right's racist ideology has morphed in recent decades away from the "race war" fantasy and more toward racial separatism.  Can this racial separatism and extreme isolationism be cousins?  Perhaps.

Again, time will tell how far the Far Left and Right continue down the path toward becoming indistinct.  Already, in the span of less than two decades, two of the five major cultural differences between the two have largely disappeared.