Fashion! (Turn to the Left!)

Matt Taibbi takes a look at what makes a left-winger these days:

If you scratch the surface of “left” you’ll find that it has a lot more to do with attitudes and cultural markers relative to the bourgeois norm than it does to do with political beliefs, ideas about the role of government, taxes, and so on.

It’s much easier to figure out who’s “left” and who isn’t using cultural litmus tests than it is using position papers. What’s the left position on monetary policy? I have no idea. What’s the left’s position on American Idol? Easy: it rolls its eyes.

Worth a read, simply for setting the definition as it stands into writing.

Rob
(Via Mark E.)