Why Do Leftists Want Strong Government But Elect Weak Leaders?
23rd July 2026
Socialism doesn’t grow strong leaders. That’s why nominally socialist movements eventually adopt fascism, as Italy and Germany did in the early 20th century, in order to make any progress.
For years I’ve been puzzled by the left’s odd combination of arrogance and self-loathing. They think there is no God higher than themselves, so they can do whatever they want without being held accountable for their actions – they can do whatever they want. But they also view humans as a blight on the planet and you shouldn’t be allowed to do whatever you want – you can’t drive an SUV, for example. But abortion is ok. It takes a lot of bourbon to figure out things like that.
I’ve also been confused by another dichotomy, which may be similar: Leftists believe in the use of government to improve people’s lives. They hope to use strong centralized control structures to make society more just and fair. As those who lived under Mao, Hitler, Castro, Mussolini, Stalin, etc will tell you, that type of system generally involves a strong leader using force to control the citizenry. Ok, makes sense. You need a strong leader to control a large, powerful government.
Ok. So who do modern leftists elect to leadership positions? Joe Biden. Kamala Harris. Gavin Newsome. Kier Starmer. Justin Trudeau. Elizabeth Warren. Leftists envision an all-powerful government designed to control the entire world. And then they elect incompetent empty suits to direct the entire enterprise. That seems odd. But I think I may have some idea why they do that, now. See if you agree with me.