Also, as an ideological test bites harder and harder, it predictably makes people choose sides. The testers anticipate this, usually fondly, but things don’t always break the way the testers fondly anticipate. E.g., in Macaulay’s account of the runup to the Glorious Revolution, he gives a very conspicuous place to the hardening of a religious test for advancement in the government of James II. (“Who indeed could hope to stand where the Hydes had fallen?”) The fallout was complicated, but in particular though Macaulay loathes Marlborough with an intensity which has to be read to be believed, Macaulay also can’t help but be impressed with Marlborough’s abilities, and does not slight the significance of Marlborough getting serious about leaving James II in the lurch.

(If I read it at all. Ever since reading something of his and thinking “hm, that’s an interesting idea, I wonder how he came to that conclusion”, asking him about it directly, and being repeatedly accused of being a liar, I’ve not had any particular enthusiasm for the man.)

Vox Day seems to approve of this sort of writing style. I just can’t deal with it. But then, VD’s writing reminds me of my writing, and I know how bad I am.

(VD’s fiction writing, I mean. His blog posts are entirely a different style)

Your target, who already thinks of himself as a politically virtuous person, now has to defend his virtue (because an attack from the left, unlike an attack from the right, is a serious moral challenge, and cannot be dismissed with a chuckle). The rules of the left make it very hard to oppose at attack from father left, because the attacker is not calling for better outcomes or utility, but greater virtue.

Once other members see you’ve made a left-flanking attack, the weakest will rush to your side to pick up the cheap virtue points you’ve made available, and now you’re a group.

Outflanking on the left does not call for you to take an extreme position at all. It can be a very gentle, civilized thing. But the accumulation of small flanking attacks by many status seekers over time gradually moves the organization left. Often, the only way to halt this process is to declare the farthest left or politically correct position on all controversial issues for the entire organization for all time, ritualistically defer to it, and move on.

Sometimes it’s the only way to get something done.