Thinking about this point (on my main) about the gulf between leftist theory and a credible track record again- It feels like we've entered an era of "the means justify the ends". Like there's a sensation that just doing the principled, "correct thing" is good even when the results are bad- and doing enough principled correct things can give one to immunity to consequences.
Let me be clear here, leftist spaces aren't the worst about the means justify the ends. I feel like a lot of this is a hold-over from neoliberal and centrist activist-y spaces bleeding into the left. Rainbow capitalism is the height of "hey look, we're doing the right thing!" while doing middling to nothing for the lived reality of queer people.
But the this pattern still feels insidious. There's a focus on dogma and loyalty to messaging (or even people) that isn't earned. Spaces react to reasonable suspicion as though they're being silenced. And it feeds into a black & white thinking that's ultimately unaccountable.
Some of the weirdest quirks happen when the values change. For example, the way covid has been treated across some leftist spaces. I've always thought putting the onus on individuals to self-test and isolate was a bit flawed. Like asking an audience that likely doesn't have a car and lives in dense metropolitan areas to avoid crowds indefinitely- that never seemed like a winning proposition to me. But what really threw me for a loop is how all these talking points just kind of dropped off popular consensus. Suddenly, covid prevention isn't worth considering at all even down to basic stuff like masking. And, of course, these spaces aren't invested in helping individuals hit with long covid and the like. You can't rely on leftist spaces to take covid seriously in any capacity, and that sucks.
And I see this pattern repeat itself across leftist spaces. Our modern late-capitalism hell is a deeply interconnected slurry based on colonialism, racism, christian/protestant institutions/cults, patriarchy, authoritarianism, and capitalism. It's easy to pick one of those things, ignore the others, and fit into some kind of leftist space. This leads to spaces with similar but different sensibilities, language, and values. Personal sacrifices, performative risks, and symbolic victories can be valued in one space and meaningless in the next.
Which brings me full circle to why I care about track record in leftist spaces. I either want to speaking highly similar language, or see that practical effects of your activism are positive.
For the latter, it can feel like a double-bind. Leftists are deeply disempowered and rarely allowed to have an un-sabotaged platform. Algorithms love controversy, and boost people with insane takes over level-headed discourse. And practically speaking, many modern people barely have power over themselves, much less others. So it feels like, collectively, people are confusedly trying to enact some kind of group power- trying to hush naysayers, believe it'll change things, and ignore any negative feedback. The means justify the ends.