Barbarians at the Gate?

How do you define people who simply want to set civilization on fire just to watch it burn?

I accidentally stumbled onto an idea – an answer to a challenge, more like it – when I noted that it is virtually impossible to define the enemies of Western civilization in a word. “Leftist” doesn’t do it, neither do “progressives” or “Democrat”.

I’m trying to wrap my little Mississippi brain around these things:

• Their ideological stance is more or less politically left, but not always. Sometimes they exhibit a libertarian streak.

• They are mostly pro-government but seem to find ways to ally with minority grievance groups like BLM and ANTIFA, both of whom are predominantly anarchist.

• They style themselves as philosophers and yet mindlessly and autonomically react to stimuli as a brainless single cell organism does.

• They argue for universal health care to preserve life, but support abortion AND elective euthanasia.

• They send billions to foreign lands to protect borders and to fund the fight for “democracy” and yet domestically, they have proven to strongly dislike both borders and casting fair and equal votes in their homeland.

• They claim to want to preserve the climate and the ecology of the planet to save humanity but are misanthropes who promote policies that harm humans and, in some cases, push for the actual elimination of people.

• They claim to revere modernity and progress but seek to destroy the things that support them (religion, energy, liberty, economic prosperity).

• They claim to be concerned about children, but do things designed to steal childhood from kids.

• They claim nothing is absolute and yet expect absolute adherence to their rules.

• They claim not to believe in God or religion but worship the state or the planet and make them their gods.

• They claim to want unity but exist as asymmetric tribes, united only by a thirst for destruction.

• They represent no lasting loyalty and will turn on any “ally” when the “ally” becomes inconvenient or lacks usefulness.

• They claim to be defenders of civilization and yet, do everything they can to tear civilization down.

People have told me they disagree with the use of the term “left” because it just doesn’t capture enough of who these folks are.

In the animal kingdom, they would be called sharks because, like sharks, they only live to kill.

I’ve settled on the term “barbarian”.

In my estimation, no single term captures them better.

When I think of that term, in my mind’s eye I see a savage, unthinking, reactionary, uncivilized person who is often driven by some very basic motivations – food, sexual gratification, conquest, and dominion among them. Their enemy is not just people, it is civilization itself, and their warfare is unrestricted in all its forms and dimensions.

Their only goal is victory, defined as complete and total destruction of their enemy.

When you look back in history, those termed by historians as barbaric share many of these traits.

“Barbarian” seems to fit.

But I’m open to suggestions.