Left vs. Right: So Far From Bobbio, So Close to Rubio

Political discourse often relies on the left-right spectrum, a framework famously analyzed by Norberto Bobbio. In his 1995 book, Bobbio sought to demystify ideological disputes, identifying equality as the core differentiator. For Bobbio, the left champions equality, viewing social disparities as correctable artificial constructs. Conversely, the right accepts human differences as natural or beneficial for progress, prioritizing individual liberty and order. Bobbio posited that both forces are relative and essential for a functioning democracy, representing distinct axiological priorities rather than inherent evils.

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The left is egalitarian; it contemplates social asymmetries as artificial distortions that can be corrected. The right assumes that human differences are natural, inevitable or engines of progress, prioritizing individual freedom and order.

However, recent rhetoric from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at an international summit on political terrorism appears to shatter Bobbio's framework. While ostensibly targeting violent left-wing extremism, Rubio's statements generalized this critique to left-wing ideas broadly, labeling them a "singular evil." This framing elevates the discussion to a moralistic ontology, depicting radicalism as a battle of "the worst against the best, the weak and the cowardly against the strong and the good." Political categories dissolve, replaced by an aesthetic and psychological conflict where the adversary is driven by resentment and "hatred of civilization."

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The intervention there of Secretary of State Marco Rubio dynamites the Bobbio board.

The divergence between Bobbio's and Rubio's approaches is fundamental. Bobbio offered a model for coexistence, where center-left and center-right factions negotiate democratic rules. Rubio, by contrast, promotes an exclusionary conflict. Assimilating all left-wing ideologies with destructive radicalism renders institutional dialogue impossible; the argument becomes not about policy, but about the eradication of an existential enemy. This approach ignores Bobbio's crucial distinction between extremism and moderation within both left and right.

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Rubio elevates the bet towards a moralizing ontology: he defines that radicalism as a 'rebellion of the worst against the best, of the weak and the cowards against the strong and the good.'

This rhetorical shift reflects a broader contemporary trend. The erosion of broad consensus compels leaders to foster cohesion through moral tribalism. By simplifying social complexity into a binary struggle between virtuous builders and resentful destroyers, politics abandons its mediating role and transforms into an existential crusade. The danger of abandoning Bobbio's analytical compass is profound: when the opponent ceases to be an ideological rival and becomes a civilizational enemy, the first casualty is not the left or the right, but democracy itself.

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While Bobbio offers a tool for coexistence where center-left and center-right agree on the rules of the democratic game, Rubio proposes a war of exclusion.