Bourgeois Left

On the surface, this appears to be a contradictory term: how can a member of the Left be a member of the bourgeoisie? In coining this derogatory term, I am trying to highlight the hypocrisy of leftist pseudo-intellectuals—usually from bourgeois backgrounds—who espouse Marxist rhetoric but are fully immersed in a bourgeois lifestyle, which, if push came to shove, they would prioritize over everything else, including their supposed working class leanings (in reality, constituting nothing more than a romanticization of the working class a la “noble savage” of yesteryear). As if this is not enough, these pseudo-intellectuals are also characterized by holier-than-thou sanctimonious attitudes towards others (including those whose interests they claim to be defending: the lower classes). A common institutional abode of the bourgeois left, in Western countries, is academia.

See also Bourgeoisie, Left/Right.