What is Cultural Marxism?

Transcript:

Let us begin with a very terse description. Cultural Marxism is a broad term which refers to the advocacy and application of Critical Theory, and more generally to the cultural, political, and academic influence of certain elements within the contemporary left.

The root of Cultural Marxism out to be found in what is commonly known as the Frankfurt School. The term arose informally to describe the thinkers affiliated or merely associated with the Frankfurt Institute for Social Research at the Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany during the interwar period.

Critical of both capitalism and Soviet socialism, they sought to address the perceived shortcomings of classical Marxism in the pursuit of societal change. Their work came to be referred to as Critical Theory. Defining or categorizing critical theory is exceptionally difficult. For it pertains to a broad, almost disparate set of ideas, individuals, and approaches. The underlying and enduring aspect of critical theory common to all its offshoots is the creation of interdisciplinary theories that might serve as instruments of social transformation.

During the 1960s, the Frankfurt School critical theory gained traction with some segments of the left-wing and leftist thought in both Europe and North America. Today, its influence is felt throughout western academia, dominating the social sciences and humanities; Gender Studies and Whiteness Studies being two such examples.

Herbert Marcuse

One of the most influential critical theorists and an original member of the Frankfurt School was Herbert Marcuse. A cursory glance at any paragraph written by Marcuse will send alarm bells ringing for anyone even remotely familiar with the current culture of intolerance on college and university campuses.

Consider the following passage from his 1965 essay Repressive Tolerance:

"The small and powerless minorities which struggle against the false consciousness and its beneficiaries must be helped: their continued existence is more important than the preservation of abused rights and liberties which grant constitutional powers to those who oppress these minorities."

Social Justice, Feminism, Neo-Progressivism, and Post-Colonialism are all movements inspired by or born out of Critical Theory and thus come under the umbrella of Cultural Marxism. Be it gender, sexual orientation, family, race, culture, or religion, every aspect of a person's identity is to be questioned, every norm or standard in society challenged, and ideally, altered in order to benefit supposedly oppressed groups.

Classical Marxism vs. Cultural Marxism

Classical Marxism saw class conflict as occurring between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat -- between the haves and the have-nots. Cultural Marxism views such a conflict as existing between the oppressed and the oppressors -- between those with privilege and those without it. The working class has been replaced by minorities. Majority groups are typically defined as privileged/oppressive with minority groups accordingly labeled under-privileged/oppressed.

Heterosexual couples are oppressive. Cis-gender people are oppressive. Whites are oppressive, especially white men. Christians are oppressive. Those who do not fit into these groups are considered oppressed. It stands to reason therefore that if heterosexuals are oppressors, the solution is to encourage other forms of sexuality. If whites are oppressors, the solution is racial diversity. If cisgender people are oppressors, the solution is to encourage transgenderism. If Christians are oppressors, the solution is to propagate Islam.

Theodor Adorno

Theodor Adorno, another original member of the Frankfurt School wrote a book entitled The Authoritarian Personality, in which he defines parenthood, pride in one's family, Christianity, adherence to traditional gender roles and attitudes towards sex, and the love of one's own country as pathological phenomena.

This tendency to pathologize opinions and other life patterns not in accordance with his own political ends is characteristic of Cultural Marxism. Differing views are thus described as irrational fears or phobias. For example, a person who feels uncomfortable living as a minority in an area dominated by Muslim migrants may be decried as an Islamophobe, since wishing to live among those ethnically and culturally similar to oneself is considered sick and phobic.

When Pakistani Muslims living in Britain by contrast, show in-group preference, converting entire sections of a town or city into a mini-Pakistan, there is no sickness or phobia, only multiculturalism.

Political Correctness

A popular and propagandist manifestation of Cultural Marxism is Political Correctness, in which media channels social scientists make it a mandatory exercise to do the following:

1. Question common language.

Illegal immigrants are to be referred to as undocumented migrants, while ethnic discrimination is referred to as affirmative action. Their ambition to define and redefine words can be seen as a means of controlling the discourse altering cultural norms. Racism and sexism have been redefined as a product of prejudice + power. This leads to such ridiculous statements as "There's no such thing as sexism agaisnt men" and "I, an ethnic minority woman, cannot be racist or sexist towards white men."

2. Maintain an unwaveringly favorable view of groups which have been marked as the oppressed.

Islam is a religion of peace.
Black Live Matter is a peaceful, legitimate protest movement.
Feminism is only about equality.
and so forth.

No deviation from the aforementioned narrative will be tolerated, nor will criticism of it.

End Goal

While Communism, as Marx envisioned it, offered the resolution of class conflict in a utopian social system, all that Cultural Marxism offers is a desolate form of eternal warfare between evermore offended groups of offended minorities. The only meaningful consequence that this wide application ever could have is the marginalization of traditional European culture.