The Marxists in our midst

The anti-colonialist, Marxist worldview has triumphed. We know this because anti-colonialist, Marxist thought has taken root on both sides of the political divide. Of course, the Left in America has been marked by such thinking for decades. But the capitulation of the Right is a new development, proving the gradual predominance of Marx’s influence.

First, a word about terms: anti-colonialism and Marxism are, perhaps, more closely related than you realized. By this, I do not mean anti-colonialism in the truest, strictest sense of the world—a posture of opposition to the rule of one country by another. I refer, rather, to the “woke,” liberal catchword, which is overused and bereft of meaning, particularly on the collegiate level. This popular buzzword has been lazily employed to describe the United States as a colonizer nation that steals other peoples’ land and imposes international terror and dominance. It’s in the same sense of the word that one film critic—inspired by the subversive “Star Wars” entry, “The Acolyte”—recently condemned the Jedi (you know, the good guys) for their “patriarchal and spiritual colonialism.”

Now, consider how this disproportionate preoccupation with dismantling colonialism might correlate to the Marxist worldview. In simple terms, Marxism recasts all of life’s many woes and sins as a power struggle between the capitalist bourgeoisie, who tend to be viewed as oppressors, and the proletariat, who, by the singular virtue of their being “oppressed,” are cheered as righteous. The downside with this assessment, of course, is that it simply may have no backing in reality: the powerful may be the good guys, while the purportedly oppressed may be evil.

Fusing the anti-colonialist and Marxist positions into one makes for a dangerous synthesis reaction. It’s Reagan’s witty quip about socialism/capitalism—“We have so many people who can’t see a fat man standing beside a thin one without coming to the conclusion that the fat man got that way by taking advantage of the thin one”—applied to foreign policy. Anti-colonial Marxists cannot see a rich, powerful nation—à la the United States, Israel, etc.—without assuming it “got that way” by exploiting lesser nations. Upon examining the failures of non-Western societies, they do not give thanks for our exceptional ways. Instead, they assume that the weaker state failed because either the United States or some other powerful and (probably) Western nation oppressed it.

And maybe so. I am under no illusion as to the sometimes complicated nature of U.S. foreign policy or the questionable decisions we have to make. But, as a rule, I understand that the United States has been and continues to be the good guy on the world stage. She was the hero during World War II. She stood on the right side of history during the Cold War. Post-Cold War, she has continued to champion praiseworthy ideals despite her many imperfections. She may be rich, powerful, and internationally dominant—conditions the Marxists are taught to hate—but that does not mean that she is evil.

Historically, conservatives have understood this. They have been skeptical of the federal government while still defending the justness of the American cause. The new Right, however, appears to have abandoned this proposition. 

Recently, I have witnessed several leading names in “right-wing” media harp incessantly about how the dropping of the atomic bomb, the firebombing of Dresden, and our blind, unfeeling patriotism during World War II fundamentally corrupted our nation and made us evil. Over the same span of time, which included the 80th anniversary of D-Day, they failed to offer a single word of praise for the brave American heroes who stormed the beaches of Normandy and freed Western Europe from Nazi rule. Indeed, they overlooked thousands, if not millions, of accounts of American heroism and justness on the world stage in order to cherry-pick the ones that advance their America-hating agenda.

To be clear, loving America does not mean we are blind to her many faults. It would seem to me, though, that those who hate America or lambaste her as an evil nation are the blind ones—blind to her many commendable strengths. At the same time, they have suddenly waffled on calling out our enemies, whether past or present, including Hamas, Iran, Russia, and even Nazi Germany.

One of the first—and most disconcerting—signs of a loss of moral clarity is an overeagerness to discredit those who fight to defend good, coupled with indecisiveness about condemning clear-cut evil. “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20) Why is it that members of the Marxist-influenced new Right question and critique America and her allies ad nauseam without so much as demanding that Hamas release their American hostages? Why is it that we enforce strict stipulations on how Israel wages its war against terrorists before we demand that those terrorists do not hide behind human shields? Why is it that our so-called “conservative” influencers suddenly have more to say about Hiroshima and Dresden while names like Iwo Jima, Pointe du Hoc, and Ardennes fall silent on their lips?

Maybe it’s because Marxism—with all its “colonial”- and “bourgeoisie”-hating bells and whistles—has thoroughly infused American political thought and discourse. Any movement seeking to conserve America while grasping the many faults and failures of our federal government must also expunge this poisoned worldview. Failure to do so will surely result in our neutering ourselves from recognizing the great national treasure we have inherited.

America may not be perfect, and we may have permitted a great many wrongdoings within our own borders, but on the world stage, we are not the purveyor of evil this country’s critics make her out to be. This world is a better place because America exists. Anyone who cannot or is not willing to recognize that fact is naive, blind, and, ultimately, anti-American.