This is rather narrow-minded thinking:
“But like many who voted for Brexit, they were aiming to destroy power structures without having anything to replace them. The revolts we are seeing are a mix of appalling visuals with absurd, pompous and incendiary rhetoric—but no coherent aims or rational ideology.”
“But like many who voted for Brexit, they were aiming to destroy power structures without having anything to replace them. The revolts we are seeing are a mix of appalling visuals with absurd, pompous and incendiary rhetoric—but no coherent aims or rational ideology.”
Isn’t the idea of British sovereignty a long-established power structure idea? The very reverse of the authors hypothesis seems more likely to be true: those who are aiming to destroy power structures without having a cogent replacement are the cancel culture warriors blaming every ill on ever-broadening definitions of racism and white privilege.
Are the “cancel culture warriors” storming the capitol and chanting for the public execution of our elected officials? Are they spreading conspiracy theories about global cabals of child-eating pedophiles who rule the world? Are they voting these far-right populists into office? Or are they making the lives of comedians and professors more difficult? The “ever-broadening definitions of racism and white privilege” are at least rooted in truth. We do live in a society where whites are more privileged than minority races, and racism is a massive problem inextricably tied to the rise of far-right populism that the author is discussing here. Most of these “cancel culture warriors” are purported to be marxists by the way, so it would seem that they do have a cogent replacement in mind, it’s just a really scary one to most westerners.
Hi Tim: You're right to draw these distinctions between the populist-nihilist left and the populist-nihilist right. My handy elevator message is that the only thing I fear more than the left now is the right. If the left starts stockpiling weapons, I'll reassess. However, I do want to respond to "Marxism." For decades, the political right more or less correctly identified the politics of left-wing academics as Marxist. That was when many academics used to teach [about] Marxism. I used to teach about Marxism and have students read Marx as a way to help them understand the political ideologies of the twentieth century. But we don't do that anymore. I'd be surprised if we could find any college students now who know anything about Marx, though I'm sure some would cite him perfunctorily as an avatar of their politics.
Thanks for your comment, that’s why I used the word “purported,” because the right generally throws that term around very loosely. I’ve always been confused about this hysteria over Marxism in our schools because, like you said, I never encountered it in undergrad, and neither did any of my friends or family as far as I know. I’m reading and learning about Marxism on my free time now and it seems apparent that what you said is true, and it’s more of a neo-liberal sense of righteousness that drives the “cancel culture warriors” as OP put it. I was sort of trying to use the right’s language against him.
Most of these “cancel culture warriors” are purported to be marxists by the way, so it would seem that they do have a cogent replacement in mind, it’s just a really scary one to most westerners....”.
I suppose “cogent” is in the eye of the beholders, but I’m sure it’s scarier to the victims of Marxism than others, and to those of a scientific bent of mind “scientific utopian socialism” is just plain pseudoscience.
Those calling themselves Marxists today, or who I would call cultural Marxists are not ur grandpa’s Marxists. But they extend Marx’s oppressor/oppressed class framework with a without even the grace of a utopian vision of how racism might wither away.
Tim: Yeah, Marx is in the dustbin of history. I see the right trying to figure out what's replaced him, and most of the time the best they can do is "postmodernism." That isn't wrong, but it's harder to make sense of than "communism."
This is rather narrow-minded thinking:
“But like many who voted for Brexit, they were aiming to destroy power structures without having anything to replace them. The revolts we are seeing are a mix of appalling visuals with absurd, pompous and incendiary rhetoric—but no coherent aims or rational ideology.”
Isn’t the idea of British sovereignty a long-established power structure idea? The very reverse of the authors hypothesis seems more likely to be true: those who are aiming to destroy power structures without having a cogent replacement are the cancel culture warriors blaming every ill on ever-broadening definitions of racism and white privilege.
Are the “cancel culture warriors” storming the capitol and chanting for the public execution of our elected officials? Are they spreading conspiracy theories about global cabals of child-eating pedophiles who rule the world? Are they voting these far-right populists into office? Or are they making the lives of comedians and professors more difficult? The “ever-broadening definitions of racism and white privilege” are at least rooted in truth. We do live in a society where whites are more privileged than minority races, and racism is a massive problem inextricably tied to the rise of far-right populism that the author is discussing here. Most of these “cancel culture warriors” are purported to be marxists by the way, so it would seem that they do have a cogent replacement in mind, it’s just a really scary one to most westerners.
Hi Tim: You're right to draw these distinctions between the populist-nihilist left and the populist-nihilist right. My handy elevator message is that the only thing I fear more than the left now is the right. If the left starts stockpiling weapons, I'll reassess. However, I do want to respond to "Marxism." For decades, the political right more or less correctly identified the politics of left-wing academics as Marxist. That was when many academics used to teach [about] Marxism. I used to teach about Marxism and have students read Marx as a way to help them understand the political ideologies of the twentieth century. But we don't do that anymore. I'd be surprised if we could find any college students now who know anything about Marx, though I'm sure some would cite him perfunctorily as an avatar of their politics.
Thanks for your comment, that’s why I used the word “purported,” because the right generally throws that term around very loosely. I’ve always been confused about this hysteria over Marxism in our schools because, like you said, I never encountered it in undergrad, and neither did any of my friends or family as far as I know. I’m reading and learning about Marxism on my free time now and it seems apparent that what you said is true, and it’s more of a neo-liberal sense of righteousness that drives the “cancel culture warriors” as OP put it. I was sort of trying to use the right’s language against him.
Most of these “cancel culture warriors” are purported to be marxists by the way, so it would seem that they do have a cogent replacement in mind, it’s just a really scary one to most westerners....”.
I suppose “cogent” is in the eye of the beholders, but I’m sure it’s scarier to the victims of Marxism than others, and to those of a scientific bent of mind “scientific utopian socialism” is just plain pseudoscience.
Those calling themselves Marxists today, or who I would call cultural Marxists are not ur grandpa’s Marxists. But they extend Marx’s oppressor/oppressed class framework with a without even the grace of a utopian vision of how racism might wither away.
Tim: Yeah, Marx is in the dustbin of history. I see the right trying to figure out what's replaced him, and most of the time the best they can do is "postmodernism." That isn't wrong, but it's harder to make sense of than "communism."
Ah, just googled you, your take makes a lot of sense now. Not that it’s rooted in rational thinking, but that it’s coming from you.