As Americans, we are being assaulted by numerous alphabet ideologies we don’t understand—from DEI to ESG to LGBTQ+. We seek to understand through logic, but by doing so, we become only more confused. The only way to understand what’s happening is to recognize the ideology that underlies all of it: Marxism.
Marxism’s central idea is that the world is broken down into two groups; or as Marx stated: “in a word, oppressor and oppressed.” This is from his opening statement in the Communist Manifesto (published in 1848). If you remember nothing else, remember this.
The obvious problem with critical theory is that it purports to explain all disparate outcomes between the various oppressor/oppressed groups.
Take, for example, the issue of “systemic racism,” a concept that was raised repeatedly during the George Floyd riots. Advocates could not provide concrete, verifiable examples of “systemic racism.” Instead, systemic racism came to stand for the vague notion that our social institutions reinforce oppression on unconscious levels. This naturally led policymakers to flail around on nonsense solutions designed to disable the institutions themselves (think “defund the police”). Contrast modern systemic racism to the actual systemic racism in Jim Crow laws—laws that are verifiably racist and oppressive.
Without concrete or verifiable explanations for disparate outcomes, critical theorists come to see even the most innocuous ideas as responsible for maintaining the oppressive “hegemony.” Extremist CRT advocates attack ideas that most would find universally beneficial. Why do whites (and now Asians) do better in school? To CRT advocates, it’s because standardized testing, meritocracy, and even math and logic are racist concepts that only serve to maintain the status quo.
In other words, critical theory trains people to ignore the far more obvious and simple explanations, such as cultural differences, fatherless homes, and other factors that more directly lead to differences in school performance. In that way, critical theory prevents us from effectively identifying and addressing real problems.
Critical theory teaches members of “oppressed” groups that they have no control over their destiny and that their failings are a result of unseen forces. While this offers a satisfyingly comfortable explanation for failure, it encourages complacency and resentment. Success requires an ability to identify a problem and a belief that one can address the problem. Critical theory removes this ability to identify problems and removes a sense of control.
For these reasons, critical theory should not be taught to our children; it will only lead to resentment, bitterness & helplessness. We were mindful of these threats during the Cold War, but let our guard down after the fall of the Berlin Wall. It is time again to be on guard. And the first step is to understand the threat & push back.