Posted on 08/19/2020 6:51:47 AM PDT by Heartlander
I have some good news. But first, some very bad news. We on the Right are confronting an enemy that wishes to destroy our way of life. To make matters worse, this enemy does not have a name. At least, no one has agreed on one yet. Some call it “identity politics.” Others call it “political correctness,” or “multiculturalism,” or “wokeness.” But whatever we call it, we must be clear that it aims to destroy the American way of life.
I favor the term “multiculturalism” because it is a concept more comprehensive than politics. The term, with its emphasis on culture and the “-ism” in its suffix, suggests a particular way of life. To this extent multiculturalism is like Communism. It too was a particular way of life. As with Communism a generation ago, today we are engaged in a conflict between two incompatible ways of life. This is a regime-level conflict, which the Claremont Institute has framed: “Multiculturalism v. America.”
As I am using the term, multiculturalism is a revolutionary movement animated by a doctrine that sees society not as a community of rights-bearing individuals with a shared understanding of a national good, but as a collection of cultural identity groups all oppressed by white males.
How, you might ask, do whites oppress identity groups? By means of family, religion, education and community. These institutions and the values they promote are, say the multiculturalists, the means by which whites impose their racist, sexist, homophobic values on the rest of society. Thus, the goal of the multiculturalists is to destroy, or fundamentally restructure, these institutions.
The multiculturalists believe that restructuring them will result in outcome parity among identity groups. Each group will have, proportional to its size, the same income (hence the need for socialism) and the same power as measured by job titles; that is, the same number of CEOs, senators, marines, firefighters, college presidents, physicists, soccer players, etc. Outcome parity is the multiculturalists’ idea of a just society; hence the term “social justice.”
A society that seeks outcome parity cannot possibly co-exist peacefully with a free society like America, which is guided by nature’s laws. In such a society there will always be group differences—between men and women as well as among various sub-cultures. That is the natural result of freedom.
Multiculturalism requires crushing these natural differences and so demands a never-ending expansion of state power and social restrictions, including shutting up those who object to multiculturalism.
Multiculturalism was born and bred in our colleges and universities. It captured the extreme wing of the Democratic Party, which in turn has captured the entire party. I do not suppose rank and file Democratic politicians intend to destroy the American way of life. But in going along with the party radicals—and virtually all do—that is exactly what they are doing.
Joe Biden is one of the go-along Democrats. The worry is not so much his cognitive limitations as his intellectual and moral mediocrity, which makes him unable to resist the radicals. As such, he is their vessel. He will follow where they lead.
Biden and the Democratic Party are, of course, supported by the media, the entertainment industry, non-profits, unelected bureaucrats and, more recently, by major corporations.
What is the American way of life that Republicans should want to preserve? The way of life practiced by the vast majority of Americans until a generation or two ago. A way of life that is still practiced in much of America.
Those who subscribe to this way of life believe Americans share a single culture, directed by a creed (expressed most notably in the Declaration), and supported by the Judeo-Christian ethos. There are no hyphenated Americans. We are all just Americans. Colorblindness is our aspiration. For most of us, happiness is found in family, church, and community.
We value hard work, no matter how humble, and self-reliance. We are the least class-conscious, most individualist, religious, patriotic, neighborly people in the world.
We believe that we are the shining city on the hill, marked out to show the rest of the world that people can govern themselves. We believe we have done great things in the past and are capable of doing more. This success, despite missteps, makes us a confident people. No wonder we think ourselves exceptional in both senses of the term: distinct and better.
Multiculturalism, on the other hand, teaches that we are unworthy—not just that we have sinned (which of course we have) but that we are irredeemably sinful. Patriotism is replaced with shame. Confidence is replaced with doubt. Under the multiculturalist dispensation we are not one people but a collection of different peoples. Colorblindness is replaced with race consciousness. Multiculturalism induces victimhood among blacks (and other so-called “oppressed” identity groups) and guilt among whites. You are either a victim or an oppressor
Multiculturalism is backward-looking and teaches us that our top priority should be reparations and affirmative action. It teaches that capitalism is a form of slavery and the nation-state is evil. Indeed, multiculturalism teaches that all of America—its values, customs, and institutions—is evil.
Good News
And now to the good news. The riots. I do not mean, of course, that the riots are somehow good things in themselves. And I don’t mean that they play to Trump’s image as a law-and-order man. They may or may not. I mean the riots have exposed multiculturalism for what it is: a revolutionary movement, led by the Democratic Party, aimed at destroying the American way of life.
The revolution has been proceeding apace for many years, but to most Americans it has been partially hidden. They often have seen its tentacles—political correctness for example—but never the monster in its full horror. Now they can. Although it is now possible to see how multiculturalism is destroying the American way of life, it is by no means inevitable that American people will see it. Our Republican leaders must help them see. They must explain what is actually going on in these riots.
For starters, Republicans must explain that the riots are neither an isolated uprising—the work of a few extremists—nor the excusable excesses of justified protests, as the multiculturalist Democrats claim.
Unfortunately, this is just what the Republicans are not doing. One often hears from Republicans, almost as frequently as from Democrats, that although the riots are not justified, the protests are.
No, they are not. It certainly would have been justified to protest the cruel death of Mr. George Floyd, but that was never what the protests were about. In the first instance, they were about (supposed) police racism. But in a larger sense, they were about (supposed) “systematic” American racism. If Republicans concede these premises—even if they do so only partially—then they will get dragged down the road to multiculturalism.
Republicans must also make it clear that Black Lives Matter, although at the head of the revolution, is not really leading it. Rather, BLM is being used by the multiculturalist Democrats. BLM, having manufactured a huge crisis out of George Floyd’s death, has created the opportunity for the Democratic party to move farther and faster than it otherwise could have. Republicans must make clear that BLM and the multiculturalist Democrats share the same agenda.
Thus, it is essential that Republicans show the connection between the riots and the Democratic Party. These are the “Democrat riots.” Republicans should say just that. A practically endless procession of Democrat mayors and city council members, Democrat district attorneys and attorneys general, Democrat governors, and Democrat politicians at all levels have, on camera and in writing, sanctioned the rioting. Republican leaders must make sure the American people see and hear that. And never forget it.
The Revolutionary Plan of Attack
In the riots, as well as in governments’ response to the coronavirus, we can see exactly how the multiculturalist Democrats are going about destroying the American way of life. But again, what we are seeing must be explained in the context of the overall revolution:
We all knew that political correctness reigned on college campuses. But with the riots (and the coronavirus), the destructive power of cancel culture and political correctness in society at large is much easier to see. But even what we see is only the tip of the iceberg. I suspect that many of you are not aware of the extent to which our large multiculturalist tech companies censored assessments of the virus that ran counter to Dr. Fauci’s doomsday scenario. Even Amazon, which has generally been pretty good about carrying heterodox books, got into the act. How many people were killed and livelihoods lost because we failed to heed the warnings of the virus contrarians? Probably a lot.
Or take Heather Mac Donald, who, as some of you probably know, has been defending police against various charges of malfeasance for years. Recently, she gave an hour-long lecture making the case that police are not racist. The video was immediately yanked by YouTube (which is owned by Google). After pressure, the video was reinstated, but with a warning that Heather’s video was unsuitable for minors. Think about that for a second. The multiculturalists at Google believe that children should not be exposed to information that suggests that the police are not racist.
Bad as that is, things likely will get worse. Who will publish Heather’s next book on the police (or anything else for that matter)? Probably not a mainline publisher. There still are a few small conservative publishers, but how long can they hold out? And even if the book is published, who will carry it? Amazon is no longer reliable. Is it possible the book could be banned outright? A few months ago that would have sounded farfetched. It no longer does. This is the multiculturalist future the Republicans must describe.
No Apologies, No Excuses
For good reason, Americans are scared to speak up. I was talking today to a friend, a man of some visibility, who will not publicly criticize Black Lives Matter for fear that his son, who teaches in a local public school, would be subject to recriminations by the multiculturalist mob. My friend is not a coward; he is simply being prudent. I ask you: are you not similarly fearful of speaking your mind? Is it not obvious that we shall not have a democracy if people cannot speak up? Obvious or not, Republicans must hammer it home.
Republicans need to mount a counter-revolution. So far, for the most part, they have been playing defense. Some of them do object to some of the things I mention, but not forcefully enough and without the necessary sense of urgency. More importantly, they do not tie all these things together in an overarching account that counters the false multiculturalist narrative. They would do well to follow Tucker Carlson’s lead. Night after night, in appropriately apocalyptic terms, Tucker explains the revolution using the news of the day.
Like Tucker, Republicans must call the Democratic-Party-inspired riots what they are: a revolution. An attempt to overthrow the American founding. President Trump said just this in his excellent Mt. Rushmore speech. Republicans should follow suit—Republicans everywhere, at every level, and at every opportunity.
Republicans should explain that convincing us America is systemically racist is central to the multiculturalist revolution. That the multiculturalist Democrats and their media allies sing this refrain from morning to night does not make it true. But this falsehood cannot be allowed to go unanswered. The American people need to hear what they know in their hearts: they are not racists. Republicans should stand up and say, “no, America is not racist.” Period.
Republicans also need to say that the police are not racist. Period. When Republicans talk about improving the police, they are conceding too much of the multiculturalist police-are-racist narrative. Can the police be improved? Undoubtedly. But improvement of the police is not what the multiculturalist Democrats want; they want its destruction. And because they want its destruction, any concessions on the part of Republicans will be followed by a never-ending procession of demands. Now is the time to defend the police—categorically.
So too in the case of statues. There may be a time to visit the question of statues. Not all statues are forever. But to make concessions now is a mistake. We want to improve America; the multiculturalist Democrats want to destroy it. Between these two goals there is no basis for compromise.
Republicans must say, as Senator Tom Cotton recently did say, that the New York Times’s 1619 Project is “garbage” and must never be taught in our schools. The same is true of the Black Lives Matter curriculum that major corporations are supporting. We shall never sustain our country if we continue to teach the next generation of citizens that their country is evil.
Republicans must take BLM head on. If there is a more racist organization than BLM, I do not know what it is. Republican leaders must let the American people hear this. Now. Because ordinary Americans do care about actual black lives, they assume that BLM shares that concern. Nothing could be further from the truth, which is precisely why the multiculturalists punish those who dare to speak that truth.
To BLM and to their Democratic handlers, Republicans must say: “absolutely, black lives matter. They just don’t matter to you. You don’t care about Mr. Floyd, the black businesses you have destroyed, or the blacks who are getting killed because you have forced the police to back off. These blacks are just abstractions to you. Their tragedies are just a prop for your agenda. You’re here for destruction. Not black lives, not any lives.”
Perhaps most importantly, Republicans must say over and over that America is “incredible,” to use President Trump’s adjective of choice. They must remind the American people that their country has brought more freedom and more prosperity to more people than any country in the history of mankind. Americans know this, but they desperately need to hear it from their leaders.
But to mount such a defense, Republicans must, like Trump, breach political correctness. After all, what is political correctness but a prohibition on defending America and its distinctive way of life? The shutting up of those who defend America is the lynchpin of the multiculturalist revolution. This is why, as President Trump once said, political correctness is the problem of our time. If Republicans do not stand up to political correctness I do not see how they can adequately defend America. Time is running out.
Never Falter
I give the last word to Abraham Lincoln, because it is his words that best answer the multiculturalists’ claim that America is racist. Lincoln explains that it is not racism but equality that is at the center of our way of life. It is Lincoln who best explains who we are as people. And, except for the Civil War era, we have never been more in more need of such an explanation.
Lincoln is not only our great explainer. He is what heroes are: an inspiration. He inspires us to do noble things. Noble things are difficult things.
As a young man, unknown beyond central Illinois, Lincoln wrote:
If ever I feel [worthy] it is when I contemplate the cause of my country, deserted by all the world…and I standing up boldly and alone…hurling defiance at her victorious oppressors. Here, without contemplating consequences… I swear eternal fidelity to the just cause, as I deem it, of the land of my life, my liberty and my love. And who, that thinks with me, will not fearlessly adopt the oath that I take. Let none falter, who thinks he is right, and we may succeed. But, if after all we shall fall, be it so. We shall have the proud consolation of saying to our conscience [that in defending our country] we never faltered.
We are, I think, in a moment such as the one Lincoln imagines when he is defending his country against victorious oppressors. Our oppressors today, they too are victorious, or nearly so. And so it is time, as Lincoln says, to swear eternal fidelity to the just cause of the land of our liberty and our love, the land which remains the last best hope of earth. If, after all, we shall fail, be it so. We shall have the proud consolation of saying to our conscience that in defending America we never faltered. Thank you.
They are Bolsheviks, like the Reds in the Russian Civil War, and just as vile and evil.
bkmk
Best name I can come up with is “anarcho-Marxists”. I’ve studied Leftist radical philosophy for 30 years and written about it, and this is truly a new and malignant flavor.
That’s exactly right. And it’s an oxymoron.
Properly defined, anarchism is against coercion, against control, against government. There are many flavors and varieties of anarchism, but it’s really all based on “let me live my life”.
What we see in the streets are violent people trying to force people to change their ways, and seeking to exert centralized control of society. These people are Marxists and they are scary. They call themselves anarchists but that just shows their ignorance. Nihilists would be more accurate. I think “anarcho-Marxists” is a fair label.
“anarcho-marxism” is a good name. There have been many such organizations over the years (like the Red Brigade, SDS, Weathermen, etc.)
Their writings always seemed to be unreal, devoid, tilting at strawmen, etc.
But there is now a whole slew of people who have been fed nothing but these ideas, and so they have no other compass (moral, historical, etc.) by which to judge the underlying fallacies.
Wonder how long it’s going to be before (NON-Leftist) vigilante squads start making an appearance?
It’s not that they’re wanted; it’s that they’ll be needed, if things continue deteriorating at the current rate.
Enemy, thy name is prog.
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I’ve been thinking about Defund or Reimagined Police component of the Democrat riots. I am pretty certain this designed to lead to chaos, so that a countrywide Federal Police Force can be established. To fully control us, they will need to get rid of county sheriffs and local police that are not on board.
The Bolsheviks succeeded with far less creatures (in their first riots).
Far less. Here in USA, the street fights are the same.
The first move in the fight against the “multicultural” crowd should be to END THE TWO LANGUAGE SYSTEM THAT HAS BEEN FOISTED UPON US!
I voted in a primary election recently and was appalled by the amount of ink and paper wasted on forms that were in Spanish!
This trying to be “inclusive” simply keeps the spanish speaking people in a pigeon hole. They will NEVER assimilate into our culture if they never learn to speak, read and write ENGLISH! They won’t go home either. They will just create their own barrios, law, economy and GANGS. Can’t blame them, they are depressed by our oppression.
Wake up America, what you have done and are doing to these people is wrong.
Excellent post.
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