Cultural Marxism Or Cultural ... Stupidity?

I was trying to figure a way to deal with this, but the best way seems to be a simple link:

BREAKING: Educators Note Disturbing Rash of Brutal Schoolyard Fights Over 'Yo' Birthing Person' Jokes

Cultural Sovietism?

Perhaps it's time to come up with a new term to describe what's going on in America. 

We know that the Soviet Union was founded through a violent coup by a minority of dedicated revolutionaries, on a nation that was largely rural and uneducated. That coup was cemented in place by violence on a previously unprecedented scale--repeated purges, terror campaigns, deliberately caused famines.

We also know that Western revolutionaries have adopted largely non-violent tactics to impose their own neo-Marxist utopia in more modern times through variations on the ideological theme of Cultural Marxism.

The difference between today and the Soviet era is that the target of our revolutionaries is not a largely rural, backward nation, but the most technically advanced nation in history with a highly educated and, presumably, informed population.

A week or two ago I got involved in an exchange with an anonymous commenter who maintained that 70-80% of the American population are "decent" people, and that the explanation for our politics lies in electoral fraud alone. I don't buy that. A populace that statistically "decent" would never have led to the situation we're experiencing today in almost every area of our lives--the thing is simply not possible. Rather, I believe that the American people have, to an alarming extent, become corrupted and have either embraced or acquiesced in evil. Ideas have consequences, and the ideas that underlie our present culture have been percolating through the collective mind of America for several generations. Ultimately, the society we have must be placed at the feet of the people who compose it.

My purpose here is not to trace the intellectual history of this process. Rather, thanks to an article today by Victor Davis Hanson, I want to point out a new phenomenon--although one that has long been predicted, notably by Alexis de Tocqueville in Democracy In America (1835, 1840). That phenomenon has typically been termed "soft tyranny," but I designate it with a riff off Hanson's article: Cultural Sovietism.

What did de Tocqueville mean by "soft tyranny"? A search of "de tocqueville and soft tyranny" will provide you reading material for a long time. However, Wikipedia provides a handy summary of what de Tocqueville had in mind--Soft Tyranny:

Where We're Headed

I'm on the run this morning, but I'd like to recommend two articles I've just read. 

In a comment yesterday I maintained that the Russia Hoax isn't about financial corruption primarily. That is always a component, of course, when the Left is involved in something, but it really does come down to ideology. Compare these two article and see if you see how they hang together.

The first is by Rod Dreher (NeverTrumper): Seminary Confidential. It's basically a long email from a student at an elite Protestant seminary in which the student describes the state of intellectuality there. In brief, it's "social justice with a thin veneer of Jesus." It's much more detailed, and well worth reading.

The second is by Thomas Lifson, describing Antifa's activities in Portland: Left wing thuggery: The battle lines are being drawn in Portland, OR. Here there's no veneer of Jesus, but I think it hangs together. For example ...

The student writes regarding the Marxist form of "Christianity", a "new religion" "with a thin veneer of Jesus":

This represents the instrumentalization of Christianity to social justice ends. Routinely, the discussion of Christianity’s value comes down to “can Christianity help liberate me and others who share my identity from oppressors?” Christianity is not good because it is true; Christianity is adopted if it is useful.

Lifson writes:

My impression is that the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division is heavily staffed with left wingers who see African-Americans and sexual minorities as the only legitimate objects of their protection. They need to be tasked with protecting the rights of all Americans, and if they refuse, they need to be replaced. It’s time to focus on an urgent need to ensure peaceful politics before the streets get even bloodier. 

Antifa is part of an interstate conspiracy to deny civil rights to conservatives. Thanks to the civil rights movement, there are established procedures for dealing with such malign groups. It’s time to start using those tools.

Do you see how Antifa activisim flows from the "theology" (really, ideology) that the student is being indoctrinated with at this seminary? Is it such a stretch to justify violence as the legitimate expression of the grievances of the oppressed--as defined by the Left?