What is Happening to the Cultural Revolution?

For years, I have been steeping myself in the stories of tragedy and authoritarianism, whether we discuss the Holocaust, the Rwanda genocide, the Middle East, the cultural revolution and most recently, October 7. I am fascinated by the mentality that must be the source of these acts of hatred and destruction, hidden behind the curtain of promises of human progress and idealism. What kind of person is prepared to resort to violence to meet his or her goals? Why does the goal need to be complete destruction? And what kind of people sacrifice their liberties in order to follow these leaders in these dangerous and self-defeating ideologies?

Christopher Rufo is an exceptional warrior on the path to free ourselves from this cultural revolution and back to sanity in this country. In his book, America’s Cultural Revolution, he takes courageous and unpopular stances against the woke agenda—whether you call it cancel culture, systemic racism, cultural revolution or white supremacy; he is passionate about calling out those who are trying to destroy our country, how they are trying to do it, and the steps we can take as counter-revolutionaries to stop them.

Many of these revolutionaries were followers of Marx, Stalin, and Lenin, directly or indirectly. But there were many other factors that applied not only to their ideologies, but also to the reasons that people continued to sign up for their cause. I wanted to explore the most influential aspects of these ideologues’ ideas.

The University

Almost every leader in the cultural revolution was affiliated with one or more of our universities. The university was once revered as a bastion of learning and growth. Even if you didn’t attend the university, you held it in high regard for its contributions to society.

That reverence had not been tested until recently. People still compete to be accepted by the best schools, no matter their reputation for excellence or the lack of it.

Since our society has held the university in such high esteem, ideas that were generated by them and their professors have continued to be celebrated and promoted. It’s the ideal setting for developing non-traditional and revolutionary ideas, because society is unwilling to challenge its traditional perception of the university and those who promulgate destructive ideas. They assume that an institution that has stood for truth and education for so long would work to benefit society and the young people who will lead the future.

Instead, the universities and their educators have betrayed the people who have trusted and counted on them to lead the country forward. As a result, we have become trapped in our own desire to preserve our belief in these institutions and they have corrupted the institutions which they were hired to serve.

Delusion and Narcissism

The leaders of the cultural revolution had various ideologies they espoused that they believed would lead America to a new and improved society. Due to their reliance on men like Marx, Lenin, and Stalin, who were proven to be delusional in the practicality of their ideas, the current perpetrators of these ideas have been deluded into thinking that if they led this revolution, it would be successful. And ironically, their ideas of a revolution were to cause total destruction. As the intelligentsia of their time, they professed their elite status: I sometimes think they see themselves as divine. As divine monarchs, their power is taken for granted, and no one is permitted to question them. They will create edicts in the form of books, laws, regulations, and rules, and recruit serfs (the rest of us) to serve them. These elites are determined to destroy every vestige of our founding, our traditions, our beliefs and values, because (they believe) they are all based on white supremacy and oppression. They are convinced that they know what is best for the country.

Transfer of Power

The cultural revolutionaries are not looking for the consent of the governed. Rather, they expect everyone to support their revolutionary ideas. The fact is that not only the white population will be oppressed, but so will every minority group as it succumbs to the changes instituted (think of affirmative action, Diversity/Equity/Inclusion, cancel culture); no one is protected from these racist and demeaning programs. Not only are white people discriminated against, but black people are discouraged from learning and growing, convinced that are in an endless battle fighting white supremacy. Thus, everyone must give up their power at every level of society to support the revolution: parents, children, corporations, employees and employers, associations. No one wants to be criticized or lose face because they haven’t stepped up to join the movement.

Measuring Success

Not one of these revolutionaries has seen a revolution take place. As Christopher Rufo points out, they must fail:

The simple fact is that society under the critical theories does not work. The revolution is not a path to liberation; it is an iron cage.

Rufo realized that the changes that the revolutionaries were trying to make were abundant, whether it was the language, the university curriculum, the expectations for scholarship. But they were also destructive and superficial:

The same dynamic holds today. The descendants of the New Left have captured the elite institutions but have not been able to reorder the deeper structures of society. The war of negation has failed to deliver the world beyond. It has, instead, yielded a world of failure, exhaustion, resentment, and despair.

They had no criteria for measuring success or improvement in our society:

Their theory, however, was bunk. The truth is that their cultural revolution could only exist in a state of disintegration. As the opposition, they could tear away the masks, dispel the great myths, and humiliate the old heroes—but after the bombs detonated and the blood dried, they were left with nothing but an immense and overwhelming void.

They have tried to eliminate the very foundations of society:

The university no longer exists to discover knowledge, but rather to awaken ‘critical consciousness.’ The corporation no longer exists to maximize profit, but to manage ‘diversity and inclusion.’ The state no longer exists to secure natural rights, but to achieve ‘social justice.’

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How do we find our way back? In a sense, Rufo says we must move forward by re-establishing our understanding of who we are, what we value and what we believe in. We must initiate the counter-revolution.

I believe we must find a way to show how the revolution is failing. We must restrict the impact of the universities. We must find a way to convince the corporations that DEI is only a detriment to their organizations. And we must find a way to take back our school systems and persuade the teachers who have been brainwashed by the university system that they will live a more rewarding and productive life by practicing freedoms such as free speech, freedom of sharing ideas, and exploring the lost path of becoming a fully engaged American.

It will be a long, painful road, but it’s the only way to save our country.