Identity politics and social constructs have invaded America’s vocabulary, especially since 2020 catapulted millions of Americans into a world of politics that they had been virtually ignoring before COVID-19 hit.

College students are taught (ahem… brainwashed) in the philosophy of Marxism.  In fact, they probably know how Marxism applies to the real world better than they could explain capitalism, which leads us to the new socialism of today’s world: identity socialism.

How Marxism Relates to Identity Socialism

Classical Marxism, neo-Marxism, and cultural Marxism all have vague meanings construed behind their fancy words.  But when it comes down to it, Marxism is a means of obtaining socialism (and communism).

Vladimir Lenin put it in layman’s terms.  “The goal of socialism is communism.”  It just takes time, and the Marxists were willing to wait for America. 

The Marxists moved into America during the 1930’s and 1940’s when scholars from the Frankfurt School in Germany fled Nazi Germany.  It wasn’t long before their ideology crept into American universities where it was welcomed and flourished, but it took a different form in America compared to traditional socialism and Marxism.

The Founder of Identity Socialism

Here’s a brief history of one of the masterminds of identity socialism: Herbert Marcuse.  He was born in Germany in 1898 and left Nazi Germany with many other Frankfurt School scholars.  He settled down in 1965 at the University of California after attending Columbia, Harvard, and Brandeis.  

However, even after all his education, Marcuse was a bitter Marxist who despised capitalism, and he wanted to bring socialism and communism to America. 

However, the Americans were wealthy, materialistic, and happy.  Whenever socialism reared its head, American workers (who, if Marx was correct, should have been the revolutionaries) tended to raise one eyebrow and ask, “Why would we want a revolution?  We like things the way they are!”

Marcuse’s Problem: How To Divide America?

Marcuse waited and observed patiently.  Where were the cracks in American society where he could chink away and eventually destroy the foundation of the American capitalist society?

His answer came in an unlikely form.  The American workers were not his revolutionaries or proletariat.  He wrote of his discovery.

“Underneath the conservative popular base is the substratum of the outcasts and outsiders, the exploited and persecuted of other races and other colors […]  their opposition is revolutionary even if their consciousness is not.” 

Marcuse understood Americans needed their ideologies transformed into Marxist thinking, and he knew he could create a divisive mindset among them even if it took years to take hold in American society at large.

Marcuse’s Identity Categories

Socialism evolved from the “worker’s revolution” to an “identity revolution” under Marcuse’s guidance.

The “grievances” of which Marcuse was so fond, included the Vietnam War, feminism, and the Black Power movement (D’Souza – PragerU).

Each of these movements, including the Vietnam War, provided unique gateways for Marcuse and identity socialism to slowly chink away at America and capitalism.  

1. The Vietnam War Draft

The Vietnam War drafted young college students.  These college students did not want to be drafted, so Marcuse capitalized on their feelings by portraying the Vietnamese as “freedom fighters” and the American soldiers as oppressors.  When the students expressed dissent to the draft, identity socialists in the universities propagated the idea that they were “righteous resisters” of an unworthy war.

The students were told that they were joining the Great Refusal, and in so doing, they would be a part of “freeing Vietnam” from oppressive, American imperialism.  As Marcuse said, the students were helping America in refusing to enter the war because the next step would be “collective ownership, collective control and planning of the means of production and distribution.”

Sound Marxist to you?

*And as a side note, the Vietnam war was a political war, not a patriotic war, in the words of WWII Lieutenant Lyle Bouck (The Longest Winter, Alex Kershaw).  Veterans of the Vietnam War deserve respect for their patriotic service even with the mixed emotions that are so prevalent about the war.

2. The Feminist Movement

Identity socialism and Marcuse needed more than just the angry college students, so they turned their sights to the American family.  Feminists were angry women, mothers, and daughters who felt oppressed by the men in their lives.  What better group than these ladies for identity socialism to influence with Marxist ideology?

Dinesh D’Souza makes it crystal clear as he writes how identity socialism comes into play here: women become the “proletariat” and men become the “oppressors”.

Marcuse wrote, “The movement becomes radical to the degree to which it aims, not only at equality within the job and value structure of the established society […] but rather at a change in the structure itself”.

That change included the family and womens’ role in the family.  As the Marxists rallied behind the Feminist Movement, more women left the home for the workforce, leaving children to the care of the school system.  This was a fatal blow to the Christian foundation of Western Civilization, or as Marcuse called it, “the structure itself.”

ALSO READ: ATTACKING RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IS A DIRECT ATTACK ON FREEDOM OF THOUGHT

3. The Black Power Movement

Finally, the black population of America was ripe for the harvest of identity socialism in terms of grievances and oppression.  The Black Power Movement was a “militant adjunct” (offshoot) of the Civil Rights Movement. 

Historically, blacks were severely and tragically oppressed with slavery and were the main target of racism in America.  Despite the Civil Rights Movement and abolitionists’ best efforts, racism still existed in America and made the black population a perfect candidate for identity socialism.

 They became the “proletariat”, and whites, formerly the American norm, became the “oppressors”.  The black population became their own “identity”, just like the feminists and disgruntled college students.  

Identity socialism continued to evolve with American culture as more “identities” appeared, and it exploded in the 1990’s with Critical Theory coming into play in mainstream American culture.  Soon everyone began to see themselves within an “identity”, whether that was a “white lesbian” or a “black transgender” or a “white male oppressor”.  Everyone was categorized as either victim or oppressor, creating the perfect division that identity socialism and Marcuse were aiming for.

Classical Marxism Evolved to Fit Today’s Genre

As Dinesh D’Souza says, “The typical socialist today is not a union guy who wants higher wages; it is a transsexual eco-feminist who marches in Antifa and Black Lives Matter rallies and throws cement blocks at her political opponents” (American Greatness).

As colleges became more and more radical, the students coming in to receive their higher education exited university life with more radical ideas.  Female college students were (and are) taught it was stupid to stay at home with their children and care for the home.  People see skin color, not the individual.  Almost every American college student has been completely immersed in Marxist ideology and taught to view himself or herself in terms of intersectionality and oppressed categories.

And that, in a nutshell, explains how identity socialism came to America.

Conclusion

The dangerous part of identity socialism is that it still foments a revolutionary reaction.  Look around, and observe how America is divided, especially with the riots all throughout 2020.  Statues were torn down, and cities were burned, all because of division over identities and worldviews.

We are to be “one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all” (Pledge of Allegiance), but we are becoming a nation that is divided.  

This is not a denial that racism is still present in America, but it is a denial that racism is inherent in every person and interaction, regardless of one’s best intentions.

This is also not a denial that women did not have equal rights back in the day.  Women should be allowed to be in the workforce and to have voting rights, for example.  But they should not be criticized for being homemakers either (Titus 2:3-5).

Abraham Lincoln quoted Matthew 12:25 in his 1858 House Divided Speech.  These words are a timely reminder to all Americans that we should unite rather than focusing on petty identity categories that will ultimately divide us forever.

“And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, ‘Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:…” (Matthew 12:25, King James Version).