I wrote a very short post on Cultural Socialism that got some very interesting comments given the length of the post (Two lines – a total of 16 words). So I thought I’d Google “cultural socialism” to see how popular the term was.
Not very. A total of 2,580 hits. Pathetic. And the post linked above? Number two on the list. So that is something. My mission in life will not be complete until that phrase gets millions of hits. So may I ask a favor of those so inclined? Use the term early and often in speech and comments and blog posts.
And for my more “conservative” friends I think the term deserves some further elucidation. What is cultural socialism? It is state management of the culture. What you can smoke. What you can drink, what your relationship to favored and unfavored groups or individuals should be. It is epitomized in Orwell’s novel “1984”
So who can you currently hate in America? Well wreckers of the state and destroyers of children. And who would those be? Well # 1 on the list are users of heroin. You can hate them all you want. And how effective has the hate been? Before the hate was sanctioned and users were punished by law about 2% of the population were users. Since that time the number of heroin users is still about 2%. Which is to say heroin is not very popular. But what has gained popularity? Cultural socialism. If you ask the question: should heroin users be subject to state sanction the numbers in favor would run about 60 to 80%. Maybe more. So we find that cultural socialism is way more popular than heroin. And in my opinion a bigger threat to our liberties than heroin could ever possibly be.
I read a book once that made that very point. Drug Warriors and Their Prey: From Police Power to Police State.
So who else can be hated? Well hating gays is very popular on the right and is not uncommon on the left. But that is dying out. We can see that in the Massachusetts Governors race where an openly gay guy is on the ticket in the Lt. Governor spot.
Richard Tisei, a member of the Gay Republican group Log Cabin Clubs and minority Senate leader, is Baker’s running mate.
And this next bit of information will make some conservatives really mad. The top of the ticket is a gentleman named Baker. Who is fiscally conservative and socially liberal.
Baker owns the respect of political insiders on both sides of the aisle. He can also inspire confidence among business leaders. Conservative Republicans may not be thrilled at Baker’s libertarian tendencies, but at least he is one who can be influenced by reason.
Yeah. Us libertines/libertarians don’t get no respect. Which just goes to show you how popular cultural socialism is. But if you judge by St. Augustine being a libertine is a path to sainthood. Should you believe in saints. Which a fair number of Americans do. And more power to them. As long as they don’t try to enlist government to enhance their power.
What the power mad do gooders (cultural socialists) seem to forget is that the road to hell is paved by good intentions. Or as C.S. Lewis put it:
Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber barons cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.
Get it my cultural socialist friends? Cultural socialism is a form of tyranny.
It is not just Economic Socialism we have to worry about.
So does that mean I’m against changing the culture? Of course not. I just think it is more effective and longer lasting if done without the benefit of government guns. Not a very popular position at this point. But as I said at the beginning. I’m out to change that.
Cross Posted at Power and Control
Comments
4 responses to “Cultural Socialism”
I think I’d skip using “socialism” since that is essentially economic/political and skip directly to calling it cultural tyranny.
Though I suppose you could kind of get away with calling both those who want to outlaw birth control/abortion and those who want to mandate same as cultural “socialists.”
Since they do want the state to control the means of (re)production…
“So who can you currently hate in America?”
Hell, I don’t hate anybody or anything.
There are a heck of a lot of people and things I have an intense dislike for, but “hate”? Certainly not.
The Left has been using “cultural socialism” for decades – though under different names. It starts with education. Teach them young that capitalism is the cause of the world’s evils; teach them young that the world owes them a living; that American history is drenched in the blood of the oppressed; that Western science and literature is male-dominated, sexist, and oppressive; do that and you’ve got a generation of young voters who’ll vote for Obama, Pelosi and Reid, and embrace the SEIU.
Mike,
Social conservatives and progressives conspired to create the public school system we have today. It was DESIGNED as an indoctrination center. To make sure Catholics and Jews coming to America got indoctrinated in Protestant values.
Kind of got away from them didn’t it?
Just deserts. For dabbling in cultural socialism in the first place.
“Every power you give the government to do good will eventually be used by the government to do evil.”