Category Archives: Marxism

Herbert Marcuse, “Repressive Tolerance,” and the Suppression of Debate

Posted on April 8, 2023 by | 71 comments

Herbert Marcuse. Courtesy Britannica

by James C. Sherlock

There have been countless articles here on the tyranny of the left on Virginia college campuses. And nationwide.

I need not summarize them here.

But I think it useful on a weekend to consider the origins of that movement to better understand it.

It did not spring up randomly, and it continues to flow from its source, Herbert Marcuse and his book Repressive Tolerance (1965)*.

Marcuse abandoned the working class as a source of subversion of capitalism in 1964’s The One-Dimensional Man.  He

put his faith in an alliance between radical intellectuals and those groups not yet integrated into one-dimensional society, the socially marginalized, the substratum of the outcasts and outsiders, the exploited and persecuted of other ethnicities and other colors, the unemployed and the unemployable.

You may recognize that target coalition.

Herbert Marcuse has been the campus left’s philosopher since the 60’s radicals were suckled on his writings and remained in academia. Their students have come now to dominate the heights of the culture, including academia, Hollywood, the media, and teachers’ unions.

What I call the “stupid right,” more useful to the left than to conservatism, seeks to use some of Marcuse’s tactics in an equally destructive way. But they remain a fringe.

They seek a different coalition, most of which utterly rejects them.

Because they are destructive of society. Continue reading →

71 Comments

Posted in Culture wars, Education - Early Childhood, Education (higher ed), Education (K-12), General Assembly, Government workers and pensions, Individual liberties, Marxism, Politics

Tagged

Anti-Capitalism Packaged as Antiracism Teaches Failure in Virginia Schools

Posted on January 10, 2023 by | 87 comments

Karl Marx

by James C. Sherlock

I have spent the last 15 years or so studying and reporting on the decline of scholarship and the rise of censorship at the University of Virginia and other state institutions of “higher learning.”

The enforced closing of minds has been targeted to resurrect an economic system that failed everywhere in the 20th century and cannot work in the 21st.

The decline has been led by UVa’s School of Education and Human Development not only at the University but also, more harmfully, in the policies and pedagogy developed for teaching in the public schools. That school, blind to redundancy, recently appointed an Associate Dean for DEI.

UVa’s School of Education, unfortunately close to Richmond, has dominated the councils of the Virginia Department of Education even under Republican administrations. But it most tragically ran free under Ralph Northam and his two worst appointees, Secretary of Education Atif Qarni and Superintendent of Public Instruction James Lane.

Tragically, their tenures overlapped with complete domination by Democrats of the General Assembly and the COVID shutdowns.

The public schools, many operated under school boards in political agreement with the progressive left, will be trying to recover from those multiple simultaneous catastrophes for decades. Many will not recover if they remain as currently configured.

Some schools won’t last long as parents seek choices elsewhere. If true choices are offered that the poor can afford, entire divisions will collapse. Which is why, because too many school divisions are run for the benefit of the adults in the system, they will oppose choices.

Regardless, the steep decline in production of new teachers and the fleeing from chaos of experienced teachers, including those who have not yet been attacked in their classrooms, continues.

That is a classic death spiral. Continue reading →

87 Comments

Posted in Culture wars, Democracy and Western Civilization, Education (higher ed), Education (K-12), Marxism

Tagged

The Commissars of Charlottesville

Posted on November 8, 2022 by | 37 comments

Leon Trotsky, People’s Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs, 1918

by James C. Sherlock

Leon Trotsky, who headed the Red Army from 1917-22, did not trust it.

On 6 April 1918, he wrote in Isvestia:

The military commissar is the direct political agent of Soviet power within the army. His post is of the highest importance. Commissars are appointed from the ranks of exemplary revolutionaries, capable of remaining the embodiments of revolutionary duty at the most critical moments and under the most difficult circumstances…. The military commissar ensures that the army does not become isolated from the Soviet system as a whole and that individual military institutions do not become breeding grounds for conspiracy.

With commissars at every level of the army, they had their own reporting chain independent of the operational chain of command. And punishments both quick and much to be feared.

Progressives, themselves unwilling to entrust the revolution to those who may subvert it, are fond of similar structures.

Witness the broad and deep Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) system at the University of Virginia. Continue reading →

37 Comments

Posted in Culture wars, Education (higher ed), Freedom, Government Oversight, Individual liberties, Labor & workforce, Marxism

Tagged ,

George Orwell Call Home

Posted on April 28, 2022 by | 56 comments

Nina Jankowitz

by James C. Sherlock

This blog, while proudly based in individual research, often offers controversial ideas.

Uniform agreement is not expected. Debate is encouraged. We learn from one another and even occasionally change a few minds on both sides.

Yesterday the Biden administration announced the establishment of a federal “Disinformation Governance Board” in the Department of Homeland Security to “combat online disinformation in the 2022 midterms.”

Seriously. It was disclosed yesterday afternoon by Secretary Mayorkas in his testimony on Capitol Hill.

You will not be shocked to learn that neither The Washington Post nor The New York Times has yet covered the story. I just checked. Yet it represents a bigger threat to our nation than Russia and China. And it lives within the Department of Homeland Security. Continue reading →

56 Comments

Posted in Culture wars, Elections, Federal, Freedom, Governance, Government Oversight, Individual liberties, Marxism

Tagged

Return to Autocracy in Virginia

Posted on August 13, 2021 by | 9 comments

Why is this man smiling?

by James C. Sherlock.
Updated Aug 13, 12:15 PM

It was so easy to predict that I can claim no special prescience. I wrote a week ago:

“The Governor’s 15-month emergency powers expired June 30, and, God, does he miss them…. (H)ow long (will the) governor put up with the lack of emergency powers?”

If you guessed a week, you win.

Today’s headline: Virginia Gov. Orders Mask Mandate for State’s K-12 Schools

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam on Thursday announced a public health emergency order to require masks in all indoor settings for the state’s K-12 schools.

The Governor has a legal basis for the order, § 32.1-13 of the Code of Virginia. The State Health Commissioner, acting for the Board of Health when it is not in session (§ 32.1-20 of the Code of Virginia),

may make separate orders and regulations to meet any emergency, not provided for by general regulations, for the purpose of suppressing nuisances dangerous to the public health and communicable, contagious and infectious diseases and other dangers to the public life and health.

If you are wondering, the Board of Health meets four times a year for a couple of days each meeting. And there is no mention of a role for the General Assembly.

This is not the same law that Northam used for 15 months. New ball game. Continue reading →

9 Comments

Posted in Civil Rights, Courts and law, Culture wars, Education (K-12), Freedom, General Assembly, Governance, Health Care, Individual liberties, Marxism, Politics, Public safety & health

Tagged

Kendi Blames Capitalism, Prescribes Discrimination

Posted on August 8, 2021 by | 47 comments

By Steve Haner

The book was one the local librarian chose to display on the new acquisitions shelf, my curiosity was high, and by all accounts some  leaders in Virginia’s educational establishment are taken with and listening to the author. So I read Ibram X. Kendi’s “How to Be an Antiracist.”

I will largely let the author, who graduated from Stonewall Jackson High School in Manassas, speak for himself below. It was possible the critics were exaggerating. His own words below indicate otherwise.

I recommend the book to anybody really interested in this ongoing debate. Is this being directly taught to K-12 school children?  I doubt it, but maybe. Is it being taught to the next generation of teachers and is it at the heart of much of current in-service teacher training? Apparently. Continue reading →

47 Comments

Posted in Education (higher ed), Education (K-12), Marxism, Politics, Race and race relations

Tagged

Virginia Needs a Constitutional Amendment to Elect the Board of Education

Posted on May 8, 2021 by | 26 comments

by James C. Sherlock

The Virginia Board of Education (VBOE) is by far the most powerful and consequential public board in Virginia. It is the only one whose Powers and Duties are defined in the Virginia Constitution.

It was a mistake not to make the members of the Board with such vast and unconstrained powers constitutional officers who stand for election.

We are now seeing what the Board, once appointed and confirmed, can do. It has transformed Virginia’s educational system into a Marxist indoctrination system.  Board members know what they are doing is not only radically transformational, but intensely political and fiercely opposed.

Their work is not only dogmatic, but sloppy. Their use of the English language has been demonstrated here to be severely challenged. Not exactly a trait most look for in a Board of Education.

And they do not care. There is no constitutional reason they should.

The current Board has demonstrated like no other before it that it needs to face the electorate. Virginia will need a constitutional amendment to make the VBOE, who are together more constitutionally powerful than any elected official but the governor, constitutional officials elected by the people.

It is time. Continue reading →

26 Comments

Posted in Culture wars, Education (K-12), Elections, General Assembly, Marxism, Politics, Regulation

Tagged

VPM and the ACLU Descend into Madness

Posted on April 30, 2021 by | 11 comments

Taylor Marie Maloney

by James A. Bacon

Only one Richmond news outlet, Virginia Public Media, has written about the controversy engendered by the hateful online language of Taylor Maloney, president of the Virginia Commonwealth University student government. No surprise, the angle of the VPM report was not how Taylor tweeted, “i hate white people so much its not even funny” and advocated the killing of police, but the “harassment” that Taylor, a Black non-binary transgender activist, has received from irate right-wing bloggers.

Maloney’s propensity for violent and racist rhetoric was outed, so to speak, by Andy Ngo, a conservative journalist writing in an online publication, The Post Millennial.

Maloney, who goes by the pronouns them/they, has adopted various personas on Twitter, including “fuck off honkeys” and “cancel cultural worker.” When a follower of the black nationalist Nation of Islam group rammed his car into Capitol Police, killing one of the officers on April 2, Maloney celebrated his death. “[L]ove this we need more of this,” “they” tweeted. Continue reading →

11 Comments

Posted in Culture wars, Marxism, Media

Tagged

Virginia Democrats Govern in the Service of Dogma and Power

Posted on April 4, 2021 by | 24 comments

by James C. Sherlock

Karl Marx

Socialism and communism are so 19th and 20th centuries.  

Under socialism, individuals would still own property. But industrial production, which was the chief means of generating wealth, was to be communally owned and managed by a democratically elected government.

Socialists sought change and reform, but sought to make those changes through democratic processes within the existing social and political structure, not to overthrow that structure.  Socialism was to be based on the consent of the governed. Communism sought the elimination of personal property and the violent overthrow of existing social and political structures.

So what has changed for today’s progressives who have taken over the Democratic party, especially in Virginia? 

A lot. Continue reading →

24 Comments

Posted in Courts and law, Culture wars, Education (K-12), Elections, Electoral process, Environment, Freedom, General Assembly, Governance, Individual liberties, Marxism, Politics, Race and race relations, Uncategorized

Democrats Propose Expanded Virginia Government Personal Information Collection, Integration and Dissemination

Posted on January 16, 2021 by | 32 comments

George Orwell

by James C. Sherlock

There are few things the Left desires more than government access to personal data on every citizen and everything he or she does. Virginia continues down that path.

Government Data Collection & Dissemination Practices Act Chapter 38 of Title 2.2 of the Code of Virginia (§ 2.2-3800 et seq.) reads in part:

B. The General Assembly finds that:

1. An individual’s privacy is directly affected by the extensive collection, maintenance, use and dissemination of personal information;

2. The increasing use of computers and sophisticated information technology has greatly magnified the harm that can occur from these practices;

3. An individual’s opportunities to secure employment, insurance, credit, and his right to due process, and other legal protections are endangered by the misuse of certain of these personal information systems; and

4. In order to preserve the rights guaranteed a citizen in a free society, legislation is necessary to establish procedures to govern information systems containing records on individuals.

Democrats in the General Assembly consider those principles trumped by their desires for control of every aspect of citizens lives from birth until death. Thus they are leading an effort to expand government collection, dissemination and integration of citizens’ personal information.  Continue reading →

32 Comments

Posted in Culture wars, Education (higher ed), Education (K-12), Freedom, General Assembly, Governance, Individual liberties, Marxism, Open Government, Regulation, Transparency

Critical Lizard Theory Sweeps Nation

Posted on December 31, 2020 by | 35 comments

By Peter Galuszka

Bacon’s Rebellion has been filled with many thumbsuckers about how “Critical Race Theory” is an existential threat to Western Civilization.

But now there is a new theory of concern that makes the racial considerations seem, well, so 2020.

It is called “Critical Lizard Theory” and it actually exists.

According to NBC News, investigators are probing possible links between Nashville suicide bomber Anthony Quinn Warner and the conspiracy idea that many prominent people in the world such as Queen Elizabeth, the Clintons, Barack Obama, Madonna, Paul McCartney and even Bob Hope are or were lizard-like aliens who arrived on Earth and assumed human characteristics.

There seems to be evidence that Warner made trips to an undisclosed spot in Tennessee to check into aliens, NBC reports. Warner is believed to have constructed a bomb at his suburban Nashville home and placed it in a recreational vehicle before setting it off in the city’s downtown. Continue reading →

35 Comments

Posted in Culture wars, Individual liberties, Marxism, Race and race relations

Tagged

A Tale of Two Professors

Posted on November 3, 2020 by | 24 comments

David Walsh

by James A. Bacon

On the one hand, we have David Astin Walsh, a left-wing University of Virginia PhD student specializing in far-right politics, who taught a class at George Mason University last year.

On the other hand, we have Jeffrey Leopold, an assistant professor who teaches the Foundation of Commerce course at the University of Virginia’s McIntire School.

Jeffrey Leopold

Let’s compare and contrast injudicious words uttered by each man, the ensuing institutional responses, and their responses to the responses.

Walsh, whose Twitter tag is “David ‘That’s *Dr.* Commie F*ck’ Walsh,” posted the following statement on Twitter last week: “Here’s the thing: if the worst-case scenario happens next week, American’s don’t need to just ‘protest.’ They need to actively try to topple the government.” In a follow-up tweet, he said, “Also worth noting that the military has already made it clear that in such a scenario, they’re not going to back Trump.” Continue reading →

24 Comments

Posted in Culture wars, Education (higher ed), Marxism, Uncategorized

Tagged

Sorority Member Put on Probation for Criticizing BLM

Posted on October 21, 2020 by | 54 comments

by James C. Sherlock

Kappa Alpha Theta University of Kansas – credit New York Post

I quote below a story from the New York Post posted today at 7:48 AM and authored by Lee Brown.

Karl Marx is alive and living in Kansas.

The sound you hear is George Orwell turning over in his grave.

Does anyone think this can’t happen in Virginia?

A University of Kansas sorority has put a member on probation for “unbecoming” behavior on social media — for sharing a post criticizing Black Lives Matter.

Continue reading →

54 Comments

Posted in Culture wars, Education (higher ed), Marxism

Marxist Educational Strongholds at the University of Virginia – A Course Guide

Posted on October 8, 2020 by | 64 comments

Karl Marx

by James C. Sherlock, University of Virginia, College of Arts and Sciences, 1966

This essay will present a survey of left-wing educational opportunities at the University of Virginia by means of a review of courses offered in its Marxist critical theory strongholds. 

It does not presume the reader favors or rejects Marxism, but provides a course roadmap for those who think Marxism is a path to the future and a cautionary tale for those who don’t.

First a brief background, and then we will offer the course guide. Continue reading →

64 Comments

Posted in Business and Economy, Courts and law, Culture wars, Education (higher ed), Marxism, Uncategorized

A Public Service – Watch Angela Davis Speak at UVa

Posted on October 4, 2020 by | 53 comments

Angela Davis 2010

by James C. Sherlock

The University of Virginia did all of us a favor when it hosted and recorded a speech by the Marxist Angela Davis through its Excellence in Diversity Series from September 2017 through March 2018.

The credit on the UVa web page below the video states:

Angela Davis’ work as an educator – both at the university level and in the larger public sphere – has always emphasized the importance of building communities of struggle for economic, racial, and gender justice. She has authored 9 books and has lectured throughout the United States as well as in Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and South America. She draws upon her own experiences in the early seventies as a person who spent eighteen months in jail and on trial, after being placed on the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted List.”

The Angela Davis event was supported by the University of Virginia Bicentennial with funding provided by the Alumni Board of Trustees, and by many UVA PARTNERS.

Continue reading →

53 Comments

Posted in Culture wars, Education (higher ed), Education (K-12), Individual liberties, Marxism