Many people believe Karl Marx (1818-1883) was an economist.
He wasn’t. He was a philosopher.
Marx received a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Jena in 1841. In his dissertation, "A Comparison of the Philosophy of Democritus and Epicurus," Marx denied all things spiritual, revealed his hatred of Judeo-Christian religions and argued that nothing exists beyond material entities.
Because matter, for Marx, is the only reality, his atheistic philosophy of communism holds history and social change are determined solely by materialistic economic factors and the collapse of capitalism is inevitable via dialectic transitionary forces.
As the proletariat epoch progresses, Marx maintained the exploited classes will learn to depend upon themselves rather than the capitalist-controlled state, will revolt against capitalist oligarchs, and overtime a perfect society will be achieved as the oppressors wither away.
The ensuing classless society will be governed by the maxim "each according to his needs, each according to his ability," and there will be no class exploitation, no indignation, no reason for protest. Police power will be unnecessary.
Well, in the 20th century, the inevitable destruction of capitalist markets foretold in Marx’s "Communist Manifesto" (1848), were wholly discredited.
But the price paid for failed Marxist experiments have been exorbitant.
Close to 100 million innocent people were murdered by Marx’s disciples, Lenin, Stalin, Mao, et al., in their quest to impose a flawed messianic vision of a perfect earthly society.
However, while Marx’s economic theories have been discarded by many on the left, there are still core elements of Marxist ideology that are promoted in every nook and cranny of American society and culture.
This phenomenon is the subject of Mark Levin’s new book, "American Marxism."
Levin traces how Marxism has been Americanized, and is now a doctrinal tool for feminist, deconstructionist, Black Lives Matter and Critical Race Theory (CRT) movements devoted to indoctrinating the masses and imposing an "enlightened autocratic government."
One of their guiding lights is the prolific and prominent American philosopher, John Dewey (1959-1952).
While sympathetic to Marx’s theory of class struggle, he rejected "unplanned determinism." He called for a planned, socially engineered imposition of socialism on the American people.
To achieve that end, Dewey argued the "nation’s youth must be freed from existing mores, values, beliefs systems, traditions, customs, and the like, through public education, and made ready for another sort of programming."
And "programming" is exactly what is happening in many school districts throughout the nation. To "rescue" education from the ruling classes, students are being indoctrinated by far-left ideological formulas, disguised as "science and reason," and taught to "distain their own country, its history and its founding and are encouraged to renounce it."
Critical Race Theory, which has been much in the news of late, also draws on Marx’s concept of ideology. Because the capitalists control the economy, it is inferred that they also control the culture.
To break the backs of decadent and oppressive upper-classes, Marxist CRT proponents are devoted to destroying the Judeo-Christian beliefs which they are convinced protect the interests of free marketeers.
The noted member of the Frankfurt school of Marxism who dreamed up Critical Theory ideology "from which the racial, gender and other Critical Theory — based movements were launched in America" — was Herbert Marcuse (1898-1979).
To achieve CRT goals via "victimization, emotional appeals, balkanization and separatism," Marcuse called for repressive tolerance.
To be truly tolerant, Marcuse argued one must be "intolerant toward prevailing policies, attitudes, and opinions" and violently overthrow "American society in which the ‘established hierarchy’ was using tolerance to perpetuate oppression against the minority."
The purveyors of CRT may reject Marx’s position that class struggle stems from economic conditions, but they still view themselves as "Marxists in orientation and mostly consider their theory for transmitting society as blending with the Marxist agenda."
Then there are the useful idiots promoting and financially supporting these Marxist movements: Mega-Corporations, Silicon Valley, and Hollywood.
While these industries, and the people they employ, may not feel threatened, they are, in the words attributed to Lenin, selling the Marxists "the rope they will use to hang them."
Mark Levin has written an extraordinarily researched book that exposes the intellectuals, activists, and organizations that are brain washing Americans.
I was amazed to learn that in its first month in bookstores, "American Marxism sold" over 600,000 copies.
And it is my hope that readers get through the book because it is an education in Marx’s ideological doctrines and his influence on contemporary progressives, democratic socialists, and community activists dedicated to destroying our economic and religious freedoms.
George J. Marlin, a former executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, is the author of "The American Catholic Voter: Two Hundred Years of Political Impact," and "Christian Persecutions in the Middle East: A 21st Century Tragedy." Read George J. Marlin's Reports — More Here.