"What is a Marxist?" (Opinion)
In my own words...
I was recently asked on X (formerly Twitter) to define Marxism:
I posted the most obvious answer…
…only to be challenged again (fair, I guess):
So I started writing out the definition of Marxism to satisfy this request, mainly taking from various texts and dictionaries. But then I realized that what he was really trying to find out is if I actually knew what a Marxist is. This seemed like a challenge, though not a novel one. Often on X Spaces and other forums I am asked, in a challenging way, to define Communism, Marxism, Socialism, and any other form of government, political philosophy, or economic policy that I routinely speak out against. This is fair as many people throw words around like “Facism” or “Communism” and don’t actually know what they mean (Hello, Kamala). So I decided to write my own definition of a Marxist as well as Marxism for context. I drew from memory from my time studying this and related subjects in high school and thoughout my undergraduate and graduate education. I felt it was important to give “Monthly Sandwich” my own take on Marxism because this would help my readers see what I see but also might educate others on how to apply these nefarious ideologies to modern times and modern political and social activity. Yes, this definition is still based on some historical facts as well as my observations of our current world, and then applied my own analytic conclusions. But to be clear: I am not an academic or scholar in this field. I am an intelligence analyst, a detective, and a guy who is not blind to what is happening in our country and the rest of the world. I also allowed my own emotions and bias filter into this definition because I think it’s important to allow emotional influence and stoic objectivity to have equal footing when writing about a subject that involves politics but involves human beings. We think, but we also feel. So with all of that in mind, I sat down to type out my take on “What is a Marxist”. Here is what I came up with as an answer to“Horse 🗿🦒(at)MonthlySandwich”. Mr Sandwich, this one’s for you…
What is a Marxist and What is Marxism?
Marxists are those who foolishly subscribe to the philosophy of Marxism, which was formulated in 1848 in the pamphlet “The Communist Manifesto” by Fredrich Engels and Karl Marx (who was also a troubled poet who wrote troubling poetry, in my opinion):
In theory, Marxism is a social, economic and political philosophy that focuses on the impact of the “ruling class” on the “oppressed”. They believe that by having these two distinct classes an uneven distribution of wealth and privilege is created in society. According to most Marxists, this vile system of merit-based rewards is bad and therefore must be destroyed and rebuilt in their vision (don’t ask me what that vision is…because it seems that even Marxists cannot envision their own vision).
According to most Marxists the “ruling class” or the “oppressors” are those in power (yes, I am aware of the irony based on current times as I write this). So who are these despicable Oppressors? Based on my observations of witting and unwitting Marxists in America over the last several years, Marxists believe (or pretend to believe) that the “oppressors” are anyone that Marxists define as the “rich” (unless they are rich AND Marxist), as well as business owners, entrepreneurs, Catholics, Elon Musk, Libertarians, MAGA, “White” People (except Marxists and those who identify as Not White), most conservative politicians, liberal politicians that question Marxist ideas, baristas in Starbucks who wouldn’t let you get a free refill…essentially anyone who disagrees with Marxists are oppressors and should be arrested or destroyed.
Meanwhile Marxists tend to define the “oppressed” as anyone who is “ruled”. Originally laborers (or “the working class”) were the dominant “oppressed classes”. In modern times the oppressed classes seem to include any minority of people who claim to be oppressed. These include: the LGBTQETCETC*&!; certain ethnic minority groups; men in same-sex marriages (but not Glenn Greenwald…he’s not welcome anymore); people who like AOC; AOC; people that are offended by “mean Tweets”; black men and women in Georgia (but not if they support Trump); illegal aliens; illegal alien criminals; “Swifties”'; Mexicans and Venezuelans (but not Cubans); inmates (but not the white ones); ex-convicts (but only the recidivists); child sex traffickers (but strangely, not the trafficked children); Kamala Harris; unions (but NOT the United Auto Workers union…not anymore!); feminists (but not the pretty, inquisitive, successful ones); and even animals (I am not kidding…look up the term “Speciesism”).
Ok…so do you understand now? It’s very clear who the oppressed are, right? But wait! One caveat: Only Marxists get to decide who is oppressed because they are The Authority on all things “oppression” (yes, more irony).
So we have the two classes defined very clearly and with no ambiguity. There is the “Us” and the “Them” Not to be confused with those whose pronouns are the singular versions of “Us” and “Them”…though they are also oppressed…hence the need for special pronouns. (Don’t look at me that way…just go with it…)
Who Decides Who is Who in the Marxist Ecosystem?
How Marxists decide who is oppressed and who is the oppressor does get a little confusing, admittedly. I’ll do my best.
In modern day America, regardless of your true or perceived identity and/or ethnicity (oh yeah…and/or species), you still need the approval of Marxists, especially upper middle class white academics (including that guy in the corner with the laptop at Beacon Hill Books) to be considered “oppressed”.
For example, Asian-Americans are automatically excluded because they tend to do quite well in academia and other areas (…so they need NOT apply for oppressed status). But it is more than arbitrary selection. For anyone or any group to even be considered “oppressed” in the current Marxist ecosystem they must pass the applicable purity tests. For example, based on what I have observed in different groups of The Oppressed, it’s clear they were able to answer the following questions in a manner that fits the Marxist agenda. I am fairly confident the following examples loosely represent such questions:
Is your group very sad but prone to explosive, angry outbursts?
Are you willing to burn something down to help reduce carbon emissions?
Are you a homeowner or a renter?
Have you paid back your college loans? If yes, with money you earned or stole?
Do you prefer delivery of your food, or do you like to pick it up yourself?
Do you agree that Donald Trump and all who support him are actually ancient demons who have crawled out from the depths of Hell to destroy Democracy and cause Climate Change? (Careful, trick question).
Do you want to preserve a woman’s right to make her own medical decisions and have bodily sovereignty? (As long as this does not include her having a choice on whether or not to get an experimental mRNA gene therapy for an outbreak of something that has symptoms strangely similar to a hangover).
Whey protein or animal protein in your fitness shake?
Do you think YouTube should be renamed to “OurTube”?
The Milky Way is a racist name for a galaxy: True or False?
How many times did you sing or hum the recently appropriated National Anthem of the Democratic Party, “Hallelujah,” by Leonard Cohen in the past year?
Which of the following is most important to you (choose carefully):
Freedom
Sovereignty
Privacy
Equity
…and finally…
Do you believe that only responsible people who believe in equity should be allowed the rights guaranteed by the 1st and 2nd Amendment?
If you fail to make the cut for “Team Oppressed” don’t worry…because Marxists also seem to issue special woke-passes to allow any individual to be temporarily part of the “oppressed” class as long as they are willing to do their bidding. (Hi Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney!)
This pass is not just limited to politics, it is available to almost anybody who relates to (or desperately wants to be included in) one of the already “certified” Oppressed Class groups. This practice is called “identifying as”. Today anyone who “identifies” as a member of any of the already accepted oppressed classes gets to be oppressed, though with more limitations than the Left-baptized oppressed might enjoy (kind of like a Marxist B-Team. Hi Rachel!)
The Simple and Polarized World of the Marxist
Marxists also believe in a very simple and polarized world which leads them to believe and sell the notion that if you just get rid of the ruling class you can save the world. Here’s how this works. Marxists believe that the existence of a ruling class (or “oppressor class”) actually creates the oppressed class. So logic would dictate that to free the oppressed you just need to destroy the oppressors. This also implies that if there were no hierarchies in the societies then the world would be a lovely eutopia where the farmer, the nurse, the businessman, the police officer, the terrorist, and the anarchist would come together in the spirit of harmony and yes, equity, every time society was faced with a challenge or hardship.
Once a consensus is reached among the self-appointed representatives of “The People” (ensuring equitable outcomes, of course) then they will march together, arm in arm, singing “Hallelujah,” to smite any threat to their utopia. Obviously, these threats and obstacles are meritocracy and the oppressors that subscribe to it. Target acquired, The People deployed, target destroyed…hallelujah!
(Note: Don’t worry, the Marxists Central Committee will lead every charge…but won’t be in charge of it. Everyone will…well…the Marxist Elites will….but they don’t identify as being elite or in charge of anything, so that’s okay…unless you cross them…then they are suddenly the Judicial and the Executive branch…but only because they have to be, temporarily, for the greater good….oh forget it, it makes no sense…but Marxists claim it does make sense and if you don’t understand it you are simply not “woke” enough and therefore you must be made a second class citizen in their class struggle to eliminate class by forcing a divided society based on class. Confused? Yeah, me too….ugh…this is exhausting).
But from what I have shared here an interesting twist presents itself. The Marxist philosophy, when put into practice, actually forces the creation of two new (or repurposed) distinct classes…the The Liberated-Oppressed-Turned-Oppressor Class and the Defanged-Former-Oppressors-Who-Are-Now-the-Oppressed Class. So essentially to liberate the “oppressed,” Marxists must destroy or oppress those they deemed to be oppressors. This automatically turns Marxists into the oppressors. So instead of destroying class in society, the Marxists actually preserve class in society. They just flipped the power from one to the other. (Maybe that’s the point…). So how do Marxists typically solve this conundrum? Simple: they just start destroying each other.
So what is Marxism? It is envy running rampant and marching towards a perilous cliff disguised as a utopia. Marxism is the specter that possesses the weak and the soulless, enlisting them in its army of rabid, ill-tempered lemmings that targets all who stand in its way, fueled by immorality. In the end, Marxism does what every other Deadly Sin does when allowed to spread among populatins unchecked: it destroys…everything.
And so what is a Marxist? Anyone who subscribes to this Philosophy of Moral Leprosy who are easily identified by their chief personality traits: pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony and sloth…and an affinity for troubling poetry.