In an article in New York Magazine that everyone should read, Jonathan Chait lays out a theme espoused by the New Right that apparently is gaining plenty of traction in the GOP mainstream. The gist of it is that the left has been quietly, but doggedly seeking control of all of America’s institutions over the past 50 years or so, and has succeeded. As a result, it is necessary for the right to take over and use the powers of government in order to restore our society to the way it was in the good old days. Chait, who obviously has some familiarity with Chinese history, calls this theory “The Long March.”
Based on Chait’s analogy, the logical questions you should ask are:
- Who was the American version of Mao?
- What was the American equivalent of the Chinese Communist Party?
There is no plausible answer to these questions, of course. “The left,” which extends roughly from me to Bernie Sanders, contains a wide range of opinions. “The left” had little money (at least, compared to “the right”), no plan, no organization capable of secretly infiltrating institutions, and no leader. To the extent that American political and cultural institutions reflect liberal thought, it is due to two things: self-selection; and the general, if belated, understanding that women and minorities in America got a raw deal over the last few centuries. In other words, “the left” won the hearts and minds of America by making it aware of past injustices, and the reactionaries want to use political power to overturn that victory.
I will be discussing the state of various elements of the supposedly corrupt liberal establishment over the next few days.