The Academic Doctrine Destroying America

“As the philosophical foundations of modern civilization give way, the entire structure caves in on itself. America cannot survive as a self-loathing and internally divided country that has rejected truth and morality. Such derangements are the foundation stones of a coming dark age.” ― James Lindsay

For years, I have heard conservatives bemoan the lack of civic education in our public schools as a key reason our youth do not appreciate the achievements of the classical liberalism that birthed America and the capitalist structure that allowed her to flourish.

While a lack of instruction on the classics and history is certainly concerning, more troubling is what is being taught instead. For almost fifty years, progressive activists in academia have been applying postmodernism and critical theory to virtually every discipline to challenge our nation's cultural narrative and instill doubt in the American promise.

Over the course of the last decade, the doctrines of postmodernism and critical theory have saturated our universities and have slowly taken over the lexicon of the modern left. While critical theory and postmodernism may not sound familiar to you, if you have encountered terms such as cancel culture, woke, intersectionality, micro-aggression, trigger-warning, safe space, or privilege, you have encountered this doctrine without even knowing it.

This is not to say that neither racism nor sexism have existed in our country or do not continue to exist today. The United States of America — as well as all countries forged by imperfect men — has fallen short of the ideals upon which we were founded. But we should strive to get closer to that “more perfect union” described in the preamble to our Constitution.

It is right and good to question where we have not lived up to those ideals and determine where we might improve. What is harmful is creating a perpetual victim mentality that permeates through government, education, culture, and society that paralyzes each and impedes the ability for our nation to advance and continue to create opportunity for all.

So how did this all start? Believe it or not, with an artist advocating for a sculpture of a toilet to be considered art. That's right, many credit the origins of postmodernism to Marcel Duchamp who submitted a sculpture of a urinal to the Society of Independent Artists in New York as a work of art in an effort to redefine the core understanding of art itself.

Over the next hundred years, this art movement would morph into a political philosophy that views the world almost solely from a lens of power relationships and the rejection of objective truth and moral values, dominant cultural narratives, and the enlightenment ideals America was founded upon.

Similarly, critical theory is a quazi-marxist philosophy that views everything through the lens of power dynamics and is cynical of all mainstream systems and narratives, viewing them as artificial social constructs that oppress minority groups to benefit the "cis-heteronormative white male fascist patriarchy." The quote below sums up the ideology succinctly:

“People [in the US] are commonly defined as other on the basis of race or ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, age, and physical or mental ability. Each of these categories has a form of oppression associated with it: racism, sexism, religious oppression/anti-Semitism, heterosexism, classism, ageism, and ableism, respectively. In each case, there is a group considered dominant (systematically advantaged by the society because of group membership) and a group considered subordinate or targeted (systematically disadvantaged).” – Beverly Tatum, The Complexity of Identity

This worldview has led to a victimhood mentality that is plaguing our nation, especially those in Gen Z (1996-2010). No longer is one's value based on individual decisions or work ethic, but instead rests on their race, sexuality, gender, or other sub-group they have been lumped into.

Under these doctrines, the goals of equality of opportunity and a color-blind society are outdated. We must instead examine how race, class, gender, and other individual characteristics “intersect” with one another to create deep structural and systemic divides between segments of the population.

Again, this is not to say that prejudice is not an issue in this country, but more so critique the logic in believing the answer to eliminating prejudice is to judge massive numbers of people by their immutable characteristics with additional prejudice.

Our nation's division is at a highpoint in modern history. We can all feel the suffocation of incivility and political unrest as we walk on eggshells trying to navigate everyday conversations.

Half of the country is being told they are a victim, while the other half is being told they are oppressors. How is this narrative helpful for instilling peace and moving our nation forward in a productive way?

It shouldn't be like this. We have come too far as a country to just throw it all away. We are all just flawed human beings trying to do the best we can. It is time for us to set aside these problematic lenses of viewing the world, cut one another some slack, and talk to one another.