COMMENTS
Sources
of
the Left
I've been wondering where the ideas and movements
on the Left today come from. They do not have their source in either Marx
or Lenin, yet they are deemed by the Left itself to be authentic, especially
in the Academy. There is some Marxism in the universities, but it is mar–
ginal and not very exact. If we take the credos of the Left one by one and
compare them wi th the ideas of Marx or Lenin, I think we should find
them appallingly without ancestors.
1.
Cultural diversity. Neither Marx nor Lenin were interested in any
kind of cultural diversity. Lenin supported the various nationalisms in
Russia. But that was mainly a part of his revolutionary strategy.
2. Gay liberation. Neither Marx nor Lenin had the slightest interest in
homosexuality of any kind. So far as I know, neither referred to it in their
writings. And certainly they had no notion of an "alternative lifestyle."
3. Radical feminism. Neither Marx nor Lenin were especially con–
cerned with feminism, though they did not directly oppose it. What they
actually believed was that none of these questions could be adequately
solved under capitalism, and that only under socialism would people be free
of prejudice or bigotry. And women would be equal to men in all respects.
4. Liberation movements. In general neither Marx nor Lenin believed
in any liberation movements other than the ultimate revolutionary one of
introducing socialism. They thought of them as soporifics, as pie-in-the–
sky.
5. Gender studies. Marx and Lenin, of course, never heard of what are
called gender studies. But obviously they would' not have had the slight–
est interest and would have thought of them as intellectual and political
dis tractions .
6. Affirmative action. Marx and Lenin never heard of affirmative action.
But they would have been against it, for they had a firm belief in merit and
meritocracy.
7. Populism. Marx and Lenin did not care for populism in any form. It
will be recalled that Marx went so far as to speak of "the idiocy of the vil–
lage."
8. Marx and Lenin did not believe in any kind of relativism. Their
thinking was founded on absolutes.
9. Marx and Lenin obviously never heard of deconstruction. But it
goes without saying that they would have been opposed to it.
10. Elitism. So far as I can recall neither Marx nor Lenin used the term
"elite" or "elitism." But clearly they supported the idea of intellectual
quality and an intellectual vanguard.
