I was born and raised an Irish Catholic in Chicago. I joke that I was awarded a Democrat Party card along with my Baptismal Certificate. As I grew up, I knew only Democrats. Went to school and church with only Democrats. I knew which bar to go to if I wanted to donate to the “cause” back in Ireland. My parents would never tell us their party—secret ballot and all—but we guessed, by their reaction to TV news and newspaper stories. I grew up believing Richard Nixon was a really bad guy—not exactly sure why, but we all knew he looked shifty in the TV debates against our handsome Irish Catholic champion, and he lied under oath about some campaign skullduggery. And Democrats didn’t do that. We just knew that, somehow.
Later I moved to California, then still in its glory days, and worked on Democrat campaigns in my free time. The Dems were the plucky upstarts in Republican California back then. Also worked on Bill Clinton’s campaign as he seemed the perfect mix of business orientation and all the right opinions on social issues.
Well, things changed, and so did I. Or I just realized that The Narrative about the parties was a little too pat, a little too extreme. The propaganda war seemed awfully one-sided. It was total war waged in the media or on the streets by the more radical elements. I think the Dems were so energized by their takedown of Nixon that they never got over it. They wanted to do it again. To every Republican president.
Later, the rioting seemed gratuitous and managed from above. TV and print media were all social justice, all the time. If a Repub stepped out of line, he was branded a racist. Voting culture gave way to rioting and personal destruction of ordinary people for disagreeing with the elites.
I got a degree in critical theory at a time when nobody really knew what that was. After I graduated, I thought, why do we care what Karl Marx thinks about our culture anyways? Of course, he despises it. It wasn’t until I researched the origins and philosophers of the theory that I discovered the “why”: to demoralize us and to destroy our culture from within. Not reform but destroy. Not civil rights legislation but burning down cities. So that they could replace it with their own flavor of utopia, which they didn’t really describe but which sounded a lot like good old-fashioned socialism.
As a Catholic I learned that we all are born flawed, so why would we turn over the keys to the kingdom to one single group? We’re all sinners. I was wasting my vote on politicians who were not any better than the other guys. And so, I turned in my Dem card. But I couldn’t quite make myself register for the Other Party—early childhood conditioning is powerful. Nevertheless, I have voted for the Repubs since then, hoping against experience that other people do too and some sanity will return to our nation.
How did critical theory become the dominant political philosophy in DC? How did CA become a totally Democrat state in spite of its myriad policy failures? One-party rule. Look, Democrats are no more inherently evil than Republicans. They are victims of their own human nature, and when humans have too much power, they misbehave. Big time. So, a ruling party against a real opposition party is mandatory. But sadly, we all know that Repubs are human too, and so they have gone along to get along.
To my fellow Californios, I say, don’t complain about crime and encampments and high taxes unless and until you get off your butt and vote. For the Other Party. Not because you choose them as your new rulers, but because you know it’s the only way to hold the other ones in power responsible. The Dems now are able to veto any governor’s veto (like they did with Arnold) with a super majority that can pass any legislation they want. That’s why California is in trouble. No accountability.
And to Black leaders in blighted blue cities, I say, show up at City Hall and tell Hizzoner that if the shooting doesn’t stop, if the looting doesn’t stop, if the schools don’t start teaching your kids, you are going to take your folks to the voting booth and encourage them to check the other box on Election Day. My hometown Chicago, ruled solely by Democrat mayors for 100 years, has been more deadly to Black men than if they had been drafted into the military. And maybe George Floyd would not have died and the city burned down if the voters had voted the Other Party into power, just to keep the Dems honest, even once in the last 75 years.
The media like to quote MLK’s warning that “a riot is the language of the unheard” as we watch the cities burn, live on their cable news shows. You are unheard because you have not used your vote strategically. You must make the folks in City Hall worry that you might vote for the Other Party. Make them worry: Organize, drive people to the polls, help collect mail-in ballots.
In 2016 I stood in the voting booth -- I’m old school, I like to make my mark and vote with my fellow citizens in this sacred ritual. I filled out almost the whole package. I went back page 1, the race for president. I held the pen and took a very deep breath. I felt like crying. Another eight years of a radical, Saul Alinsky acolyte? Or the wild card. I would be leaving a lot behind, forever.
Yes, I voted for Trump.
Make yourself heard.
So put away your rose-colored glasses and vote as if your country depended on it. It does depend on it, on you. Clear, cold eyes. Remember, human nature is flawed and eternal—one-party rule will always lead to tears. Vote with your head, not your heart.
Thanks for sharing this story, it's moving. Head vs. heart is a very complicated art, but I'm impressed by the process - and strength of character.
Btw. the more I look into left-wing bourgeois intellectuals (Marx, Marcuse, etc..), the worse the self-hatred seems. And as you said, they want to burn it all down - and have no solutions. As is becoming very evident over the last 10-15 years. And they're being used of course, by other forces.
Hopefully, the even bigger dynamic is one of Rebirth and new Renaissance, that we might see early buds of already!
Loved reading how critical theory’s flaws came into focus for you. And California burns because: no accountability. 💯. Same with my English/Linguistics discipline and major. I’m asking your same question: how did critical theory (social justice, queer, Marxist, intersectional, etc.) take root and flower in my disciplines?
One major element: No accountability. Just research and publish to obtain tenure. There is no theory or framework for assessing the ethical impact of its driving social justice and Marxist theories, philosophies, and practices. Thru Project Luminas, I’m feebly trying to hold it accountable by first tracing how the critical, social, queer, and antiracist schools of thought developed and established themselves in my discipline over the last 40 years. Dig around first to identify and prioritize what needs to be uprooted later.
Would love to hear your feedback and learn more about your critical theory degree!