Communism 2.5: Social Communism

The EVILution of Communism Workshop, Session 3

Communism is a religious view that has evolved and adapted over the last two centuries, including right up to the present day. Understanding the developments and threats in our present world requires understanding what Communism really is, especially in its Marxist variants, and how it has developed and changed over the years. In response to this need, James Lindsay of New Discourses held a four-lecture workshop series on the EVILution of Communism in Dallas, Texas, at the start of August 2024.

In this third lecture in the series, Lindsay continues discussing the development of twentieth-century Communism along its second track: Western Marxism. The Western Marxist tradition contains many threads, virtually all of which start with either the Fabian Socialist Society in the UK or, more infamously, with Cultural Marxism elsewhere throughout the Western world. Cultural Marxism itself gives way to Critical Marxism (that is, Critical Theory) through the middle of the twentieth century, particularly in America, and informs other movements such as feminism, radical racial movements, critical education theories, and eventually the development of an intersectional “Woke” Marxism we’re dealing with today. Understanding this requires understanding the influences of many Marxist thinkers including Mao Zedong, whose most culturally destructive ideas were imported by the Critical Marxists and Critical Pedagogues. This in-depth lecture describes the development of a whole new “Social” Communism that sought to find ways to penetrate Western Civilization to make it soft to socialism and Communism.

Notes (PDF)

The other three lectures in this series can be found here:
Session 1: Communism 1.0: Theoretical Communism
Session 2: Communism 2.0: Industrial Communism
Session 4. Communism 3.0: Corporate Communism

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