Cultural Marxism in Canada?

It took me a long time to really understand what people mean by "Cultural Marxism", because I couldn't imagine anybody would want to denigrate our Western culture, the best the world has brought forth since the beginning of Neolithic Revolution.

It finally dawned upon me when I was listening to the Munk Debate which took place at Toronto's Roy Thomson Hall on 1st April 2016. The motion before the house was...

    "Be it resolved, give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free..."

First speaker for the resolution was the distinguished Ms. Louise Arbour, former Canadian Supreme Court Justice, Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals For Yugoslavia and Rwanda, and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Her speech so disturbed me that I took the pains to transcribe it in it's entirety so that I may better understand this concept of "Cultural Marxism". Here is a verbatim extract from that...

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I am aware of the fear that an influx of foreigners will transform our social structure in an undesirable way, but the reality is that our social fabric is changing anyway in this increasingly interconnected world. We have a choice. We could look to the past and stagnate in isolation, or we can embrace a future in which our children will develop their own culture, fully open to that of others, inspired by the choices we are making today.

The greatest threat to Western values is not an influx of people who may not share them today. It's the hypocrisy of those claiming to protect these values and then repudiating them by their actions. I expect we are going to hear tonight that Muslims are different. That they pose an unique, novel and existential threat to our democracies. Not only has this been the ugly response to just about every wave of new immigrant in history, but ironically, it plays right into the hands of violent jihadist groups that are attacking us.

These violent groups have a political, not a religious agenda. They seek to destroy our democracies, not by infiltrating or taking over our institutions, but by letting us slowly self-implode in response to the fear that risks turning us against ourselves, thereby destroying the very key features of our open society. We need to be smarter than that and we need to welcome people who, like all of us who came at some point from somewhere else, will build an ever evolving free and strong Canada.

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So let me understand the first paragraph that introduces her reflections upon the cultural impact of this unprecedented influx of migrants...

a) "the reality is that our social fabric is changing anyway"
b) "We could look to the past and stagnate in isolation"

She is saying our culture is stuck in the past, stagnating in isolation - but our social fabric is changing anyway. Right. Makes sense... well ok maybe not, but let us continue. Seems she is offering us a way forward...

"...or we can embrace a future in which our children will develop their own culture, fully open to that of others, inspired by the choices we are making today."

Well, ok maybe - but it depends... let's see what else...

"The greatest threat to Western values is not an influx of people who may not share them today."

Oh oh - it appears she expects we must be fully open to that of others who may not share Western values today! Why would we want to do that? Is there something wrong with our Western values that we would be willing to give them up so easily? This is an astonishing proposition! It is also revealing. Ms. Arbour seems to be aware an influx of people may not share Western values but presses forward with her proposition anyhow. At least, she is offering a justification...

"It's the hypocrisy of those claiming to protect these values and then repudiating them by their actions."

So let's see... I think she is saying here that one of our "Western values" is being open to other cultures, and if we deny that, we are hypocrites.

I would dispute that. Yes we are open to other cultures in the West, but it is a matter of degree. We are built from a mix of cultures, but they originated from a Judeo-Christian base, and were augmented by people from all over the world who contributed from their own cultures where they found a resonance in those foundational values such as: rationalism, self-criticism, the disinterested search for truth, the separation of church and state, the rule of law, equality before the law, freedom of conscience and expression, human rights, and liberal democracy - to name a few.

Now, it is not my intention here to attempt to define Western values because I am not a scholar. I only wish to apply some common sense test to her thesis. Common sense informs me that there are limits to our openness to other cultures. I would suggest that we are not open to cultures that are diametrically opposed to our most basic shared values such as liberty, democracy, and individual worth, nor should we be expected to be!

"I expect we are going to hear tonight that Muslims are different. That they pose an unique, novel and existential threat to our democracies."

Well the most interesting thing about this debate was, she managed to so intimidate her opponents that they said nothing of the sort - at least, directly! They did not attack the religion of Islam at all. They reflected on the appalling behaviours of the waves of migrants as experienced so far in Europe. Left unspoken was the fact that these migrants were almost exclusively coming from Islamic cultures.

I would suggest that the supremacist values of Islam with its Sharia Law are diametrically opposed to Western values as noted above. Openness to Islamic values would require subjugation of our own. We would have to discard them!

"Not only has this been the ugly response to just about every wave of new immigrant in history..."

While it is true there was often an "ugly response to just about every wave of new immigrant in history" it was rarely deserved. But we are faced with something new in modern times, an inundation of hordes who are changing the demographic of Europe as we speak, and whose religion is also at the same time an oppressive supremacist ideology often promoted and defended by violence.

"...but ironically, it plays right into the hands of violent jihadist groups that are attacking us. These violent groups have a political, not a religious agenda."

While she seems to understand these violent groups have a political agenda, she is in total denial they have a religious agenda at the same time. Furthermore, she does not understand that it is Islam that drives them, the very same religion shared by the immigrants!

"They seek to destroy our democracies, not by infiltrating or taking over our institutions..."

Ms. Arbour is appallingly uninformed. Of course they seek "infiltrating or taking over our institutions". Hasn't she ever heard of the Muslim Brotherhood and their plan of Stealth Jihad? That is no secret!

"...but by letting us slowly self-implode in response to the fear that risks turning us against ourselves, thereby destroying the very key features of our open society."

Turning us against ourselves? You mean the vast majority of those who participate and share in Western values turning against those who don't? And that is going to cause us to "self-implode" and destroy "the very key features of our open society"? But it was not conceded by anyone that it is a key feature of our open society to accept a culture that is diametrically opposed to Western values! Furthermore, we did not "self-implode" when we fought against Communism and Natzism in the past, two ideologies that went against our values. Self-imploding is the least of our concerns. I would suggest the very key feature of Western culture is a willingness to fight against insidious ideologies.

"We need to be smarter than that...".

Well I certainly hope so!

"...and we need to welcome people who, like all of us who came at some point from somewhere else, will build an ever evolving free and strong Canada."

I fully agree with welcoming people who will contribute to evolving a free and strong Canada, as long as they actually believe in freedom of consciousness and share our values. Islam does not. I think it more than unwise to allow an influx of Islamic hoards who would destroy our Western values.

I stand shamelessly proud of our Western culture and values and feel they are vastly superior to anything the Islamic world has ever given us. I would suggest if people like Ms. Arbour should go live for awhile in any one of these Islamic countries and experience the oppression of Islam first hand they would not so easily consider surrendering our hard-fought Western values.