Americans rarely associate Marxist critical theory with the right, but a recent political stunt shattered this presumption. To think that there can be America and Marxism is a fallacy: It is either Marxism or America.
On Nov. 18, American Reformer published “The Liberal Consensus and the New Christian Right,” an article by young conservative Marcus Carlson.
“A rising spirit is haunting America,” Carlson wrote, “the spirit of a true Christian Right.”
Carlson outlined a history of oppression experienced by the “true Right” at the hands of the “Post War Liberal Establishment” — a coalition of Marxists, liberals, false conservatives and many more — who, in the wake of World War II, created a new world order that repressed the “true Right.”
Carlson claimed there were two results. By repressing the “true Right,” these groups had acknowledged them as a threat. Secondly, because of this repression, it was time for the “true Right” to overthrow the old world order and bring about their own.
Karl Marx couldn’t be more proud, because these aren’t the words of a Marcus Carlson. They are primarily his own: “A spectre is haunting Europe,” Marx once wrote, “the spectre of Communism.”
In one of the most overlooked political stunts of 2024, political commentator James Lindsay, famous for his exposure of Marxist infiltration within the Left, tricked the American Reformer into publishing a reworded copy of the “Communist Manifesto.” He did this by using an alias — Marcus Carlson. The success of this hoax was his proof that the fringes of the conservative movement were harboring Marxist thought.
“They considered a lightly modified excerpt from the ‘Communist Manifesto’ to be a ‘powerful article’ for who they are and what they think,” Lindsay wrote in a New Discourses article on the stunt.
Surprisingly, the American Reformer didn’t fully deny this.
“While we were unaware of its authorship and motive,” an editor’s note disclaimed at the start of the article, “it is still a reasonable aggregation of some New Right ideas.”
In an ironic twist, the American Reformer claimed Lindsay had helped it. By replacing the Maxist ideology with its own, it argued, Lindsay had empowered its beliefs with Marx’s persuasive rhetoric.
The American Reformer proved Lindsay right. Marxist methodology — which, importantly, differs from communist beliefs — had become a tool of some on the Right.
To combat the woke Left, the thinkers of the American Reformer had adopted the same treacherous oppressed-versus-oppressor worldview as their rivals. They had become what they sought to destroy.
Such a phenomenon is not novel: Fascism was a perversion of communist methodology mixed with nationalism. Yet both of these groups were atheist. The self-described Christians of the American Reformer are not.
And from this fact they form their counter-argument: There is nothing wrong with employing Marxist strategies when they are employed for the “right reason” of making America into a “fully Christian” nation. What a “fully Christian nation” looks like is not something they specify in detail.
There must be zero tolerance for such jargon. Marxist thought has no place in America. It is anti-American, it is anti-Christian, and it destroys our communities.
The preamble of the Constitution reads,“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union.”
The word “more” is critical to understanding why Marxism is so dangerous for our nation. Marxism states that after the oppressor is overthrown, perfection will be achieved. Yet no country that has adopted this mindset — Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, or Maoist China — has ever reaped such fruits. Perfection isn’t attainable in this world, and expecting to achieve it only creates problems.
This nation will never be perfect, but we’ll be damned if we don’t try to improve it. That is what the Constitution meant when it said “more perfect.”
This is also why Marxism cannot coexist with Christianity.
The Bible tells us to give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s, and to place our treasures in heaven, not this world. Marxism’s promise of a material paradise on earth is incompatible with the Christian spiritual paradise. Christians should seek to improve the world, while understanding the world won’t be perfect.
Finally, Marxism is toxic to our communities, the foundation of this country. Only two groups exist for the Marxist: oppressor and oppressed. Marxism squashes the Christian belief in human dignity and the American belief in civic life. There is no dialogue between citizens, only war between factions.
We should seek to improve America through Christian values, but we go wrong when we do that by force. We have seen where that goes. Christ did, too.
The Pharisees and Sadduccees imposed moral rules on the people, scoffing at them if they failed to align with their vision of a perfect society. Christ challenged them, valuing the free will of his people. They repaid him by defaming and killing him.
To change this nation, we must change hearts. Compelling behavior by the scepter would have disastrous results. If everything wrong with this nation is what has followed World War II, then to go back would mean we would lose gains in environmental protections, racial tolerance, and scientific advancement. This was done before, rejecting the “new order” for an “older one.” It was called Mao’s Great Leap Forward. It didn’t end well.
We don’t need to nor can we return to the past. What we need is to move forward, informed by the past. Remember to keep Marxism out of the future as we remember its past. We either choose Marxism’s future or America’s future. We can’t choose both.
James Joski is a freshman studying the liberal arts.
