The Frankfurt School and the War on the West
The cultural and ideological battles raging around us do not exist in a vacuum, nor have they happened by accident. There are those who hate the West and want to destroy it and make it into their own image. Many groups and individuals are actively at work in this assault on the West.
Many movements and groups can be mentioned, but here I wish to focus on just one. It has been hugely influential in undermining the West and bringing about cultural Marxism. Even though Marxism as a political force is greatly diminished, it is still alive and well in its cultural form. I refer to the Frankfurt School.
Much has been written on this revolutionary movement, and all that can be done here is to offer a brief summary of it and its influence. And given that very good write-ups already exist, I will not reinvent the wheel here. Instead I will draw upon a helpful recent summary article by Timothy Matthews.
Just what exactly is the Frankfurt School? “Well, in the days following the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, it was believed that workers’ revolution would sweep into Europe and, eventually, into the United States. But it did not do so. Towards the end of 1922 the Communist International (Comintern) began to consider what were the reasons. On Lenin’s initiative a meeting was organised at the Marx-Engels Institute in Moscow.
“The aim of the meeting was to clarify the concept of, and give concrete effect to, a Marxist cultural revolution. Amongst those present were Georg Lukacs (a Hungarian Marxist theoretician he developed the idea of ‘Revolution and Eros’ – sexual instinct used as an instrument of destruction) and Willi Munzenberg (whose proposed solution was to ‘organise the intellectuals and use them to make Western civilisation stink. Only then, after they have corrupted all its values and made life impossible, can we impose the dictatorship of the proletariat’)”
The ‘School’ was started at the University of Frankfurt in 1923. “When Hitler came to power, the Institut was closed and its members, by various routes, fled to the United States and migrated to major US universities – Columbia, Princeton, Brandeis, and California at Berkeley.”
Many important names are associated with the School: “The School included among its members the 1960s guru of the New Left Herbert Marcuse, Max Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno, the popular writer Erich Fromm, Leo Lowenthal, and Jurgen Habermas – possibly the School’s most influential representative.”
So what was the aim of these men? “Basically, the Frankfurt School believed that as long as an individual had the belief – or even the hope of belief – that his divine gift of reason could solve the problems facing society, then that society would never reach the state of hopelessness and alienation that they considered necessary to provoke socialist revolution. Their task, therefore, was as swiftly as possible to undermine the Judaeo-Christian legacy. To do this they called for the most negative destructive criticism possible of every sphere of life which would be designed to de-stabilize society and bring down what they saw as the ‘oppressive’ order. Their policies, they hoped, would spread like a virus—‘continuing the work of the Western Marxists by other means’ as one of their members noted.”
They devised strategies by which the destruction of the West could quickly and effectively take place: “To further the advance of their ‘quiet’ cultural revolution – but giving us no ideas about their plans for the future – the School recommended (among other things):
“1. The creation of racism offences.
2. Continual change to create confusion.
3. The teaching of sex and homosexuality to children.
4. The undermining of schools’ and teachers’ authority.
5. Huge immigration to destroy identity.
6. The promotion of excessive drinking.
7. Emptying of churches.
8. An unreliable legal system with bias against victims of crime.
9. Dependency on the state or state benefits.
10. Control and dumbing down of media.
11. Encouraging the breakdown of the family.”
If anyone is wondering why the West is embarked upon sexual suicide, much of the answer can be found in the Frankfurt School: “One of the main ideas of the Frankfurt School was to exploit Freud’s idea of ‘pansexualism’ – the search for pleasure, the exploitation of the differences between the sexes, the overthrowing of traditional relationships between men and women. To further their aims they would:
“• attack the authority of the father, deny the specific roles of father and mother, and wrest away from families their rights as primary educators of their children.
• abolish differences in the education of boys and girls.
• abolish all forms of male dominance – hence the presence of women in the armed forces.
• declare women to be an ‘oppressed class’ and men as ‘oppressors’.
Munzenberg summed up the Frankfurt School’s long-term operation thus: ‘We will make the West so corrupt that it stinks’.”
Matthews explores each of these areas in more detail, and then makes this summary statement: “The School believed there were two types of revolution: (a) political and (b) cultural. Cultural revolution demolishes from within. ‘Modern forms of subjection are marked by mildness’. They saw it as a long-term project and kept their sights clearly focused on the family, education, media, sex and popular culture.”
Another detailed article, complete with references, is also worth reading (see second link below). But as this very brief introduction demonstrates, it is not by accident that we see the West in moral freefall, especially with sexual degradation leading the charge.
Sure, in a fallen world, human sinfulness will gravitate toward such a direction anyway. But when guided and prodded along by activists who seek to speed up the process of cultural decline, then things deteriorate really quickly indeed.
To engage in the culture wars effectively, one needs to know whom one is fighting against. The Frankfurt School is not the only aggressor we face, but it is one of them, and an important one at that. Being aware of such movements help us to make sense of the rapid degeneration of the West, and lets us know that we really are in a war. Now is not the time to opt out of this conflict. The stakes are far too high to choose non-involvement.
http://www.whale.to/c/frankfurt_school1.html
http://www.newtotalitarians.com/FrankfurtSchool.html
[1046 words]
Timothy Matthews, as quoted in your article, observes that the Frankfurt School “believed there were two types of revolution: (a) political and (b) cultural. Cultural revolution demolishes from within. Modern forms of subjection are marked by mildness”.
More than a century and a half ago, the Danish Protestant philosopher Soren Kierkegaard made a similar distinction between two types of revolution in his book The Present Age (1846).
He said that, first, there is the really “passionate tumultuous” kind of revolution, “which overthrows everything and tears everything down in a welter of blood and destruction”.
Then there is the other “bloodless, passionless kind which leaves everything standing, but cunningly empties it of its significance”.
John Ballantyne, Melbourne.
This is an interesting connection to Barack Hussein Obama the second and his Marxist father Barack Hussein Obama the first. I am quoting from an article in American Thinker by James Simpson:
http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/05/hate_crime_legislation_back_do.html
Jennifer Parfenovics
Another good article Bill, there are overtones of “behavioural economics” in which a tactic is to keep people hazy as to where they stand….such that they will be paralyzed with severe inner conflicts in regard to what to do. Under such circumstances people can easily be led in a direction that they otherwise would not go.
Lawrie McNamara, Warragul
In reference to John Ballantyne’s Kirkegaard citation, the two kinds of revolution reminded me of an atomic bomb v.s. a neutron bomb…one obliterates everything, while the other only wipes out the life and substance – leaving the spoils and infrastructure to be taken over by the aggressor…
Yarran Johnston
It’s good to be reminded that this decivilisation is not just happening as if by accident.
Louise Le Mottee, Hobart
Excellect informative article Bill, appreciated.
Doug Holland
It is interesting that in the article by Timothy Mathews on the website at the bottom of your article was a quotation by Bertand Russell about getting children before the age of ten to believe that “snow is black”.
It reminded me of various teachings. You really can’t beat “nothing+chance+time=everything” of the pseudo science athiestic branch of religion. Then there is the little “idol factory” in our heart as Calvin puts it. “Nothing new under the sun.” Eccles. “Lord deliver me from lying vanities” Jonah.
Alan Dinsmore
The corrupters use the same approach that Hitler’s psychologists invented for brainwashing individuals. They proceed in three stages – inversion, perversion and conversion.
First they invert a community’s values. Next they encourage the community to live those inverted values (i.e. perversion). Finally, they use outrage against perversions to convince the community to convert to their values.
Its been happening in Australia for some decades now.
Richard Eason
Dear Bill, here is yet another connection to the Frankfurt School. I quote a small part of the larger article at American Thinker. Well worth the full read ! The context is the Barry Hussein Obama invitation and speech at ND Uni. Jenkins is the president of the Catholic University.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/05/frankfurt_school_reigns_suprem.html
Also accessed via the full article above are details of Norma McCorvey (alias, Jane ‘Roe’ ) with Alan Keyes and other elderly priests who protested at ND Uni. At another AT article the details of the Board Members of ND were exposed. They include pro abortion and embryonic stem cell advocates and also the connection to the stench of the Chicago political machine. Including a women left wing ideologue judge on the short list for Obama’s soon to be announced Supreme Court appointment. Surprised ? I don’t think so !
“But more to the point is the willingness of this school president to break with sacred Catholic tenets (whether you agree with them or not) to the point where his action may threaten the very viability of the school. As of May 13, the Catholic News Agency reports that Notre Dame Alumni have already promised to withhold $14 million in donations unless Jenkins is replaced by someone who “is committed to the authentic identity of Notre Dame, grounded in the teachings of the Catholic Church.”
Why would someone charged with the responsibility of maintaining both the traditional Catholic heritage and the financial soundness of a storied university like Notre Dame do such a thing?
Father Jenkins received a Masters of Divinity from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley, California. If it is anything like its secular sister a few blocks down the street, then the teaching staff is likely saturated with Frankfurt School proponents. Indeed, on the “Our Faith” page of their website, a testimonial in the sidebar says:
Hours of conversation, study, and prayer with my peers in ministry taught me that we want the Catholic community to lead the work of creating a just society,” says Claire Noonan (M.Div. ’00). The Program Organizer for Social Justice and Next Generation at Call to Action in Chicago, she creates educational programs and sustained action campaigns focusing on sweatshop labor.
Oh, brother, there’s that word “Chicago” again. Now, in my mind “social justice” has always been a codeword for Marxism, or in this case, the ecclesiastical equivalent, “Liberation Theology.” Of course many Jesuits have been unfortunately drawn into that false ministry. But where is any reference to Catholic, or even biblical teachings? The Jesuit School at Berkeley is a member of the Graduate Theological Union, which has many ties to the Frankfurt School. Jenkins also attended Oxford University, and Oxford has also been penetrated by the Frankfurt philosophy.
As some of you doubtless know, the Frankfurt School was founded by communists shortly after the Bolshevik coup in Russia, and is dedicated to destruction of the West by cultural corruption.”
Jennifer Parfenovics
Hi Bill,
Thanks for this very interesting insight! You mentioned that much has already been written on this topic. What would be a good entry level resource on the Frankfurt School?
Dave Night
Thanks Dave
For starters, the two links at the end of my article take you to some helpful website articles. They provide references for further reading.
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
ATTENTION – this is one of the most significant videos to have appeared in the past few years. And now this 90 minute doco can be seen for free for a limited time. I urge every single one of you to take the time to watch this. It explains so much about what is happening today.
http://vimeo.com/52009124
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
Here are some interesting facts to ponder in light of Cultural Marxism.
Columbia Unversity, which is is tied to the Frankfurt School is interestingly just north of the US news media hub in Midtown Manhattan. Columbia University gives out Pulitzer Prizes to its favorite journalists.
Obama, who has spoken longingly of what it would like to be an emperor, has a BA in Political Science from Columbia University. His transcripts there are reportedly being guarded against scrutiny. Obama has promoted open homosexuality in the military. Obama zealously promotes gay marriage. He is now busy expanding the power of the Presidency with executive orders and making up his own “laws” with Obamacare.
I find it alarming.
The destruction of decent standards in the UK is working fine under the traitor Cameron, and a ‘Conservative’ gov’t. If we do not leave the EU on June 23rd, I fear for the UK. We shall be overrun by alien cultures, who have no interest in assimilation in any way. The motive of the Islamic voices is to install a caliphate in the UK, and create racial antagonism.
So……..does anyone know how to put the brakes on all this? How is it reversed, the rot eradicated? The present debacle in the UK (2017 election chaos) seems awfully orchestrated to my mind. It’s all incredibly frustrating and alarming and it makes me concerned that wise and kindly voices will be silenced forever. I’ve tried praying but since things have been allowed to get this bad, perhaps it’s some kind of plan so that everything can just fall and then start again. Mind-boggling and more than a little terrifying.
Darwinist Marxism…
Hi! can somebody provide the name of the books and or articles where the cultural agenda against the west is most evident and clear?
Thanks Juan. But the books and articles on this would be almost endless. One could simply begin with the revolutionaries of the past, be they Marx or Engels or Gramsci, proceed through the cultural Marxist such as Marcuse, and the New Left such as Alinsky, and move on through to the editorial pages of the New York Times, the UK Guardian, or the Melbourne Age! They all tend to sing from the same song sheet.
Hey there Bill. Just wondering if you’re aware the first link catholicinsight is missing.
Bless you, thanks for all your work.
Thanks Mark. I have now replaced it with a link that does work.
Bill Muehlenberg, I just came across your article and it was outstanding.
I always wondered what Obama meant by his catchphrase, “Change We Can Believe In.” I don’t believe anyone really dug deep and asked what change he was talking about. It sounded cute and catchy. And in some way, what we may have thought of change at that time was far different than what he, Obama, was talking about. After watching Agenda: Grinding America Down, I realized the change he was talking about…The ideology stemming from the Frankfurt School…cultural Marxism.
What bothered me is that the Frankfurt School, when it came to America, settled at Columbia University and is the college Obama graduated from. I am not saying something that we don’t already know. While Columbia may say they do not teach Critical Theory or anything else about the Frankfurt School per se, I still believe the basis of it remains. I have seen articles where they have tried to distance themselves from that accusation. I find it difficult for an ideology to die unless those people who were indoctrinated by it die as well. I believe it has passed on to today.
Those that bow at the feet of Obama will deny your article Bill, the Agenda film, and anything else that brings to light how much Obama has negatively affected our nation through the ideology of the Frankfurt School. These people just don’t want to open their eyes. I guess it is to avoid cognitive dissonance.
While I am still at a bare-bones understanding about all of this; I need to watch the film again and jump back into my research, I think for those of us that see the links between the Frankfurt School and Obama can look back with hindsight and see what changes he wanted and has made during his time as POTUS. As I look at the Democrats in Congress today, we can see how great he has twisted their minds and the minions that bow at his feet are crying out as if their parents suddenly have passed. It is utterly sickening to me.
Again, I loved your article and added your page to my bookmarks. I hope to one day to reach a level of understanding on this topic and link it to the argument paper I wrote for my English class The Truth Behind the Gay Agenda. I got an A on that paper but was ridiculed by those who stand by the homosexual community. I guess it comes with the territory.
Many thanks Richard.
This was a fantastic article! Thank you! The new totalitarian link doesn’t work… do you know if it was taken down or if there is a new link? The Bill Muhlenberg culture watch video is also saying restricted and won’t load.
Based on the evidence that’s happening everywhere in the world right now, i would say Communist revolution should be just around the corner, maybe this will be the trigger that will set the world on fire and bring about world war three, much like social unrest played huge role in forming of world war one, its like bacteria fighting amongst them self in a lab culture dish. fascinating article and times, keep safe all.
George