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If the original long march succeeded despite having begun in the quite conservative time period of around WW2 and having faced obstacles like McCarthyism, legal segregation, and a fervently anti-communist CIA, then modern Republicans really have no excuse. What, are they just not as brave as leftists of 70-ish years ago were?
That is a mischaracterization of the post WW2 era. In that time the progressives already had an advantage and simply solidified it over the years. McCarthy never had much power (despite being correct).
When, in your opinion, was the most recent time period in which progressives did not have an advantage?
And how did they gain the advantage despite not having already had an advantage?
Probably the assassination of Lincoln marked the time where they gained a significant edge. They gained said advantage by assassinating a more prudent figure to tip the scales in their direction, then began a consolidation effort.
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Before the revolutions of 1848, maybe.
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The original long march succeeded and plenty of the people who went on that long march are still around - and more importantly, they remember what they did and how effectively it worked. You may as well ask why modern militaries don't try to gift their opponents large wooden horses filled with hoplites - there are a lot of strategies which can work when the other side doesn't know what you're doing, but fail immediately when your opposition knows the trick you're trying to pull.
I think it succeeded for institutional reasons as well. The biggest strongholds are places where market forces don’t work, and it’s extremely difficult to remove people. University is a huge win because tenure makes it nearly impossible to remove ideological capture. You do not simply fire a woke professor. Likewise you do not simply fire a woke deep-state actor, or Hollywood writing team. Worse, since those in that kind of position are choosing their successors, they can select only other woke people for those roles.
I think for entertainment and education, the best option might well be parallel institutions. If those universities suddenly have to compete with schools that offer an excellent education and serious scholarship, they either adapt or die. If there are a thousand indie movies and tv shows and books that are well made, entertaining and not pandering to the woke crowd, then, again, it’s adapt or die.
They've actually gotten into teaching of the law as well, and they also like implementing codes of conduct and professional standards which make right wing political opinions grounds for termination or loss of credentials, as things like "voting for Trump" start qualifying as racism/homophobia/sexism. They're making sure that conservatives are completely cut out from prestigious roles/elite circles.
Absolutely agreed here. When organisations start becoming left wing political bodies they usually stop performing their original function in a satisfactory way, so there's a lot of room for competition as long as you can avoid getting crushed by the Cathedral.
I think on the second part of this, the internet provides an excellent work around. I can write a book, and print it as a PDF file and publish it on my website. I can make a video and host it myself. I can create an online university and offer courses in anything I find useful and important taught from a dispassionate intellectually rigorous perspective. Advertising and marketing might be an issue, but making content available isn’t.
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I'd argue that, at least by the turn of the millennium, most right-wingers were aware of the long march and its immediate consequences, but were naïve enough to assume that the long-term consequences will not be significant. After all, at this point it's almost classic right-wing delusion to think that the kids will surely straighten themselves out in the end when they enter the job market and need to start toiling away, no matter how much leftist nonsense they were subjected to by their red professors.
I mean that does seem to be directionally correct- stably employed, married, homeowning millennials probably vote a lot like their gen x parents, the difference is that millennials are less likely to be those things.
That's not exactly what I had in mind, but that reads like a correct observation. My main argument is that, even as late as about 10-15 years ago probably, it was completely inconceivable for right-wingers that leftist culture warriors (indoctrinated by their long-marcher elders) will capture ideological control of big companies, and most segments of the private sector altogether.
I suppose it depends which right-wingers. Paleocons saw this coming a mile away. Gottfried published After Liberalism in 2001 which contains exactly such a prediction.
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