The Left’s cultural imperialism

The Left’s cultural imperialism

Imperialism is the policy or ideology of extending a nation’s rule over foreign nations, often by military force or by gaining political and economic control. By the outbreak of World War I, much of the world was contained in the empires of European nations.

European imperialists imposed their culture and religion on their subjects. English colonialist poet Rudyard Kipling called this “The White Man’s Burden,” civilizing those Kipling called the “new-caught sullen peoples, half devil and half child.”

Today’s left-wing cultural imperialists seek to impose their culture and their secular religion on a “sullen” American public whom they arrogantly see as “half devil and half child.”

Some of the most contentious social issues of our day have an underlying civil rights component. Most thoughtful Americans recognize these civil rights and are willing to accept those living lifestyles of which they don’t approve or choosing to act in ways of which they don’t approve.

But “live and let live” accommodation is not acceptable to the liberal elite. Cultural imperialists instead demand “affirmative action,” requiring active participation in the culture and lifestyles of those in so-called protected groups.

Examples abound. Here are three.

Gender flexibility

Gender flexibility — the ability to choose one’s gender at will — is a tenet of liberal imperialist dogma to which all Americans must genuflect. Despite its biological nonsense, liberal imperialists demand that we all see gender as a personal choice. The result: biological men in women’s restrooms and locker rooms and competing in women’s athletic events.

Liberal cultural imperialists see this as affirming gender civil rights, calling those who see it differently bigots and right-wing extremists. Women’s rights advocates, female athletes, and parents worried about their daughters find themselves on the defensive.

Same-sex marriage

Same-sex marriage, a liberal legislative victory won in the Supreme Court rather than Congress, is another avenue of cultural imperialism. One third of Americans oppose same-sex marriage while many others are willing to “live and let live.”

Once again, affirmative action demonstrating active support is required of all, regardless of deeply held and longstanding moral and religious beliefs. Supporting same-sex weddings is mandatory: baking cakes, supplying food, providing floral arrangements. No matter that the vendors were specifically chosen because of their personal beliefs so that they could be humiliated in the media and dragged into court.

Abortion

Abortion has reared its ugly head again as a topical example of liberal cultural imperialism.

The Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision enshrined abortion as a constitutionally protected law of the land. But that isn’t sufficient for liberal imperialists. They demand that taxpayers fund this morally controversial procedure, arguing that failing to do so limits its availability to poor women.

The fact that half of all Americans oppose abortion in most instances and have strong moral and religious beliefs behind that opposition is of no standing with cultural imperialists. Their worldview requires that government provide abortion on demand. (Several states have extended that to legally permissible infanticide.) Liberals believe that those with opposing views are attacking women’s civil rights: Take no prisoners.

Cultural imperialists have no use for what most of us would call traditional cultural and moral standards. They press for radical social change that benefits the few — e.g. males who want to compete in women’s athletics — at the expense of the majority. They signal their virtue by finding obscure instances of “oppression” that allow them to see themselves as champions of the underdog.

They regard as bigots anyone whose conscience or personal beliefs don’t align with theirs — all the more so if those beliefs are rooted in religion. Like imperialists of old, they use all the tools at their disposal to impose their preferred lifestyle and culture on the nation, often by judicial fiat rather than the ballot box.

Mary Beard, in her New York Times best-selling book on the history of early Rome “SPQR,” noted that “with time, money and freedom to spare, cultural anxieties are often a privilege of the rich.”

Today’s liberal cultural imperialists — mostly wealthy and white — exhibit this privilege in the extreme. A widely noted survey last year found affluent white liberals to comprise the only demographic that says we need more “political correctness.”

The left champions racial and ethnic diversity yet vehemently opposes cultural and religious diversity, instead demanding uniformity of thought. See a dichotomy here?

The viewpoints expressed above are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The Independent.

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