A Professor Refuted (Or why we must fight the Culture Wars)

“A revolution without dancing is a revolution not worth having.” It’s an old cliche, but an important one. Sure, revolutions are messy, often violent and involve a lot of upheaval. But they should be joyous, and with joy comes fun. However, to let yourself be joyous, to let yourself have fun, you must be able to accept yourself. And to accept yourself fully, you must, in turn, be accepted by society.

Therefore, the fight against Capitalism, the economic revolution, goes hand in hand with the societal revolution; that is, the fight for the rights of those people who have been historically oppressed by the privileged, wealthy and ruling classes. One revolution cannot exist without the other.

We cannot dance with joy to the end of Capitalism if society continues to oppress those it has always oppressed.

It’s with this thought in mind that I read Professor Clive Hamiliton’s rant against ‘Wokeness’ last week. To the Professor, any thought of fighting for the rights of those oppressed because of their identity is a distraction from the real fight against capitalism. He sees only one fight as noble, and believes that fighting for what he calls ‘woke’ causes is actually conservative.

This thought reveals a lot about the eminent Professor. It means he can frame his fight against the rights of those who have been, and are still, oppressed as somehow noble, progressive, true and right.

But his fight is none of those things. His only fight is to protect his own position of privilege in society. He seeks to empower people like himself in any new society, and push the ‘woke’ and their cause into the new underclass.

Hamilton and Brandis - Two Perspectives, One Outcome

At the same time, ex Attorney-General George Brandis (he of ‘everyone has the right to be a bigot’ fame) has popped up attacking the same things as Hamilton. Strangely, he avoids using the word ‘Woke’, possibly recognising that the word is basically meaningless at this point, unlike the professor. Instead of this he uses ‘Identity Politics’, and (somehow) sees this as a movement against equality. Yes, this great Conservative Warrior is now concerned about equality - a bit Socialist of him honestly. But, being a conservative, he naturally fails to understand what equality is and what equality means.

Brandis believes that under the current system everyone is treated equally, or at least that class is the only thing that differentiates people, and class can be broken out of with just a little bit of hard work. Brandis, because he is very smart, knows that “The Law” (this capitalisation very important) says everyone is equal, always treats everyone equally and never discriminates, ever. So everyone is equal in his world. Hamilton doesn’t believe this, but believes fighting for all people to be treated equally is a distraction from the actual fight we should be having, against Capital.

Both their arguments end up in the same place. With everyone staying in that same place and no societal progress happening at all; unequalness and inequality reign.

For Brandis, this is the end goal. For Hamilton it’s the opposite. But where they unite is that both are attempting to split the left into warring factions. Brandis would do this to make the entire left weaker. Hamilton, because he thinks his faction of the centrist-left (what he regards as the true left, and what everyone else knows is the status quo left) would end up stronger, as the rest of the left eats itself.

But Hamilton must recognise a very simple truth: we are, none of us, free, until all of us are free.

The destruction of Capital is not enough if some people are still caged and discriminated against because of who they are.

Capital v Labour v Identity

The main barrier to everyone being treated equally is, of course, the current system of competitive Capitalism. The system only works with leaders and Captialists getting richer and the rest, call them the proletariat (because it does still exist despite the bleatings of the Conservatives), getting poorer. Just look at the inflation debate. Wages are bad, but corporate profits are good. Capitalism 101.

But, just like the Third Estate in pre-revolutionary France, the Proletariat is not a single levitation, speaking and acting as one. There are some very rich members of it, some very powerful members of it who are still wage-earners and workers. There are some people who are both bourgeois and proletarian; wage-earners who are also shareholders. Or indeed wage-earners who also own a side-business. Some kind of petit bourgeois prole. Class is in some ways as fluid as any other aspect of identity.

But within the proletariat, there are millions who are struggling to get by and actually live decent lives. And this is not only because of their financial situation. A person’s identity, life experience, and history can affect most aspects of their life; what jobs they can get, how much they get paid, where they can live, who they can comfortably associate with, just to give a few examples.

Hamilton’s privileged position at the top of the proletariat does not allow him to see this. He sees only a battle between capital and labour, and believes that once organised labour is victorious the world will go on in peace and harmony. With people like him now in a leadership position of course. For further information on this, look at the course of the French Revolution for a historical example of how this will end for him.

The Importance of the Fight

What Hamilton doesn’t realise, and what Brandis doesn’t want to realise, is what fighting these culture wars about Identity does. If we can fight against social barriers now, while also fighting against the power of Capital, it means that there will be one less battle to fight in the world after Capitalism inevitably collapses.

By fighting the culture war now, allies are gained, allies who can see a world for them beyond the current system. But now only that, fighting for these allies is quite simply the right thing to do.

By fighting the culture war now, tactics, strategies, plans and whole scenarios can be worked out for the ultimate fight against Capitalism.

By fighting the culture war now, those who will not necessarily be true allies can also be identified, and kept away from being in any kind of position of authority when the next stage of human society and economy is being decided. If they cannot accept that groups who are historically and currently marginalised and excluded need extra support, then how can they (and why should they) have any influence over a new society?

The new world cannot be built by those who practice exclusion in the current one.

This New World

The post-Capitalism world will be one of love and acceptance for all. But we cannot wait for the fall of the current system to institute that kind of society. Capitalism will hold on for as long as it can, with every tool and tactic it can muster. So while we wait and fight against it, we must create a society now that people can live in and be accepted in, (within the limitations of Capitalism) no matter what their identity.

And then when Capitalism slowly falls, we can dance happily on its grave; knowing that all comrades are accepted with love.

Professor Hamilton might think that the fight against Capital is the only one worth having, but his failure to recognise that his comrades in the fight come from all different backgrounds, with vastly less power and influence than he has, ultimately makes him blind to necessary battles. Society will not be reshaped by middle class, cis, straight, white men and women, but by a coalition of those who are currently fighting to be accepted by society.

Those who have the greatest stake in changing society will do the most of any group to change it.

And they will do it with joy in their heart and dance in their soul. For the new world will be glorious and people will be truly free.