Elitist liberal senator ascribes the social values and concerns of working class voters to misdirected bitterness about their economic status, their social class. He further believes their religious faith, traditional family values and adherence to the sanctity of the Constitution prevent them from focusing on what truly ails them:  their lack of economic opportunity. What was that philosophy called that asserted all political behavior could be explained as class conflict over economic opportunity? That religion was opium for the masses, lulling them into complacent acceptance of their proletarian status? Oh yeah, now I remember.  Marxism.  And I remember where I first learned about this now discredited political theory.  Possibly the same place Barack Obama did.

Obama's recent statements in San Francisco about why he cannot attract more working class voters in middle America are more than just condescending.  They are, quite frankly, radical, in the sense that word used to imply during the 60's.  These statements may provide a glimpse into the inner Obama, reflecting his true convictions and what underlies his political philosophy.  If he believes workers in this country "cling to" their guns, religion and social values because of their poor economic status, he's applying Karl Marx's theory of historical materialism to explain traditional American beliefs.  Speaking from experience, during the 1970s Marxist theories were quite popular among professors in the Social Science Departments at Occidental College.  It's been some time now, but I think I detect a bit of the dialectic in Obama's statements.  And I wonder if he isn't a closet Marxist.


I wrote the above yesterday after hearing about Obama's talk in San Francisco.  Then I googled Obama and Marxism.  Plenty of people have made the same assessment.  Apparently it's no secret  that he leans toward a modified Marxist view of American society.  Bill Kristol's OP/ED piece in the NYT today lays it all out and says it far better than I can.