The Tyranny of Liberation

Article originally published in September 2022

Because we live in a free society, political disputes about the nature of liberty are bound to arise. This certainly occurred during the Civil War, when Abraham Lincoln proclaimed that “the world has never had a good definition of the word liberty, and the American people, just now, are much in want of one.” President Lincoln understood that liberty was not a relative concept but an enduring principle in need of a concrete definition. The present day is no exception to this rule.

Oftentimes, varying views of liberty are the result of manipulations designed to support dangerous political agendas. For example, in his Disquisition on Government, the pro-slavery advocate John C. Calhoun began by “rejecting social contract theory or any other approach which would find the origin of political liberty outside of law and society.” In his view, liberty was nothing more than a social construct granted by the government. Thus, there was nothing inherently immoral about violating another person’s freedom.

Similarly, our modern society has seen a perversion of the term liberty driven by insidious political motives. Whereas liberty was once viewed as the ability to live in a society that protects individual rights, promotes the rule of law, and fosters a stable social order, it is now viewed in a more anarchic light.

This is largely owing to the influence of the Frankfurt School, a Marxist think tank that emigrated from Germany to the United States in the 1930s. Rather than adhering to the traditional anti-free market philosophy inaugurated by Karl Marx, scholars of the School took a decidedly cultural approach. 

Instead of attacking the bourgeoisie they began attacking the culture in order to illustrate the prevalence of oppression in society and liberate mankind. According to Herbert Marcuse, one of the most influential members of the group, this liberation could only be brought about through the destruction of civilizing restraints. 

In his book Eros and Civilization, he proclaimed that “If absence from repression is the archetype of freedom, then civilization is the struggle against this freedom.” Marcuse saw pre-civilized passion as something to be followed rather than inhibited. This was a dangerous break from the philosophy that had been adopted by the American Founders. To them, civilization was seen as a freeing force that allowed individuals to pursue something higher than animalistic passions. Marcuse flipped this belief on its head in an attempt to promote the practice of a libertine lifestyle.

According to Marcuse, the only way to allow man to live a “free” life was to destroy the civilizational apparatus of oppression that had been built up around him. Indeed, one of his primary ideas was the notion of liberating tolerance, whereby “intolerant” conservative ideas would be stifled by a benevolent regime. In true doublespeak he claimed that “the restoration of freedom of thought may necessitate new and rigid restrictions on teachings and practices.” According to this logic, man could only be free if he submitted himself to censorship.

The entire program of these Marxists was designed to inculcate a new idea of freedom. One devoid of natural rights, the rule of law, tradition, and morality. All that remained would be pre-civilized passion.

At even a cursory glance, it is clear t modern society has largely accepted their claims. The sexual revolution of the 1960s (which Marcuse played a part in) is merely reaching its climax with the transgender movement. To suffer from a delusion is really liberation from the constraints of the biological world. In this way, it is truly freeing. Additionally abortion, which was once proclaimed to be a tragic act by nearly all public figures, is now viewed as an act of liberation from the consequences of sex.

Our civilization is crumbling, and we are becoming less free, all in the name of liberty. But this was exactly the plan of the cultural Marxists. They saw Western culture as oppressive and in need of destruction. What we are left with is not a rich tradition of freedom but pure and unadulterated passion. In short, we are submitting to tyranny so that we can be liberated.