IRONY: Cass Sustein Says Trump's Using Marxism To Divide America
Harvard professor and Obama loyalist engages in projection.
President Donald Trump and the Russian state are jointly fragmenting American society with “Marxist strategies,” argues Cass Sustein in a Thursday-published column at Bloomberg.
“Russia Is Using Marxist Strategies, and So Is Trump,” reads Sustein’s headline, with the subheadline: “Moscow's meddling in the U.S. election was aimed at stoking social tensions. Sound familiar?”
Portraying the narrative of Russian propaganda as “[helping] elect Donald Trump,” Sustein ignores the close similarities between the conventional anti-Americanism of Russian state propaganda and neo-Marxist narratives ubiquitous across the left-wing and Democrat-aligned news media landscape:
CASS SUNSTEIN
Also in The Partial Constitution, Sunstein promotes the notion of a "First Amendment New Deal" in the form of a new "Fairness Doctrine" that would authorize a panel of "nonpartisan experts" to ensure that a "diversity of view" is presented on the airwaves.
According to Sunstein, private broadcasting companies do a disservice to the American public by airing programs only if their ratings are high enough, or airing commercials only if advertisers can afford to pay the cost of a 30- to 60-second spot:
"If it were necessary to bring about diversity and attention to public matters," Sunstein writes, "a private right of access to the media might even be constitutionally compelled. The notion that access [to the airwaves] will be a product of the marketplace might well be constitutionally troublesome." Government, he says, has a moral obligation to force broadcast media companies to air commercials that represent a "diversity" of views:
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In his 2001 book, Republic.com, Sunstein argued that the Internet posed a threat to democracy because it promoted cyberbalkanization, a phenomenon whereby people isolate themselves ideologically within groups that share their own political perspectives, while turning a blind eye to any views or facts that might challenge their beliefs. To counter this tendency, he called for government-imposed diversity on websites promoting a particular political perspective. Specifically, he suggested that all partisan websites should feature “electronic sidewalks” providing links to resources that offer opposing views. In a 2001 interview, he elaborated:
Harvard professor and Obama loyalist engages in projection.
President Donald Trump and the Russian state are jointly fragmenting American society with “Marxist strategies,” argues Cass Sustein in a Thursday-published column at Bloomberg.
“Russia Is Using Marxist Strategies, and So Is Trump,” reads Sustein’s headline, with the subheadline: “Moscow's meddling in the U.S. election was aimed at stoking social tensions. Sound familiar?”
Portraying the narrative of Russian propaganda as “[helping] elect Donald Trump,” Sustein ignores the close similarities between the conventional anti-Americanism of Russian state propaganda and neo-Marxist narratives ubiquitous across the left-wing and Democrat-aligned news media landscape:
Karl Marx and his followers argued that revolutionaries should disrupt capitalist societies by "heightening the contradictions." Russia used a version of that Marxist idea in its efforts to disrupt the 2016 presidential campaign. It should come as no surprise that the most powerful nation from the former Soviet Union, whose leaders were schooled in the Marxist tradition, is borrowing directly from that tradition in its efforts today.
What is more surprising, and far more important for American politics, is that President Donald Trump is drawn to a similar strategy.
What is more surprising, and far more important for American politics, is that President Donald Trump is drawn to a similar strategy.
CASS SUNSTEIN
- Contributing editor to The New Republic and The American Prospect
- Played an active role in opposing the impeachment of President Bill Clinton in 1998
- Served as an advisor for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in 2008
- Was appointed (by Barack Obama) to head the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in 2009
Also in The Partial Constitution, Sunstein promotes the notion of a "First Amendment New Deal" in the form of a new "Fairness Doctrine" that would authorize a panel of "nonpartisan experts" to ensure that a "diversity of view
According to Sunstein, private broadcasting companies do a disservice to the American public by airing programs only if their ratings are high enough, or airing commercials only if advertisers can afford to pay the cost of a 30- to 60-second spot:
"In a market system, this goal [of airing diverse views] may be compromised. It is hardly clear that 'the freedom of speech' is promoted by a regime in which people are permitted to speak only if other people are willing to pay enough to allow them to be heard."
"If it were necessary to bring about diversity and attention to public matters," Sunstein writes, "a private right of access to the media might even be constitutionally compelled. The notion that access [to the airwaves] will be a product of the marketplace might well be constitutionally troublesome." Government, he says, has a moral obligation to force broadcast media companies to air commercials that represent a "diversity" of views:
"The idea that government should be neutral among all forms of speech seems right in the abstract, but as frequently applied it is no more plausible than the idea that it should be neutral between the associational interests of blacks and those of whites under conditions of segregation."
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In his 2001 book, Republic.com, Sunstein argued that the Internet posed a threat to democracy because it promoted cyberbalkanization, a phenomenon whereby people isolate themselves ideologically within groups that share their own political perspectives, while turning a blind eye to any views or facts that might challenge their beliefs. To counter this tendency, he called for government-imposed diversity on websites promoting a particular political perspective. Specifically, he suggested that all partisan websites should feature “electronic sidewalks” providing links to resources that offer opposing views. In a 2001 interview, he elaborated:
"Sites of one point of view [would] agree to provide links to other sites, so that if you're reading a conservative magazine, they would provide a link to a liberal site and vice versa, just to make it easy for people to get access to competing views. Or maybe a pop-up on your screen that would show an advertisement or maybe even a quick argument for a competing view. [break] The best would be for this to be done voluntarily, but the word 'voluntary' is a little complicated, and sometimes people don't do what's best for our society unless Congress holds hearings or unless the public demands it. And the idea would be to have a legal mandate as the last resort, and to make sure it's as neutral as possible if we have to get there, but to have that as, you know, an ultimate weapon designed to encourage people to do better."
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