This post will examine chapters three and four of Herbert Marcuse’s “Essay on Liberation.” This highly influential essay, written in the 1960s, lays out many of the left’s goals and desires regarding the reshaping of society.
Subverting Forces
Chapter 3 is mostly a rehash of complaints and solutions that Marcuse has already addressed in his essay. It begins with a litany of complaints, including the terrible jobs people have to work, the exploitation of minorities, increased violence, and the waste of resources. All of these complaints are blamed on capitalism. It needs to be noted that every system has some sort of flaws and even oppression within them which includes the communist system that Marcuse supports.
Marcuse also mentions how technology can be used to end capitalism rather than support it. The challenge is that the technocrats are using technology to continue the existing system of oppression. Not only is this terrible but the current system must be abolished as reformation is not even an option for Marcuse. This is a sentiment that is shared by many leftists today regarding the destruction of the current system in order to set up a completely new one.
Marcuse also calls on universities to radicalize students by developing and/or awakening their true consciousness. A true consciousness is a mind that has awakened to its true socialist nature. It appears the universities have heeded Marcuse’s call as many of them are considered bastions of liberal left-wing thinking. Again, the problem isn’t that Marcuse believes these things but that he wants everyone else to believe them and thinks it’s okay to use the educational system for this. If we are really free we should be able to accept or reject this worldview that Marcuse so vehemently supports.
Marcuse repeats his desire to radicalize the ghetto (black) population as well. Again, the reason for radicalizing students and minorities is to replace the proletariat workers who are enjoying their middle-class lifestyle. Marcuse never mentions how the ghetto populations were to be radicalized but it would probably involve the use of former university students who have achieved their true consciousness and are educating and working among the ghetto populations and pointing out the oppression these people are facing. Paulo Friere may be one example of this as he worked exclusively among the poor and minority populations as a language teacher in Brazil pointing out oppression.
One shocking comment Marcuse makes about the black population of his time is that they are expendable. Now, expendable does not mean that blacks should be eliminated or that they have no value. Rather, Marcuse used the term “expendable” to mean that the majority of blacks are not contributing significantly to the current economic system. For Marcuse, this is an advantage because these oppressed individuals are potential recruits for the revolution.
Correlation is not causation but there was a surprising number of radical black groups that arose in the 1960s and 1970s. Examples include the Black Panthers and the Black Liberation Army. There are also a host of other left-leaning groups such as the Symbionese Liberation Army, Weather Underground, and Students for a Democratic Society. The example provided explains why Marcuse is often called the “father of the new left.”
Solidarity
The final chapter of Marcuse’s essay shares how the revolution was successful in both Cuba and Vietnam. With such recent success as this (Marcuse was writing in the 1960’s) Marcuse is implying that such success can be experienced in the US. At the time it was unclear what to expect from the communist revolutions in Cuba and Vietnam. However, history shows us that these revolutions were not blessings to the citizens of either of these countries.
Marcuse then goes on to ponder what life after the revolution will look like. He essentially implies that it is unclear what life will truly be like after the communist revolution. This is a common criticism of communism in that the proponents want a different world but have no idea what to do if they take power. Given the track record of communist governments, it is better that communists pursue power rather than obtain it.
Conclusion
Marcuse had a strong vision for what he wanted to see happen in America. His desire was for the fall of capitalism and the rise of a socialist/communist utopia. In his essay, he lays out this dream of his. Unfortunately, the general success of communist revolutions is often negative and leads to huge loss of life as people’s freedoms are curtailed for the sake of the collective.