Removing monuments and holidays like Columbus Day is part of the Neo-Marxist agenda related to cultural memory and identity.
Woke leftists learned their techniques from Mao’s revolution – the vilification of the “Four Olds”.
The Four Olds and their meanings
Old Customs – Social traditions passed down for centuries — marriage rites, funeral ceremonies, dress codes, folk festivals — seen as relics of “feudal” or “bourgeois” oppression.
Old Culture – Traditional literature, arts, Confucian teachings, and classical Chinese history — representing pre-Communist values.
Old Habits – Everyday ways of living and thinking — greetings, work patterns, diet, religious practices — viewed as obstacles to revolutionary consciousness.
Old Ideas – Ideologies from the past: Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, capitalism, imperial loyalty — anything opposing Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought.
How did Maoists vilify these categories?
Reframing – The Four Olds were declared enemies of progress. Everything traditional became associated with oppression, backwardness, or betrayal of the proletariat.
Public Humiliation – Teachers, priests, artists, and scholars — custodians of old ways — were humiliated in public “struggle sessions” where they confessed to “crimes” against the revolution.
Moral Condemnation – The “old” was not simply wrong — it was evil. Anyone who defended old customs was branded a counterrevolutionary or class enemy.
Youth Mobilization – Red Guards, often teenagers, were encouraged to root out Four Olds in their own homes, neighborhoods, and schools. Loyalty to Mao overrode loyalty to family or tradition.
Monuments and Sites Destroyed – Temples, churches, Confucian shrines, Buddhist statues, historic graveyards, classical architecture — all were targeted for demolition. Entire cultural heritages were lost in a matter of months.
Book Burnings – Ancient philosophical and literary works were burned in public squares to symbolically “cut ties” with the past.
Executions and Violence – Educated elites, religious leaders, and landowners were killed or beaten to death in mass campaigns. Some estimates suggest that hundreds of thousands — perhaps millions — died during the Cultural Revolution’s efforts to destroy the Four Olds.
In short, the war on the Four Olds was a war on the soul of China — and it was a war fought with fire, blood, and terror.
Why did Mao hate the Four Olds?
Mao’s hatred was ideological but also personal and strategic:
Total Loyalty to the Party – Mao understood that old traditions created independent loyalties — to family, God, ancestors, community — that stood in the way of total allegiance to the Party and to himself.
Permanent Revolution – He believed that society must be in a constant state of revolutionary flux to avoid slipping into “bourgeois decay.” Thus, destruction of the past wasn’t a byproduct — it was the point.
Power and Control – The past had to be discredited and destroyed so that Mao’s version of Marxism could become the sole defining reality for China.
Can we see parallels in today’s woke revolution? Yes — and the parallels are chilling.
Maoist Revolution compared to Woke Revolution
- Destruction of old statues, shrines, and cultural artifacts is similar to toppling of statues (Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln), renaming of buildings, and demands to “decolonize” everything.
- Vilification of Confucian, religious, and traditional moral ideas is similar to attack on Judeo-Christian ethics, family structures, and Western civilization values.
- Redefinition of virtues (loyalty, filial piety) as oppressive sins is similar to definition of patriotism, merit, or family loyalty as “systemic oppression.”
- Struggle sessions — public humiliation and coerced confession is similar to cancel culture — public apologies, firings, deplatforming for wrongthink.
- Youth-driven revolution against elders and parents is similar to Gen Z and student activists leading movements against “older generations” deemed racist or oppressive
- Revolutionary chaos celebrated as necessary and righteous is similar to “disruption” being framed as a moral duty for “equity” and “justice.”
- Traditional holidays like Lunar New Year, Qingming (Ancestor Day) and religious festivals were attacked as “superstitious” and “feudal”. They were suppressed, canceled or repurposed into Communist Party holidays like “National Day” or “Labor Day”. This is similar to the woke redefinition of Thanksgiving as a “day of mourning”, replacement of Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day, elimination or secularization of Christmas in public spaces, and reinterpretation of Fourth of July as a day of “white supremacy” rather than a day of national pride and independence from Great Britain.
The goal of the woke revolution is not merely to protest particular injustices but to unmoor the American people from their historical, cultural and spiritual heritage to impose a new revolutionary identity.
As Ecclesiastes says, “There is nothing new under the sun”.
The revolutionary spirit that animated Mao’s Red Guards — a spirit of tearing down, desecrating, and rebuilding humanity in man’s image rather than God’s — is alive and well in our day.
And it will have the same destructive fruits unless it is confronted with truth, courage, and a return to first principles.
For a first-hand account from Mao’s China, I recommend reading Xi Van Fleet’s book titled Mao’s America: A Survivor’s Warning.
Additionally, there are many emigrants from socialist/communist countries that witness to the degradation of their nations under socialism. I have provided some of their testimonies in the Related Content section.
These include Daniel Di Martino, Franklin Camargo, Jorge Galicia, and Lukas Degutis.
Robert Sparkman
RELATED CONTENT
Xi Van Fleet was raised in communist China and emigrated from China to the USA. She has unique insight into the similarities between the current Neo-Marxist revolution promoted by American Democrats, as they have adopted many of the same strategies as Mao Zedong.
Emigrants from socialist/communist countries including many others besides Xi Van Fleet have spoken out on the parallels between socialist/communist movements in their countries of origin and today’s Neo-Marxist (woke) revolution.
Daniel Di Martino emigrated from Venezuela, a socialist country. He is pursuing a PhD in economics from Columbia University. He has excellent insight into the economic aspects and failures of socialism. He is a Roman Catholic and speaks in regards to the inconsistencies between wokeness and his faith.
Emigrants from socialist countries warn us that the direction our country is headed, especially if the Democrats gain control again, is not good.
Franklin Camargo is another emigrant from Venezuela with a warning against pursuing a socialist/communist form of government.
Jorge Galicia is a political activist who emigrated from Venezuela in 2017. He warns about the truth concerning socialism and its totalitarian nature.
Lukas Degutis is an emigrant from Lithuania who warns university students about the reality of communism. He is an editorial manager at the Spectator.
Concerning the Related Content section, I encourage everyone to evaluate the content carefully.
Some sources of information may reflect a libertarian and/or atheistic perspective. I may not agree with all of their opinions, but they offer some worthwhile comments on the topic under discussion.
Additionally, language used in the videos may be coarse and do not reflect my personal standards, particularly in regards to leftist protesters and rioters.
Finally, those on the left often criticize my sources of information, which are primarily conservative and/or Christian. Truth is truth, regardless of how we feel about it. Leftists are largely led by their emotion rather than facts. It is no small wonder that they would criticize the sources that I provide. And, ultimately, my wordview is governed by Scripture. Many of my critics are not biblical Christians.
Feel free to offer your comments below. Respectful comments without expletives and personal attacks will be posted and I will respond to them.
Comments are closed after sixty days due to spamming issues from internet bots. You can always send me an email at [email protected] if you want to comment on something, though.