From 1966 to 1976, Chinese society suffered under what we now call the Cultural Revolution.
The Cultural Revolution, previously known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a multifaceted affair undergirded by a vicious, fanatical campaign to destroy the “Four Olds.”
In 1971, The New York Times described the campaign thusly:
“One of the early objectives of the Cultural Revolution in China … was to wipe out the ‘four olds’—old things, old ideas, old customs, and old habits.
“The ‘four olds’ had already suffered setbacks in the years of Communist rule preceding the Cultural Revolution, but the Maoist leadership tried to use the new revolutionary upsurge launched in 1966 to eliminate them completely.
“In the turbulent years from 1966 to 1968, what remained of old religious practices, old superstitions, old festivals, old social practices such as traditional weddings and funerals, and old ways of dress were violently attacked and suppressed. Visual evidences of old things were destroyed, and there was an orgy of burning of old books and smashing of old art objects.”
Tragically, it seems as if the United States is in the midst of its own Cultural Revolution.
Like the Chinese Cultural Revolution, the current “revolution” in the United States is being waged by the youth—at the behest of radical leftists, of course.
Also, much like the Chinese Cultural Revolution of the 1960s, “Woke Revolution” in the United States is hellbent on destroying any and all vestiges of traditional society, especially those that celebrate freedom, individualism, and American exceptionalism, in general.
In China during the Cultural Revolution, as The New York Times describes, the “four olds”—old things, old ideas, old customs, and old habits—had to be eliminated.
In the United States during the Woke Revolution, we’re following the same path.
Old things, such as fossil fuels, the Founding Fathers, and the Electoral College must go.
Old ideas, such as equality of opportunity and meritocracy, are now moot.
Old customs, such as standing for the National Anthem and vigorously defending one’s right to freedom of speech, are long gone.
And, old habits, such as the Protestant work ethic and rugged individualism, have been seriously undermined.