So the latest buzzword in the US is "systemic racism". Getting an exact definition on this term can be a little tricky depending on who you speak with. However, generally answers essentially always boil down to something like this...
Systemic Racism = Any system that produces unequal outcomes along racial lines.
Now at a quick glance a simple minded person might think this makes sense. But it does not as I will elaborate below. And to make matters worse a small amount of reflection exposes this idea as yet another attempt to sell the marxists worldview (an evil ideology that killed over 100 Million people in the last 100 years).
When you boil down marxist philosophy to its fundamentals you get to the central axiom: A system that produces unequal results amongst different groups is inherently immoral and/or unsustainable and thus systems should be altered until equality of outcome is achieved. Traditional Marxism focused on economic inequality and divided groups by economic classes. Neo-Marxism still focuses largely on economic inequality (among other things) but it divides the group structure along racial, sexual or ethnic grounds rather than class grounds.
Still, whatever way you stir up a turd soup you still end up with turd soup.
The Two Manifestations of Neo Marxism
There are two basic manifestations of the Neo Marxist worldview today.
Equality Marxism: Those who assume groups are inherently equal in all meaningful respects and thus believe that if we have perfect equality of opportunity then we will have equality in systemic outcomes between groups. Therefore if we see any differences in systemic outcomes between groups it must be due to some form of group bigotry that prevents equality of opportunity.
The Problem: Human liberty and equality of opportunity will result in economic and social inequalities because individual humans and groups of humans have different interests/demographics/capacities. The assumption that equality of opportunity will results in equality of results is FALSE.
The very reason you have a "group" is because that group is different from another group, usually in the form of interests/demographics/capacities etc. Men are taller than women Asian Americans tend to be older than Black Americans, gay men tend to have higher incomes than straight men, Black people tend to be more interested in basketball than Jews, and the list goes on and on and on. So why would we assume the different groups with different cultures, different preferences and different demographics would have equal results. If you want to show "systemic racism" or "systemic sexism" etc is indeed to blame for a disparity you must control for a myriad of other relevant variables including "group bias" which is categorically and meaningfully different from "racism". Calling a disparity racist simply because the disparity breaks down along racial lines is not only simple minded... it's a dangerous tool of political manipulation and social division.
Equity Marxism: Those who realize groups are not equal so wish to alter the system in order to create equality of outcomes even if that means an unequal distribution of privileges and power.
The Problem: To force an equality of outcome requires nearly totalitarian authority which not only results in more unequal outcomes (due to the corrupting influence of authoritarian power) but also robs human beings of liberty which is of higher moral worth than economic or social equality. The cure ends up being worse (like millions of dead people worse) than the illness.
The Equity Marxist knows that liberty is not the answer if they get the outcomes they want due the differences in interests/demographics/capacities among groups. So instead of seeing the solution in liberty they see it in top down control of the system. And if they can’t have control of the system then they will do all they can to burn it down with the hope that from the ashes they can build their utopian system where the collective rather than the individual is held paramount.
Black Lives Matter= Clever Neo-Marxist Marketing
Go spend a little time on the BLM website reading what they believe. You might notice its oozing with collectivism and the Neo Marxist oppressed vs oppressor narrative. Also any time spent studying what they mean by "justice" will reveal the fundamental marxist axiom. Justice for radicals = equality of outcome (the central marxist goal). Thus it should be no surprise when you realize that BLM leadership fully admits they are trained Marxists. I mean they refer to each other in the website as "comrades" for hells sake! They don't care about black lives unless those black lives help them gain power to take down the systems and institutions that don't produce the results they want.
Perversely, this desire to tear down institutions that are "systemically racist" (code for not producing the outcome I want) is justified by many as in some way making up for the racism of the past. For some reason these radicals think that hurting a white person in 2020 who never has done anything wrong is somehow justified because people with a similar skin tone a long time ago (who they never knew and never supported) did something bad to a black person. It's madness.
The Simple Truth : Envy and Resentment
Despite all the fancy philosophy marxism at its roots can be boiled down to an ugly reality of human nature. For the vast majority of people who embrace the Marxist ideology they do so out of a very simple human emotion: Envy.
Marxism violates two of the oldest human moral codes.
Thou Shalt Not Covet
Thou Shalt Not Steal
If you had a system where everyone has an equal opportunity yet you see someone else accomplishing more there are two natural human reactions. One is that of admiration and desire to learn the principles that have allowed that person to thrive. The other is jealousy and resentment and then insistence (like a five-year-old child) that it’s "not fair" no matter how equal the opportunities. The difference is that these 28 year old whining children have the ability to organize and use the power of the state to "redistribute" (another word for steal) what they feel they are entitled to.
Fortunately, most of us as we grew up learned the reality that life is not fair. Even when you equal out opportunity for all, the fact still remains that some of us are tall, some of us are short, some of us are good at math, some of us are not, some of us are stronger emotionally, some of us are stronger physically. We all have our gifts and limits, but ultimately not everything (or even most things) can be blamed on the system in a country as free and full of opportunity as the USA. When we learn to accept this fact and accept personal responsibility for what we can control, we suddenly realize that most of the time our struggles in life are not the product of macro systems but of our own personal failings or the personal failings of others. Those of a Christian mindset call these failings, SIN. The west rose out of a Christian ethos of personal responsibility and Thomas Jefferson's notion that "the tempestuous sea of liberty's" unequal outcomes are far more desirable than a state socially engineering a forced equality of outcome. Sadly, the 20th century is littered with the bodies of over 100 million people who learned this lesson the hard way. Let's hope we can open our eyes.