In this World Net Daily article, Victor Davis Hanson examines the perplexing modern alliance between radical Islam and Western Marxism/socialism, arguing that despite deep ideological contradictions, the two movements have united in shared hostility toward Western civilisation, capitalism, Israel and democratic norms.
Hanson highlights fundamental incompatibilities: Islam is theocentric and demands exclusive loyalty to Allah, while Marxism treats religion as the “opiate of the masses” and seeks material justice in the here and now rather than in an afterlife.
Socialists and Marxists historically reject monarchy and hereditary power, yet much of the Islamic world remains organised around tribal and monarchical structures that Marxism would ordinarily oppose.
Islam prioritises tribal and ethnic affinity, whereas socialism and communism emphasise a global proletariat that transcends national or ethnic identity.
Despite these differences, both camps share a deep animosity toward Western civilisation’s core values, including free speech, religious pluralism and market capitalism.
Both exhibit intense hostility toward Jews and the state of Israel, a convergence that overrides earlier socialist affinities with early Zionist kibbutzim.
Both reject classical liberalism’s emphasis on individual liberty and opportunity, preferring instead coercive redistribution and enforced equality enforced by state power.
Hanson notes that both traditions have shown a willingness to justify violence as a necessary means to achieve their political ends....<<<Read More>>>...
