Sims: Marx to Mamdani

How Cultural Marxism Shapes America and the Democratic Party

The name Karl Marx evokes images of revolution and class struggle—a firebrand whose influence has spanned continents and centuries. Born in 1818 in Trier, Germany, Marx’s groundbreaking manifesto, co-authored with Friedrich Engels in 1848, called for the workers of the world to unite and overturn capitalist societies. But the Marxism America faces in 2025 is not the storming of palace gates or literal class warfare; it is something more insidious and pervasive—what critics term “Cultural Marxism,” a set of ideas that has seeped into the heart of our institutions, culture, and politics.

The Foundations of Marxism

Marxism began as an economic doctrine, arguing that society’s structures are determined by economic relationships and that history is a story of class struggle. The Russian Revolution of 1917 gave Marx’s ideas violent expression, but as the 20th century progressed, it became clear that Western societies were resistant to outright proletarian revolutions.

Evolution to Cultural Marxism

Enter the Frankfurt School—German intellectuals exiled to America during World War II, who adapted Marxism to new realities. Thinkers like Theodor Adorno, Herbert Marcuse, and Antonio Gramsci realized that culture, not just economics, was the true battleground. Gramsci’s idea of “cultural hegemony” argued that by influencing values, norms, and beliefs within educational, media, and governmental institutions, radical change could occur without revolution. This “long march through the institutions” reframed Marxism for a new age: focus on culture, identity, and morality, not just class.

Over the decades, these ideas spread through universities and into the broader culture. By the late 20th century, the focus had shifted from economic oppression to identity-based grievances—race, gender, sexuality—each presented as new axes of oppression. Today, much of the political activism on American campuses and in media borrows from this framework, framing the family, traditional norms, and even national identity as tools of systemic oppression.

Impact on American Family and National Identity

Cultural Marxism has fundamentally challenged the nuclear family. Marx and Engels viewed the traditional family as an artifact of capitalism. This skepticism was revived and amplified by cultural critics, leading to a devaluation of parental authority and an elevation of alternative family structures. American history—once a story of liberty and civic virtue—is now increasingly retold as a narrative of systemic injustice. The result is a generation less sure of their national story, more cynical of their country’s ideals, and less united as Americans.

The Democratic Party’s Radical Turn

In 2025, these cultural shifts have profoundly influenced the Democratic Party. Once the party of working-class pragmatists and center-left liberals, Democrats now see a growing influence from radical voices openly embracing socialism and identity politics. Organizations like the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) have moved from fringe status to major influence, championing policies that would have been unthinkable for Democrats just a decade ago: abolishing police, guaranteed government jobs, open borders, and harsh anti-Israel activism.

Mainstream party leadership, wary of alienating young activists and new voters, often hesitates to challenge this radicalism. The result is internal division, declining public approval, and a party struggling with its own identity and electoral viability.

Why the Rise of Candidates Like Zohran Mamdani Matters

Few figures symbolize this shift more clearly than Zohran Mamdani, the DSA-aligned New York City mayoral candidate. His unapologetic embrace of radical slogans—like “globalize the intifada”—and policies such as city-run grocery stores and a $30 minimum wage, has alarmed moderates and Jewish communities alike. Yet instead of condemnation, Mamdani has received endorsements from core party figures.

This signals not just a leftward drift, but an institutional acceptance of viewpoints previously considered fringe or dangerous. The success of candidates like Mamdani will determine whether the Democratic Party doubles down on radicalism, or recalibrates to recapture a broader swath of the American electorate.

Conclusion

Cultural Marxism’s long journey from Marx’s 19th-century pamphlets to today’s campaign slogans has fundamentally altered American institutions, culture, and politics. As the Democratic Party grapples with its identity, the rise of radical candidates poses a stark question: Will Democrats continue to move left and risk further division, or rebuild around shared values that once united Americans? The answer will shape the nation for years to come.

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