DeSantis Takes A Page Out Of Mao's Playbook

Florida's Cultural Revolution begins.

Dash Dobrofsky | The Gen Z Perspective

In 1966, Mao Zedong — founder of the People’s Republic of China and architect of the Great Leap Forward — was faced with two choices: Step down after the widespread death and famine caused by his leadership, or wage a war against a new enemy to remain in power. Ultimately, Chairman Mao would choose the latter, and would go on to launch the infamous Cultural Revolution.

At its onset, Mao claimed the revolution would “purify” China, by ridding the state bureaucracy of “western revisionism” and “elitism.” In reality, it was a violent campaign designed to purge teachers, intellectuals, and officials who had been accused of spreading “bourgeoisie” ideology.

And thus, the following 10 years in China were plagued with social upheaval, violence, and death — as the Communist Party vowed to uproot the “culture” in pursuit of one that better-represented the proletariat class (working class).

School principals were accused of being “capitalists” and exiled into forced labor. Teachers were beaten to death by their students, as the Communist Party continued to whip its base into a frenzy.

In the end, thousands of properties were confiscated, millions of Chinese youth were sent to the countryside for “re-education”, and an estimated 1.7 million innocents were killed in service of the CCP agenda.

Meanwhile, Mao remained in power for an additional 10 years, in spite of his repeated failures and broken promises.

What is there to learn from China’s Cultural Revolution? It is to recognize that when political movements face existential threats to their own survival, they will shift their party aims to tackling issues of culture and ideology — intangible ideas that can neither be proven nor disproven.

In the wake of an unprecedented Democratic Senate victory in the 2022 midterms, the Republicans are faced with the same choice that Mao Zedong faced in 1966: either redress their party platform and acknowledge their abhorrent failures — or double down on their far-right policies to further radicalize the country.

Following in the footsteps of Mao, it appears Republicans have opted for the latter — launching a Cultural Revolution of their own ahead of 2024: