Removing monuments and holidays like Columbus Day is part of the Neo-Marxist agenda related to cultural memory and identity.
Woke leftists learned their techniques from Mao’s revolution – the vilification of the “Four Olds”.
The Four Olds and their meanings
Old Customs – Social traditions passed down for centuries — marriage rites, funeral ceremonies, dress codes, folk festivals — seen as relics of “feudal” or “bourgeois” oppression.
Old Culture – Traditional literature, arts, Confucian teachings, and classical Chinese history — representing pre-Communist values.
Old Habits – Everyday ways of living and thinking — greetings, work patterns, diet, religious practices — viewed as obstacles to revolutionary consciousness.
Old Ideas – Ideologies from the past: Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, capitalism, imperial loyalty — anything opposing Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought.
How did Maoists vilify these categories?
Reframing – The Four Olds were declared enemies of progress. Everything traditional became associated with oppression, backwardness, or betrayal of the proletariat.
Public Humiliation – Teachers, priests, artists, and scholars — custodians of old ways — were humiliated in public “struggle sessions” where they confessed to “crimes” against the revolution.
Moral Condemnation – The “old” was not simply wrong — it was evil. Anyone who defended old customs was branded a counterrevolutionary or class enemy.
Youth Mobilization – Red Guards, often teenagers, were encouraged to root out Four Olds in their own homes, neighborhoods, and schools. Loyalty to Mao overrode loyalty to family or tradition.
Monuments and Sites Destroyed – Temples, churches, Confucian shrines, Buddhist statues, historic graveyards, classical architecture — all were targeted for demolition. Entire cultural heritages were lost in a matter of months.
Book Burnings – Ancient philosophical and literary works were burned in public squares to symbolically “cut ties” with the past.
Executions and Violence – Educated elites, religious leaders, and landowners were killed or beaten to death in mass campaigns. Some estimates suggest that hundreds of thousands — perhaps millions — died during the Cultural Revolution’s efforts to destroy the Four Olds.
In short, the war on the Four Olds was a war on the soul of China — and it was a war fought with fire, blood, and terror.
Why did Mao hate the Four Olds?
Mao’s hatred was ideological but also personal and strategic:
Total Loyalty to the Party – Mao understood that old traditions created independent loyalties — to family, God, ancestors, community — that stood in the way of total allegiance to the Party and to himself.
Permanent Revolution – He believed that society must be in a constant state of revolutionary flux to avoid slipping into “bourgeois decay.” Thus, destruction of the past wasn’t a byproduct — it was the point.
Power and Control – The past had to be discredited and destroyed so that Mao’s version of Marxism could become the sole defining reality for China.
Can we see parallels in today’s woke revolution? Yes — and the parallels are chilling.
Maoist Revolution compared to Woke Revolution
- Destruction of old statues, shrines, and cultural artifacts is similar to toppling of statues (Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln), renaming of buildings, and demands to “decolonize” everything.
- Vilification of Confucian, religious, and traditional moral ideas is similar to attack on Judeo-Christian ethics, family structures, and Western civilization values.
- Redefinition of virtues (loyalty, filial piety) as oppressive sins is similar to definition of patriotism, merit, or family loyalty as “systemic oppression.”
- Struggle sessions — public humiliation and coerced confession is similar to cancel culture — public apologies, firings, deplatforming for wrongthink.
- Youth-driven revolution against elders and parents is similar to Gen Z and student activists leading movements against “older generations” deemed racist or oppressive
- Revolutionary chaos celebrated as necessary and righteous is similar to “disruption” being framed as a moral duty for “equity” and “justice.”
- Traditional holidays like Lunar New Year, Qingming (Ancestor Day) and religious festivals were attacked as “superstitious” and “feudal”. They were suppressed, canceled or repurposed into Communist Party holidays like “National Day” or “Labor Day”. This is similar to the woke redefinition of Thanksgiving as a “day of mourning”, replacement of Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day, elimination or secularization of Christmas in public spaces, and reinterpretation of Fourth of July as a day of “white supremacy” rather than a day of national pride and independence from Great Britain.
The goal of the woke revolution is not merely to protest particular injustices but to unmoor the American people from their historical, cultural and spiritual heritage to impose a new revolutionary identity.
Conclusion
As Ecclesiastes says, “There is nothing new under the sun”.
The revolutionary spirit that animated Mao’s Red Guards — a spirit of tearing down, desecrating, and rebuilding humanity in man’s image rather than God’s — is alive and well in our day.
And it will have the same destructive fruits unless it is confronted with truth, courage, and a return to first principles.
For a first-hand account from Mao’s China, I recommend reading Xi Van Fleet’s book titled Mao’s America: A Survivor’s Warning.
Additionally, there are many emigrants from socialist/communist countries that witness to the degradation of their nations under socialism. I have provided some of their testimonies in the Related Content section.
These include Daniel Di Martino, Franklin Camargo, Jorge Galicia, and Lukas Degutis.
S.D.G.,
Robert Sparkman
rob@basedchristianity.org
RELATED CONTENT
Xi Van Fleet was raised in communist China and emigrated from China to the USA. She has unique insight into the similarities between the current Neo-Marxist revolution promoted by American Democrats, as they have adopted many of the same strategies as Mao Zedong.
Emigrants from socialist/communist countries including many others besides Xi Van Fleet have spoken out on the parallels between socialist/communist movements in their countries of origin and today’s Neo-Marxist (woke) revolution.
Daniel Di Martino emigrated from Venezuela, a socialist country. He is pursuing a PhD in economics from Columbia University. He has excellent insight into the economic aspects and failures of socialism. He is a Roman Catholic and speaks in regards to the inconsistencies between wokeness and his faith.
Emigrants from socialist countries warn us that the direction our country is headed, especially if the Democrats gain control again, is not good.
Franklin Camargo is another emigrant from Venezuela with a warning against pursuing a socialist/communist form of government.
Jorge Galicia is a political activist who emigrated from Venezuela in 2017. He warns about the truth concerning socialism and its totalitarian nature.
Lukas Degutis is an emigrant from Lithuania who warns university students about the reality of communism. He is an editorial manager at the Spectator.
Concerning the Related Content section, I encourage everyone to evaluate the content carefully.
I will continue to add videos and other items to the Related Content section as opportunities present themselves.If I have listed the content, I think it is worthwhile viewing to educate yourself on the topic, but it may contain some opinions I don’t agree with.
Feel free to offer your comments below. Respectful comments without expletives and personal attacks will be posted and I will respond to them.
Comments are closed after sixty days due to spamming issues from internet bots.
You can always send me an email at rob@basedchristianity.org if you want to comment on something afterwards, though.
If you have evidence that I am wrong about a material statement of fact, provide the evidence and I will gladly review it and make revisions if merited.
Obviously, there are some assertions that are matters of opinion that I will not change, but I always strive to be truthful. We are all capable of mistakes and misunderstandings on occasion, though.
Regarding depictions of Jesus, images accompanying the article may contain depictions of Jesus. I realize that some fellow Christians, particularly some conservative Presbyterians, consider these images to be a form of idolatry. I do not agree with their opinion on this matter. These images are for illustrative purposes and do not represent a form of worship.
I recommend these Youtube channels for good content on Christian matters: Founders Ministries, Ligonier Ministries, Grace to You, G3 Ministries, and Truth for Life. RC Sproul, Voddie Baucham, Alistair Begg, Kevin DeYoung, Albert Mohler, Tom Ascol and John MacArthur are well-known, trustworthy pastors and teachers with content across multiple forums.
Francis Schaeffer, Tom Ascol, Allie Beth Stuckey and Nancy Pearcey have some valuable materials related to cultural matters, as well.