The Frankfurt School and the Right-Wing Rage Machine

Right-wing media frequently denounces the Frankfurt School, branding it a sinister force behind “radical leftism” and tying it to Marxism, Communism, Wokeism, CRT, DEI, and other buzzwords designed to stoke fear and rage.

So, what is the Frankfurt School? The Frankfurt School is a school of thought that originated in pre-Nazi Germany at Goethe University in Frankfurt. A group of intellectuals set out to understand why capitalism persisted despite its flaws—and why the working class often embraced it instead of resisting an unfair system that deprived them of their livelihoods.

What they learned was fascinating, if not frightening. While Karl Marx believed capitalism would collapse on itself due to economic pressures on the working class, the Frankfurt School learned that the working class would continue working despite increasingly desperate economic hardships, so long as they were, in a way, brainwashed into accepting their working-class fate as part of a larger ideology. In other words, capitalist elites learned to manipulate culture, media, psychology, and ideology to keep the working class in line. In a sense, capitalism could effectively distract people and hold them in a slumber where they continue to work and don’t think about their meager conditions.

The irony is that right-wing media and corporate interests use tactics identified by the Frankfurt School to support capitalism while simultaneously attacking the same institution. They denounce the Frankfurt School—labeling it as Marxist, Communist, and so on—to discourage individuals from studying or understanding its ideas. Their goal is to prevent recognition of the hidden strategies they employ to gain and maintain power. They don’t want the general public to see the playbook in action because once the secret is out, people will stop falling for it.

Have you ever wondered why people on the left accuse Republicans of voting against their own best interests? This happens because the Republican Party, through decades of deliberate actions, has controlled the culture through the media. They have shaped voter psychology by stoking hate, rage, misogyny, and xenophobia—weaponizing emotion to distract from economic realities. While many Republicans may vote against their economic self-interests, their voting patterns align perfectly with the cultural, psychological, and ideological influences built up over decades of media spoon-feeding. Furthermore, numerous churches have supported this agenda, giving individuals a sense of godly righteousness as they vote for removing women’s bodily autonomy, expelling illegal immigrants, establishing the superiority of men over women, and opposing LGBTQ rights, among others. This combination of politics and religion blinds many people to the truth of their manipulation.

The ultimate danger of all this manipulation is not just that people are misled but that they are willingly led toward their own economic demise. As the Republican Party nurtures fear of Marxism, socialism, or even basic economic fairness, it paves the way for an unchecked, hyper-capitalist system that serves only the wealthiest elite.

Over the past four decades, the wealth gap has increased to historic levels, and there seems to be no end in sight. With righteous fervor, the Republican Party—having been fully captured by the wealthy elite—has dismantled regulations that once kept capitalism in check with democracy. (On balance, the Democratic Party has also played a significant role in the destruction of capitalism's guardrails, including NAFTA and the nullification of the Glass-Steagall Act.) It’s not surprising that ordinary working people now openly disparage the idea of democracy and support the dissolution of our Constitution in favor of authoritarianism. The manipulation is nearing its crescendo.

While the Frankfurt School attempts to warn us about the mechanisms that make the destruction of democracy possible, the right-wing outrage machine works overtime to make sure we never listen.

What can we do? The best way to fight back isn’t with more outrage but with critical thinking, historical awareness, and a refusal to be manipulated by fear-driven narratives. The Frankfurt School never intended to destroy Western civilization; instead, it tried to warn us before it was too late. The question is: Are we listening?