Hear the ad-free version at http://usefulidiots.substack.com Journalist and professor Christian Parenti’s latest NonSite (the Adolph Reed site) article, The First Privilege Walk, if nothing else, has the greatest subtitle of all time: How Herbert Marcuse’s widow used a Scientology-linked cult’s methodology to gamify Identity Politics and thus helped steer the U.S. Left down the dead-end path of identitarian psychobabble.The article, which Matt described as “an article after my own heart,” to which Katie replied: “It’s like it was made in a lab for you,” details the rapidly-growing movement disguising itself as left. The nexus of the movement is the privilege walk. As Parenti explains: Mainstream critics say the exercise propagates divisive identity politics and mock it as foundational to the Oppression Olympics. A Marxist critique would say that the Walk transmogrifies material problems into cultural ones, economic exploitation becomes the more nebulous problem of oppression.In the same way Professor Adolph Reed criticizes Robin DiAngelo’s antiracist jumble as fake left, the new liberal “identitarian psychobabble” not only contradicts the Sandersian left, but hurts it. Take a listen as Christian Parenti unravels the cult. Plus, Biden won’t extend the student loan pause, McConnell is still a hypocrite, and oh god the new Jimmy Fallon/Ariana Grande/Megan Thee Stallion song. #SMH It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices