The propaganda strategy of the “Intellectual Dark Web” (Shapiro, Peterson, Harris, et. al) is fairly simple. They exploit people’s correct intuitive sense that their lives are dictated by external forces, and then misdiagnose those forces in order to take the heat off capitalism.

They are then allowed to package themselves, with no small help from multinational corporate conglomerates like Google, as “challengers” to the prevailing US orthodoxy. In reality, by clouding class relations and other social dynamics of capitalism, they only help reinforce it.

The “IDW” angle themselves as challengers to PC dogma, yet everything they say is within accepted bounds. They’re rewarded with book deals, ad revenue, and huge audiences for their reactionary conservatism. The IDW is firmly capitalist, which is the most PC stance of all.

To the extent that they address class, it is never to condemn the policies of the economic elite, but rather the menace of social welfare, corporate regulations, affirmative action, unruly protestors, et. al. They are not blind to class relations but exceptionally aware of them.

This tweet from @jamie_agust explains the overall effect of this strategy. Also @_michaelbrooks has an entire book on the IDW phenomenon called “Against The Web.” My copy is in the mail. https://twitter.com/jamie_agust/status/1278923449809993728?s=21 https://twitter.com/jamie_agust/status/1278923449809993728