The Root Causes of Iconoclasm

Posted at 12:30pm UK time

In my book Iconoclasm, Identity Politics and the Erasure of History (2020), I explain the root causes of today's iconoclastic urges. Briefly, they are:

a) politics, which argues that statues celebrate oppression,

b) moral foundations, which tells protestors they are on the 'right side of history' and can disregard opposition,

c) conformity, which herds people into groups, loosening inhibitions,

d) infantilisation, which makes protestors feel affronted and justified in committing violence,

e) the culture of safetyism, which directs people to destroy statues that might harm minority groups,

f) anti-heroism, which says that heroism is a hollow lie used to manipulate people,

g) education, which sparks and justifies anger about perceived injustice and

h) cancel culture, which makes protestors think they have the right to silence speech they dislike.

This list omits the common anti-patriotic feeling of the left-leaning, managerial elite, whose children are frequently instigators of iconoclastic vandalism. This class provides the iconoclasts, the police commanders who permit their illegality, the judges who issue feeble cautions to the punished few and newspaper columnists who excuse destruction of our cultural heritage.

It is a proxy war by the anti-patriotic elite against the traditional values of the working class. Iconoclasm allows the elite — whose tastes are international and whose politics are globalist — to destroy symbols of old Britain.

Alexander Adams writes more on iconoclasm, and the government’s measures against it, in our March print issue. Get this for free by subscribing here.