By: C. R.
As we have already reported, the Institute of Dr Jože Pučnik, in cooperation with the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung and the European Platform of Remembrance and Conscience, hosted the 14th Pučnik’s Symposium in the knight’s hall of the castle in Slovenska Bistrica.
At the same time, there was also a conversation about the so-called cultural Marxism, which has deep roots in the history of the communist movement but has raised its voice again in the last period, and in its inhumane dimension shows an even more terrible potential than the classical one. Janez Janša, Dr Žiga Turk, Dr Dimitrij Rupel, Dr Matevž Tomšič, and Dr Andrej Fink participated in the conversation which was moderated by Dr Metod Berlec.
As the president of the Council of the Jože Pučnik Institute, Dr Andreja Valič Zver, said in the introduction there are moments in the development of community living when it is necessary to stop, reconsider and make sense of a moment of time, because otherwise “falling off course” can happen, which, as she said, there were more than enough of in the last century. According to her, our civilisation was crippled by various totalitarian and authoritarian regimes, and in the early 20s of the 21st century, it seems that history is unfortunately repeating itself. At the same time, she emphasised that Dr Jože Pučnik, whose twentieth death anniversary we celebrated at the beginning of this January, is an inspiration even in these lost times. As said Dr Valič Zver said: “Not only was Pučnik a critical follower of Slovenia’s ‘limping’ transition to normality and he was particularly affected by value nihilism, which erases the rational judgment of what is right and what is wrong, he was also a ‘changer of things’, which he proved best with his decisive attitude even during the Slovenian political spring, democratisation, and independence. He did not just analyse, he also predicted and acted!”
During the conversation, which was based on the recently published book about the Sao Paolo Forum, SDS president Janez Janša, publicists Dr Žiga Turk, Dr Dimitrij Rupel, and Dr Matevž Tomšič, as well as a legal expert in the field of theory of the state, constitutional and international law, and international relations Dr Andrej Fink, shed additional light on current events and connections.
In the introduction, Rupel recalled the year 2007, when the so-called petition 571 was created, the year 2012 when there were uprisings, and cyclist protests between 2020 and 2022. As he said, people are repeating old platitudes or formulas, you could say they are repeating class. At the same time, Turk said that cultural Marxists do not need to work hard to corrupt society, but we must work hard to pass on values. As he said, there is always resistance to passing on values, as this requires effort. He also emphasised that the phenomenon of cultural Marxism is limited to the Christian area: “It is a heresy of Christianity, because it pushes someone who is powerless forward, makes him a victim, and from this then this victim gets a privileged status.”
Janez Janša emphasised that the fundamental document of this ideology is the Communist Manifesto, in which it is written in the introductory chapter that in order to establish a new order, the foundations must be dismantled: family, religion, private education, and private property. He recalled Antonio Gramsci’s formula that the foundations of civilisation and order must first be discredited, eliminated, and the rest will just fall from the sky. This formula – first discretisation, then liquidation – is, as Janša pointed out, well known in Slovenia. Cultural Marxism destroys nation, family, religion. As he also said, SD youth with T-shirts “I have no country to fight for; my country is the Earth…” manifests exactly this, while representatives of the Levica party carry “LGBT to schools” posters, which is the next instrument for dismantling the family. How they try to appropriate civil society today is also shown by the proclamation that real civil society is only left-oriented. According to them, the March 8th Institute or Voice of the People are a civil society, while they say that the Voice of Pensioners is not a civil society.
As Janša also pointed out, the European institutions are also a great ally of this non-transparency, because for them, non-governmental organisations are the essence of democracy, even though it is one of the biggest detours and tools for the dismantling of democratic institutions. At the same time, he warns that it is the rule of the unelected: “Ten almonds cycle through the squares and declare themselves the voice of the people. They are not. The voice of the people is the MP who received five thousand votes and is therefore the voice of his voters.”
He also warned that one should call a spade a spade. That it is a clash of civilisation with barbarism and the dismantling of the very foundations, with the aim of returning to the time when we lived in a cave. As he said, a good symbol of this return to barbarism is the Fotopub affair, in which we find the same leftists who say how these values should be dismantled. Matevž Tomšič also warned that the ideological war has been intensifying in recent years. At the same time, he believes that there is a big deception, because the new left has nothing to do with labour, because it is a new class, a new elite: “Who were those who cycled in Ljubljana every Friday in the previous government? These were not representatives of the working class, but representatives of the middle class, descendants of the red bourgeoisie.” He also believes that it will be necessary to find thoughtful approaches to tackle cultural Marxism, which is currently so widely spread – especially in politics, education, science, and the media – that it is difficult to overcome it in one fell swoop. According to him, it is not only the right that must oppose this, but all those who are committed to the heritage of European civilisation should do so.
After the talk, the premiere presentation of the book by Igor Omerza took place: GIANTS OF SLOVENIAN INDEPENDENCE AND UDBA Jože Pučnik – Pseudo-Marxist.
Diplomas were also awarded on the successful completion of the Academy of Dr Jože Pučnik (year 2021 and 2022).
At the symposium, Pučnik’s plaque was also awarded, which was received by academician Dr Janko Kos. The president of the Assembly for the Republic, Dr Franc Cukjati accepted it on his behalf.