A Deadly Trinity: SEL, ESG, SDG

Letters from O'Brien #25

Today’s corruption of politicians, bureaucrats, socialist-infiltrated alphabet agencies, and other bad actors seems ubiquitous. Much of what makes up the core of such national-level corruption can be summarised in just a few letters: ESG, SEL, and SDG. These are, in one way or another, used as gateways or portals, allowing Marxist doctrine into areas in which it should have no place. For example, ESG - or Environmental, Societal, Governance - is a scoring system initially put to work by Wall Street giant Blackrock. In essence, ESG scoring is applied to publicly listed companies looking for support from Blackrock - whatever that may look like. This could include investments, recommendations, bailouts, etc. Put simply, the score dictates the level to which a company has access to the benefits of Blackrock’s massive financial capital. It should come as no surprise to hear that all of these scoring units - Environmental, Societal, and Governance - are oriented toward a Utopian vision for societal change. Or to put it more bluntly and accurately, they seek to destroy capitalism and sovereignty. The Environmental, Societal, Governance scoring (ESG), Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), and Social Emotional Learning system (SEL) all dovetail together toward a Marxian social order.

‘SUSTAINABILITY’

To begin with, it is important to define the term ‘sustainability’. The use of the term ‘sustainability’ today is suspect. It’s use since the 1970s has essentially been tainted by the neo-Marxist push to overturn capitalist systems of ownership and distribution. This seems to have its origins - at least in its mainstream form - with the Club of Rome, who’s ‘studies’ throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s painted a dark dystopian picture of our future if capitalism were to run its course. The Club of Rome seems to have had a profoundly Marxist worldview inspired by Herbert Marcuse, in which Western society (particularly in America) with its incredible success and proclivity to produce ‘a good life’ posed a threat to International Communism. Thus, the only solution which allowed Marxists and utopian socialists to take a foothold within America was to falsify ideas of inherent flaws within the capitalist model. Marcuse continually advocates for a ‘raising of consciousness’, in which Western man realises his own servitude under the capitalist elite, and how his happiness is nothing more than falsified emotion. Likewise, the Club of Rome seems to have adopted Marcuse’s idea by creating a false belief that western capitalism is inherently ‘unsustainable’ and thus bound for destruction if not ‘addressed’. What do they propose as a solution for this supposed lack of sustainability? State control over the means of production. How predictable.

As a side note, it should be remembered that the goal of Marxism is to organise the formation of a revolutionary class, and to successfully lead into revolution. Neo-Marxism, alongside modernised forms of utopian socialism, take many forms. Countless sub-ideologies have come into fruition, often well disguised to fit within a given time period or social movement, but always with the goal of painting a negative picture of western culture and its free market tendency. In this age, very few other ideologies exist which seek to overturn capitalism, increase state control, and do both within the name of ‘equality’, ‘justice’, ‘democracy’, ‘patriotism’, and so forth. If it happens to do those things, then chances are it is a disguised form of utopian socialism. This is exactly what the term ‘sustainability’ has become; a keyword alluding to the necessity to overturn the existing structure in favour of something which can be monitored, controlled, and perfected.

SOCIALIST GATEWAYS

So, what are these three systems? Environmental, Societal, Governance scoring (ESG), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), and Social Emotional Learning system (SEL) are all important pillars in the Marxist paradigm being thrust upon western civilisation. What is important to understand is that all three of these programs are essentially built around revolutionary utopianism. ESG scoring looks to push forward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) through the forced manipulation of the corporate sector. Again, this is done under the guise of free market operation but is a mafia-styled technique for gaining control whilst destroying or silencing dissent. Both are used to ‘inform’ students within the SEL framework implemented in America’s educational system. In this way, ESG forces socialist doctrine within the economic sphere, SDG seeks to shape political discourse and goal setting around socialist aims, and both are used to shape education through SEL, to bring about a new generation of revolutionaries who will continue on the march towards utopia. It creates its own ideological paradigm which continues to produce new radicals who will go out and shape the world.

SEL: EDUCATION PROBLEMS

The SEL program has been in action for some time. It originated in the late 1960s, and morphed over the decades. Its stated goal was to improve emotional and social skills within school students. This would be fostered under a set of guidelines, which include such things as ‘responsible decision making’, ‘self-management’, and ‘self-awareness’. In theory, this sounds rather decent in its ambition, but it appears to have been hijacked over the past decade or so, in such a way that these very ambitions are now being used as a gateway to push ideology and collect personal data on students.

One major problem I have noticed, emerging from Social Emotional Learning over the past five years, is the extreme focus on emotions rather than objective analysis. Students are taught that emotions are key in understanding their own position, the state of society, and the way forward. Part of this process is exposing the students to the very thing which will later be diagnosed as a problem. For example, students are regularly asked about such things as their mental health, emotional intelligence, and so forth. ‘Are you feeling depressed?’ ‘Are you having suicidal thoughts?’ ‘How do you feel about the impending doom of climate change?’ The list goes on. The issues can then be used to funnel students into further forms of ‘school intervention’, which may include special classes focusing on the subject, seeing a mental health professional, allowing the school to question the parents, and so forth, all of which further elevate the likelihood of the student believing they truly are burdened with major problems. For the socialists, another added advantage is that the educational system can slowly take the responsibly of the student away from the parents and pull them into their own sphere of influence. The role of the school in this context can then be expanded under the guise of morality, since parents clearly cannot take care of their children in the proper ways, meaning school or state intervention is necessary.

This Rousseauian idea is not only subjective, but it is usually also wrong. Nevertheless, it is increasingly the case that most young people within western society accept that preconditions to being a ‘self-caring emotional individual’. This usually includes a selfishly out of touch focus on the subject as key, while also encouraging the subject to reject personal responsibility. Within the broader sense, the ‘problems’ or ‘issues’ bought to the surface of the subject are affirmed as real and pressing. Despite this, young people are essentially taught that they are not responsible for their own problems, nor do they have the solution, but instead change must happen on the communal level to bring about the answer. Or in simpler terms, they are demoralised (or lured) into abdicating personal responsibility, told that they are victims of many external factors, and then told that the only way out is through societal revolution in order to bring about utopia (otherwise know as nowhere).

It is worth noting that although SEL does not appear to have infiltrated universities and other higher levels of education, the direct effects of both SEL and the broader Critical push in education is essentially leading down the same road. University faculty are often forced to partake in sweeping changes made at the behest of middlemen brought in to bring about change on the sustainability and equity front. For example, it is increasingly obvious that the various specialty disciplines in a given university will be subject to radical buffering and hindrances, often labelled as something along the lines of ‘correctional’ action. Of course, the term ‘correction’ has been hijacked; no longer does it mean to reorient a specific field back towards its original research goals, but instead to redirect it down a path laid out by an ideological agenda.

A researcher specialising in quantum physics can no longer study out of a passion, leading him wherever his mind, and scientific discipline, goes. Instead, he must be directed by such Marxist agendas as the Sustainable Development Goals, which trickle down into the humanities, which then interfere directly with the various disciplines within a given university. Under this direction, his research must be run through various filters and align with several preconditions, such as being ‘sustainable’ in its nature and goals, which then box him into researching something menial which offers little benefit outside of progressing the agenda. In some cases, this is already interfering with the scientific method itself (as I believe it will continue to do). Why? Because Marxism is built upon falsehoods and poor or low-resolution understandings of reality, and as such it will inevitably find conflict with empiricism and reason, both of which are necessary in scientific research. The solution? Label these threats to the Marxist goal as ‘sexist’, ‘racist’, ‘white’, ‘ableist’, and so forth, and ‘correct’ the relevant disciplines in a direction which will relegate these aspects which will highlight Marxism’s flaws to the side-lines. This is only possible if people go along with it; it is being pushed by a hyper-amplified minority who often disguise themselves as arbiters of humanitarianism, whilst simultaneously attempting to limit the exposure of their own ‘humanitarian’ work from the public. Why? Because it’s not ‘humanitarian’, nor is it about ‘betterment’ or ‘morals’, it is a blatant attempt to force utopian socialist ideology into every field of study they can reach.

Beyond this, it is also increasingly the case that students are required (or at least encouraged) to input personal information into various applications with the goal of ‘fostering’ better social and emotional skills. Much has been written about this since it appears to be happening under the radar to various degrees across America. According to some reports, students are told to input their mood and current feelings into an application which tracks this data, all under the guise of social emotional learning. While this could be written off as an overreaction, it has also been claimed that future tech rollouts within schools under the SEL system will include monitoring watches (for such things as heart rate, other bodily data), and eye tracking cameras to monitor what a student is focusing on and for how long.

ESG AND THE DESTRUCTION OF CAPITALISM

The next essential piece of this puzzle is the ESG scoring system. As mentioned earlier, it is necessary that one acquaints himself with this system to properly understand why large corporations seem to be destroying their own brand in the name of activism. It also explains why such corporations are willing to sacrifice - at least for the time being - their actual financial stability and integrity of the free market. Blackrock will only use their financial strength to support publicly listed companies which adhere to the ESG regulations. Then, the priority of these companies is rank ordered based on ESG compliance, meaning the ‘more woke’ a company is the more likely it is to achieve a high ESG rating. Not only does this guarantee that a company will receive Blackrock support in the case of a bailout or financial instability, but also essentially guarantees larger capital investment on behalf of Blackrock (who ranks investment opportunities based off of ESG score).

When it comes to Blackrock, there are several interesting things one should be aware of. Firstly, Blackrock has - supposedly - become one of the largest landowners globally, with continual investments into real estate, farming and agriculture, and various other developments. Blackrock has also invested heavily in China for some time. More broadly, the actions of Blackrock as a company have not gone without notice. In fact, Blackrock remains one of the most controversial names within the financial sector, both due to its anti-competitive nature, and due to its strange rise to power (almost certainly state-backed) leading up to the 2008 financial recession, which allowed the investment firm to harness massive influence.

Not much else needs to be said on behalf of the ESG system or Blackrock as a company. Its ability to act as an extortion tool within the US financial sector is evident. The shady history surrounding the company and its leadership is also rather unsurprising and gives the impression of a state-backed attempt at controlling the market, and by extension having control over the population.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

The often-discussed Sustainable Development Goals may very well be the broad guidelines upon which SEL and ESG are based. Backed by practically every western leader and large corporation, the SDG’s outline a modernised form of the United Nations Millennial Goals, with a specific focus on environmental and societal sustainability. The term sustainability is yet again codeword for establishing and preserving a set of Marxist policies which will inevitably include state intervention into the free market (which will be labelled ‘corrupted’ and ‘in need of regulation’) and in to the life of the individual (under the guise of ‘climate sustainability’), alongside the continued redirection of education until all fields of study are aligned with the Marxist worldview (such that no challenge to Marxism will arise, and the only output of research will be to further entrench the ideology).

While ESG is primarily relegated to the financial sector (although its effects ripple into everything), the SDG’s are intended to bridge the political, economic, educational, and social spheres, with a primary focus on the political sphere. Upheld by the UN, the SDGs are presented as a humanitarian effort to better the world through such objectives as ending poverty, increasing economic prosperity, and increasing health, the underlying reality is that the goals rest upon socialist presuppositions about the free market, the democratic process, and reality itself. For example, one underlying assumption is that free market capitalism is flawed by the mere fact that it exists, and if left to its own invisible hand, it will lead to corporate monopolies, a shortage of resources, a reliance on technology, and the destruction of the planet. Of course, what is ignored is the fact that corporate monopolies exist because of state intervention (e.g. the results of the New Deal), that resource shortages happen far more once intervention occurs, that technological ‘reliance’ is a personal choice which is a sign of an advancing society, or that the invisible hand guiding the free market will inevitably lead to a continued betterment of life, since everyone is acting in their own best interest, which overwhelmingly coincides with the best interests of others.

Beyond this, the strongest insistence within the development goals relate to equity and climate action. Both of these terms do not mean what they claim and are specifically oriented around increasing state intervention and reliance through policy changes.

CULMINATION

Once all three of these systems have been put into action, their intertwined nature allows those pushing this cultural reset to create a positive feedback loop of indoctrination. It would not be too much of a stretch to even claim that one of the goals of all three is to make life worse. This is an explicit goal of the Marxists, particularly those who were disappointed that the ‘worker revolution’ did not spontaneously occur across the world following Russia’s October 1917 Revolution. Willi Munzenberg - when discussing this exact topic with Lenin and Georg Lukacs (another key neo-Marxist figure) proposed that the only way to bring about societal change and revolution within the west was to “organise the intellectuals and use them to make the west stink” since, according to him “only after they have corrupted all values and made life impossible can we impose the dictatorship of the proletariat”. This keeps in line with Lenin’s view on Marxism (Marxism-Leninism), in which the ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’ can only come in to being through the guidance of a ‘revolutionary vanguard’, who take control of the media, economy, government, and public services. Lenin believed that this would be made possible through Democratic Centralism, in which - he states - there will be “diversity in discussion, unity in action”. It should come as no surprise that this ‘vanguard party’ who will lead to societal change and centralisation of power necessary for revolution will be made up of those who believe themselves to be morally infallible and superior to all others. Or in other words, globalist politicians, bureaucrats, UN, and WEF policy makers (among others) will make up this ‘vanguard party’.

This is not only affecting education, politics, and the economy. It is also affecting religion and culture more broadly. If one pays attention, it can be seen everywhere. Part of the trick played by those pushing these systems - particularly in the case of SEL - is that the outward appearance of whatever is being subverted still looks the same. The ideology takes on the clothes of what it is seeking to undermine and redirect it towards a political end. This is why those pushing SEL (or any other Marxist indoctrination in schools and universities) have been able to do so with practically not pushback from the general public; because it doesn’t look like anything is happening from the outside.   

CONCLUSION

This trinity requires attention, since each and all appear to operate in unison to bring about ‘change’ on a societal level, which of course refers to a Marxist collectivisation. ‘Woke culture’ appears to be in its dying stages, thanks to the free market voting against it’s madness. However, ESG still poses a massive threat to both the economy and the direction western culture is heading in, since it essentially holds a monopoly over the entire US financial sector. The SDGs will continue to propagate through the ESG scoring system, and through various other government apparatuses if left unattended, thanks to their massive influence.

Where will we be if SEL and the Marxist indoctrination of the next generation of students is left unaddressed? Marxist ideology must be called out for what it is within each sector it attempts to subvert (economic, political, educational) if there is to be any hope of a free world. Those who push this ideology are totally committed to seeing it propagate, and as such those who stand against it must be just as willing to see it stopped.