Understanding that Critical Theory is simply about power can be an elusive notion and easily forgotten when dealing with its real-world consequences. It is never about the subject it is applied to such as Critical Race Theory or Critical Queer Theory. Critical Theorists aim to find vulnerable and exploitable topics in society and throw everything at the wall to see what sticks. Remember, those in the Frankfurt School were confused as to why the revolution took place in the backwaters of Russia rather than Europe and England as Marx had predicted. They had to go back to the drawing board and acknowledge that class was not going to usher in a Communist revolution, instead, it was other vectors. Here are a few ways to think of it:

🔺 Imagine a throne, a throne symbolises ultimate power. Then envisage a person sat upon that throne. This individual only has this status of power by being seated upon the throne, other than that, they would merely blend into the crowd.

The throne in this analogy symbolises 'Critical Theory'. The individual symbolises a lens, such as Race, Fat, Queer, Gender... When the individual is sat upon the throne, together they become 'Critical _____ Theory.

The Critical Theorist is envious of the power and wants to seize it. It looks at the throne from a distance and sizes it up working out how best to attack and win the power for itself.

You see, to a Critical Theorist, they are less interested in who it is sat upon the throne as they are about the throne itself, as the throne is the thing that bestows such power. The individuals they place upon the throne is merely the combatant they physically have to battle with and defeat to take the throne for themself.

🔺 You have a car that has a few issues. It works, but you know it doesn't run the way you want it to, so you ask a mechanic to come to take a look. The mechanic also shares your discontent with the current condition of the car, however has a much deeper sense of urgency and franticness about it. In an effort to bring the car back to a state of ultimate perfection, the mechanic proceeds to open his toolbox. This toolbox has many tools and all of them seem odd when applied to the task at hand. The mechanic sets to work trying each tool on each part of the car. Some work better than others and ultimately the car is in a better condition now than when it came off the production line. As impossible as it may seem, it has been achieved by using this one special tool.

In the above analogy each aspect symbolises the following:
You = The Woke
Car = Society
Mechanic = Critical Theorist
Toolbox = Critical Theory
Each Tool = A different strand of it such as race, queer, fat...

The state you are trying to get your car to is called Communism.