Lego quote accounts are the new front of the culture war

The fight between the far-left and the far-right has spilled over to a new battleground: Lego-themed social media quote accounts.

This latest online trend has led to the creation of a dozen Lego-themed quote accounts which spread the wisdom of philosophical and political figures along with related pictures of Lego toy brick scenes.

The fad seems to have started with the left-wing Ethics in Bricks account, which posts quotes from the likes of Karl Marx, Martin Luther King, David Hogg, Angela Merkel, and Jean-Paul Sartre to an audience of over 25,000 people across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

"Workers of the world, unite!
You have nothing to lose but your chains!"
– Karl Marx (born #onthisday) pic.twitter.com/MHcmG7rF3N

— Ethics in Bricks (@EthicsInBricks) May 5, 2019

"Tear down walls of ignorance and narrow-mindedness, for nothing has to stay as it is."
– Angela Merkel pic.twitter.com/FWc1D8BY49

— Ethics in Bricks (@EthicsInBricks) May 31, 2019

"The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy."
– Albert Camus pic.twitter.com/laAf1xg2Fu

— Ethics in Bricks (@EthicsInBricks) May 27, 2019

“Philosophers have hitherto only interpreted the world in various ways; the point, however, is to change it.”
– Karl Marx pic.twitter.com/FnSd0keXzn

— Ethics in Bricks (@EthicsInBricks) June 11, 2019

‘Generally speaking, I get the best ideas for Lego models when reading books on philosophy, reading newspaper articles or preparing my classes. I recently discussed, for instance, the communist manifesto in class, and I almost simultaneously found out about Amazon’s mission, which then resulted in a mixture of critique on a capitalist business agenda, using a quote from Marx and Engels,’ declared the admin of the Ethics in Bricks account in an interview last year, adding that a Lego Karl Marx beard was one of his favorite pieces.

Fans of Ethics in Bricks have also claimed ‘it’s very interesting [to see] philosophical discussions and critical topics cleverly exposed in Lego bricks…it keeps philosophy concepts alive and fresh.’

However, the concept has recently been mirrored by some users on the far-right who view the format as an ideal way to spread their own propaganda.

These users have made Lego quote accounts for Italian traditionalist philosopher Julius Evola, far-right English cultural commentator Jonathan Bowden, pro-slavery writer George Fitzhugh, and American Nazi Party founder George Lincoln-Rockwell.

Other Lego-themed quote accounts have been created for figures as diverse as Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien, anarchist philosopher Max Stirner, Japanese author Yukio Mishima, and Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber.

”The Industrial Revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race.” pic.twitter.com/4fps1HpoJE

— Kaczynski in Bricks (@InKaczynski) June 26, 2019

"If we look on idly, heaven and earth will never be joined. To join heaven and earth, some decisive deed of purity is necessary. To accomplish so resolute an action, you have to stake your life, giving no thought to personal gain or loss."
― Yukio Mishima pic.twitter.com/fB9pPdqgDS

— Mishima in Bricks (@MishimaIn) June 28, 2019

‘These memes are an excellent way to spread very good ideas from past philosophers,’ proclaimed one of the pages.

The far-right messages spread through these accounts isn’t the only thing that led Ethics in Bricks to block them on Twitter, however.

‘That account stole pictures from @ethicsinbricks and put its own name on it. I don’t like that. That’s all I have to say,’ the official Ethics in Bricks Facebook page told Spectator USA.

Like the culture war at large, this toy-sized culture battle shows no signs of stopping, with Ethics in Bricks launching a new account for economics, Economics in Bricks, this upcoming August, and new far-right brick accounts opening by the week.