The argument is that Marxist thinkers had a deliberate strategy to destroy unified culture. This strategy was only effective because the rapid change from industrialization had already weakened society's traditional cultural anchors, making it vulnerable to deconstruction.

Beyond grand ideologies, the conflict was fueled by tangible, everyday grievances. Unionist-controlled councils systematically denied housing to Catholics to maintain political power, creating a flashpoint for the civil rights movement and subsequent violence.

Both loyalist and republican paramilitaries in the 1960s saw themselves as inheritors of an earlier tradition. Groups like the UVF consciously modeled themselves on Sir Edward Carson's 1912 Ulster Volunteers, using this historical precedent to legitimize their violence.

While constitutionally claiming the whole island, Dublin governments showed no real interest in reunification. They even ignored British offers during WWII, fearing the instability of absorbing one million hostile Protestants, a pragmatic stance that contradicted their nationalist rhetoric.

The common narrative that The Troubles erupted suddenly in the 1960s is false. In 1939, the IRA conducted a sabotage campaign with bombings in major English cities, including London and Coventry. This earlier violence is largely erased from British collective memory.

Prime Minister Terence O'Neill's efforts to attract foreign investment disrupted traditional Protestant-dominated industries. This economic change, rather than creating harmony, heightened anxieties among working-class Protestants who felt their privileged status was being eroded.

To consolidate power during the 1979 revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini strategically adopted the language of leftist and anti-imperialist movements. He reframed concepts like the struggle between the 'bourgeoisie vs. the proletariat' with an Islamic tinge to attract their young, energetic supporters to his cause.

To articulate their identities, both Unionists and Nationalists drew parallels with international conflicts. Unionists saw themselves as a besieged people like Israelis, while Nationalists identified with Palestinians, using these global narratives to legitimize their local grievances.

Following the failures of grand social movements and projects like Soviet communism, the 20th-century political left turned away from material and social progress, refocusing its energy on the private self and personal behavior.