[–] Rosenkavalier [S] 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
It absolutely is a false dichotomy. I think both the Frankfurt school and sharia have popular following, but the Frankfurt school by definition started as a top-down elite ideology. It is still pushed, but some people do subscribe to it. People also subscribe to sharia but it has less of an elite push in my perception.
Culture is so individualized that any attempt at a fixed ideology is bound to break down or cause break-down socially. I think there are plenty of Europeans who are somewhere not at sharia or Frankfurt school, but do not exist as a bloc and therefore have no cultural "push" (which is probably ingrained in that type of culture, contrasted from sharia/Frankfurt). I agree with your point that any society can descend into madness; no man is infallible and culture is truly a soft and slippery way that people express themselves.