The Right-Wing Culture War is Getting Dangerously Out of Hand
It is up to real conservatives to take a stand against the madness
The events of recent years have got me thinking lately. The many ways the anti-woke movement went wrong, the way the IDW imploded, the way the political right has taken an authoritarian turn, the emergence of a 'National Conservatism' that is neither nationalist nor truly conservative but highly authoritarian, and so on. Why did all this happen? And what can we do to fix things from here?
Exploring the Conservative Tradition
The common element in the aforementioned cases appears to be the rise of a harshly authoritarian strain of thinking in the political right. Therefore, I think we need to examine the conservative philosophical tradition first. After all, it is what is supposed to underpin the political right. I think we should start with the ideas of 18th century British thinker Edmund Burke, because he is often considered the father of conservatism. Burke was actually a member of the Whigs, the main liberal party in Britain at the time. He was outspoken against the British government's oppressive policies towards the American colonies, and the damage the East India Company was doing to India. He opposed slavery and supported Catholic emancipation, and took a leading role in arguing against unrestrained royal power. He even worried that democracy would lead to tyranny over unpopular minorities. All this earned him the respect of liberals both in his time and long after his death. As you can see, Burke cared about individual liberty and justice for everyone, including minorities. He was certainly no reactionary who opposed all change and wished to use government power to turn back the clock. His approach to the controversies of his day would hardly fit in with today's populist, culture war orientated part of the right. If Burke represents what real conservatism is, then Trumpism, 'National Conservatism' and the postliberal right are simply not conservative movements at all.
The reason Burke is revered by conservertaives is because he staunchly opposed the French Revolution, correctly predicting the chaos and authoritarianism that would follow. Burke's opposition to the French revolution actually took his fellow liberals by surprise, again proving that he was not a reactionary who predictably opposed all change. The reason he opposed the French Revolution was because he saw that the radical upheaval, the total destruction of tradition, the focus on abstract ideas rather than practical reality, and the denial of the complexity of people and society, would eventually lead to tyranny. I think there are very real parallels between Burke's story, and today's classical liberals who are anti-woke. Like Burke, we started out being passionate about liberty, concerned about the overreach of government power (particularly during the 'War On Terror'), and advocated for the inclusion and equality of minorities against the conservative establishment. We did all this because we believed in individual liberty. However, in the 2010s, 'wokeism', more accurately known as cultural systemism, began to demand changes to society that were harmful to free speech and individual liberty, and we felt we had no choice but to take a stand against this development. Like Burke more than 200 years ago, we saw a revolution that was rooted in academic philosophy, ignored the complexities of reality, and was hellbent on deconstructing and banishing all traditional values, including even free speech itself. Like Burke, we predicted that it would not end well for liberty. If Burke's opposition to the French Revolution represents the core spirit of conservatism, then we anti-woke liberals are the very best expression of the conservative tradition in this day and age.
Of course, the conservative tradition is not limited to Burke. Let's look at another very well respected figure in that tradition, 19th century British Conservative Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli. He is famous for saying that 'the great question is, not whether you should resist change which is inevitable, but whether that change should be carried out in deference to the manners, the customs, the laws, the traditions of the people, or in deference to abstract principles and arbitrary and general doctrines'. In other words, it is not change in general that is to be opposed, but that only change rooted in abstract philosophy and doctrines, removed from reality and alien to the traditions of the nation, that should be opposed. This is entirely consistent with the way Burke approached politics, even though Disraeli was speaking almost a century later. Clearly, Burke and Disraeli belonged to the same tradition.
In fact, this tradition of conservatism, as it should be properly understood, has never entirely died out. More recently, 11 years ago to be exact, then-British Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron famously stated that 'Conservatives believe in the ties that bind us; that society is stronger when we make vows to each other and support each other. So I don't support gay marriage despite being a Conservative. I support gay marriage because I'm a Conservative.' Cameron supported gay marriage because it was an exercise in extending traditional values, and specifically traditional British values too. Being committed in a life-long relationship is a traditional value, and the role of legal marriage in securing that commitment has a long tradition in British law. The reform of gay marriage, while being a social change, is a change that is entirely consistent with British traditions, and not an alien imposition rooted in abstract philosophy. The logic of what change to accept here is again similar to what Burke and Disraeli represented. Again, today's anti-woke liberals are in strong agreement with this philosophy. It is why we are open to new ideas and supportive of reforms to make life better for everyone in general, but opposed to the kind of radical and theory-driven change that cultural systemism represents. This is why a strong case can be made that today's anti-woke liberals are the real heirs of the conservative tradition, properly understood.
The Origins of the Authoritarian Right
If today's anti-woke liberals are the real heirs of the conservative tradition, then today's authoritarian right necessarily represents a distortion or corruption of the conservative tradition. I believe an analysis of the history of Western politics, particularly American politics, of the past several decades actually supports this view. In the mid-late 20th century, the US Republican Party gradually adopted a culture-war based politics, where reactionary sentiments to any and all change are encouraged and magnified, for the sake of electoral gains. A series of strategic moves laid the foundation for this transformation, including the 'southern strategy' that took advantage of post-desegregation reactionary sentiment, the making of abortion into a central culture war issue after Roe v. Wade was decided, the 'war on terror', and the aughts scare campaign around gay marriage. This meant that, by the aughts, Republican politics no longer represented conservatism as properly understood, but a populist reactionism that fundamentally opposes all social change, something very different to the Burke-Disraeli approach to politics. This reactionary version of conservatism also had some, but not total, influence in other Western countries.
In the aughts, reactionary conservatism was focused on preventing change that was yet to happen. Gay marriage was its first and foremost target. Yet, as history teaches us, change is inevitable, sound ideas will win out in the end, and reactionaries never successfully stop all change. So gay marriage became legal in almost all of the West, despite aggressive resistance by the reactionary right. The reaction of the true conservative might have ranged from actually welcoming the change (like Cameron did), to reluctantly making peace with it, seeing that it is now what the people support, and predictions of negative effects on family values haven't come true either. But the reactionary cannot accept any change, and views it as a defeat. This is why the culture warriors on the right are now saying that gay marriage won because the right was not aggressive enough, and that they now need to wage the culture wars, especially on LGBT issues ever more aggressively.
The wish to use state power to wage the culture war aggressively has, by definition, turned reactionary conservatism into something that is completely alien to the conservative tradition, by turning its back on everything from the principle of limited government to the classical liberal values that Anglosphere conservatives going back to Burke held as a central pillar of their politics. The movement looks up not to English-speaking conservatives like Burke, Disraeli, Reagan and Cameron, but to right-wing figures in Eastern Europe like Viktor Orban. This politics hence represents an unwelcome import of authoritarian foreign norms into the Anglosphere to supplant our own liberal values and traditions, something real conservatives should resist unconditionally.
Most concerningly, the tactics that the movement has adopted, including stoking populist negativity towards certain minority groups, obstructing the freedom of private businesses to do business as they see fit (including Disney, Bud Light and Target alike), not taking a stand against the fake news and biased reporting that is creating a post-truth political discourse and encouraging hateful sentiment, and continuing to stoke passions even as violent individuals and groups have threatened businesses and organizations in the name of fighting this culture war, have alarming parallels to the fascism of 1930s Europe. Given that conservatives should, by principle, oppose all fascistic behavior (as Winston Churchill famously demonstrated), the true conservative needs to stand against what the culture war right has become today. While I think that today's culture war right can't be called 'fascist' (they don't support a fascist economic system, nor do they appear to be antisemitic, for example), it is certainly not to be considered a form of conservatism, because true conservatives do not condone fascistic behavior.
What Needs to Happen
The first thing that needs to happen is the revival of the conservative tradition, as properly understood. As I have demonstrated, today's anti-woke liberals are the natural heirs of the conservative tradition, and we should unapologetically take it up. If we do not, we would be allowing the culture war right to pretend that they are conservative, which would serve to hide their radicalism from the general public. Taking up the conservative mantle would not harm our ability to identify as classical liberals, or argue for classical liberal positions. There is no conflict between conservatism and classical liberalism, in the context of the 21st century English-speaking West. Even going back to Burke's time, English-speaking conservatism clearly had a liberal character. After several more centuries of the classical liberal consensus, a conservative in our society would definitely have to be a classical liberal, trying hard to conserve this important part of our political tradition for future generations, against assaults from both the left and the right.
The lack of a healthy conservative tradition has also led to today's polarization, where many people feel like they have to choose from either wokeism or the increasingly authoritarian right, or else shut up about their views. The revival of the conservative tradition would go a long way to fix this problem. Bringing back a conservatism that allows the possibility of gradualist progress would also provide an alternative to the kind of progressivism that is rooted in abstract, and hence unsound, cultural systemist theories.
We also need to call out, and ultimately aim to defeat, the authoritarian culture war right, for two reasons. Firstly, they are the reason why so many young people immediately react negatively when they hear 'conservative'. They are the reason why we classical liberals still fear embracing the c-word, even though it fits us very well. The image of conservatism has been tarred by several decades of reactionism, as well as the recent authoritarianism, and we need to work hard to rehabilitate its image. We can't do that without calling out the authoritarian culture war right. Secondly, some in the authoritarian culture war right are now resorting to fascistic behavior out of a desire to forcibly turn back the clock of society. Even though they are not actually fascists, embracing fascistic behavior should be unacceptable to conservatives, and we should make it clear. As Winston Churchill demonstrated, conservatism can only be credible if it takes the strongest stance against fascism. We too can take a credible stand for conservatism in today's world by firmly opposing the fascistic behavior that we are seeing from the authoritarian culture warriors right now.
As a person who believes in businesses having the freedom to do business as they see fit, all the previous fuss about Disney and Bud Light had already been making me very uncomfortable, given there is actually no rationally valid reason to boycott either. However, the latest drama surrounding Target is clearly driven by fake news, which I think crosses a line. It is really no more than a pseudo-populist hate campaign, as I see it. The exact kind of thing that real conservatives should firmly oppose. Meanwhile, I think the official entry of Ron DeSantis into the Republican primary, and hence the 2024 US Presidential Race, really forces us to make a choice, to accept or reject the new culture war politics. In today's post, I will argue my case for taking a strong stance against this kind of politics.
The thing that many of his critics loathe most about DeSantis, his willingness to use political power directly in cultural conflicts, represents the necessary future of conservatism in America. The line between politics and culture is always a blur, and a faction that enjoys political power without cultural power can’t serve its own voters without looking for ways to bring those scales closer to a balance.
No, just no. The person who said this (Ross Douthat) does not even appear to understand what the conservative tradition is properly. He doesn't understand that using government to wage the culture wars, likely in an oppressive way, goes against everything people like Edmund Burke and Benjamin Disraeli stood for. English-speaking conservatism is classically liberal, and the role of government is necessarily limited to providing a fair playing field for the rest of society. The Republican-led corruption of the conservative tradition with culture war-ism since the late 20th century is what has led us to this toxic place, and we must put an end to this development as quickly as possible, given how it has gotten out of hand.
Conservative ideas have to win (or lose) the debate in the marketplace of ideas. This is the way it has always been in the English-speaking West. To win, I suggest that conservatism be decoupled from reactionism, authoritarianism and anti-LGBT sentiment. That is, we should be doing just the opposite of what people like DeSantis are doing.
It's been 15 days since Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis put his signature on Senate Bill 254, putting a halt to 80% of trans adult care while leaving the remaining 20% stuck in limbo. The repercussions are profound, with many transgender individuals throughout the state losing access to their medications...
The law blocks 80% of gender-affirming care for transgender adults by barring nurse practitioners from offering this care. Organizations like Planned Parenthood, one of the largest providers of this care, rely on nurse practitioners heavily...
Lucina, a trans individual residing in Florida, received a notification from her healthcare provider stating her care would be discontinued due to her provider being a nurse practitioner. The correspondence indicated that the enactment of the bill prohibited the continuation of her care, and she should promptly seek a legally authorized physician. The letter suggested that she contact primary care providers as a desperate measure, even though these providers often lack training in gender-affirming care. Even if they agreed to provide such care, without the necessary informed consent form, which is yet to be produced by the Board of Medicine, these physicians would likely be unable to administer it.
-15 Days Since Florida Banned Most Adult Trans Care: People Are Suffering by Erin Reed
A timely reminder that actions by culture-warrior politicians like DeSantis actually have real effects in the real world beyond the culture wars: they harm and disrupt the lives of people who just want to be left alone to live their lives quietly. The trouble is that the culture-warrior politicians won't leave their lives alone. This is something that the conservative tradition has always stood against. Which is why I keep insisting that culture warriors like DeSantis aren't true conservatives.
Other Trump attacks — criticizing DeSantis for his six-week abortion ban in Florida, his ongoing fight with Disney and his past support for entitlement reform — have created the opening for DeSantis to say that Trump is hitting him from the left and is no longer the Trump everyone remembers from 2015-2016. More specifically, DeSantis has leveraged attacks on his vote against an omnibus bill in Congress to denounce all the money Trump spent as president. And he’s used his vote against an immigration bill to remind people how Trump supported legislation that provided legal status for so-called Dreamers.
If DeSantis is trying to make a good defense the best offense on those issues, he’s gone out of his way to pick a fight on the criminal justice reform that Trump signed into law as president, the First Step Act. Crime is a central concern of Republican primary voters, and Trump’s support of an off-brand, bipartisan measure that released some prisoners early is a clear vulnerability.
-The Anti-Trump Strategy that Might Actually Work by Rich Lowry in Politico
It appears that, in this cycle at least, Republican politics has become about how far right you can go, the further to the right, the better. Which, again, is certainly not what the Burkean conservative tradition is about at all. While I have never liked Trump, at least when he was president, he tried doing things that were not typically right-wing. Now, it seems, DeSantis is going to attack him for it. The effect will be to force all Republicans to support only right-wing policies all the time, without exception. This is pure madness, and will also polarize the political landscape further, with real world negative effects. We really need to put a stop to it, by calling it out and saying no firmly.
Target is pulling some of its LGBTQ merchandise ahead of Pride Month after facing “threats” and backlash from customers, the company said Wednesday...
Target has recently received attention for its “tuck friendly” women’s swimsuits that allow trans women who have not had gender-affirming operations to conceal their private parts. Much of the social media frenzy came from users who falsely claimed the suits were designed for kids or in kids’ sizes. The “tuck-friendly” swimsuits are only offered in adult sizes, according to a spokesperson for the company and Target’s website. Kids’ swimsuits in the collection do not feature this label.
-Target to pull some LGBTQ items after ‘threats’ to employees by Kierra Frazier in Politico
So this is where culture warrior-ism has finally led us to: a panic and boycott campaign based on a piece of fake news. Again, if 'conservatives' actually condone this kind of behavior, then the conservative tradition is effectively dead.
This is another reason why I can't support DeSantis's way of doing politics. Remember that he is the man who started the whole War on Disney thing, and he also enthusiastically supported the Bud Light boycott. He calls corporations 'woke' without justification, then proceeds to attack them. He both enables and encourages the toxicity we are seeing today.
However, one market analyst told Newsweek that the recent backlash had precipitated a "probably negligible" effect on investor sentiments, with the most likely cause of the stock sell-off being a first quarter earnings report on May 17 which announced flat sales and a gloomy forecast for the rest of 2023.
Jeremy Bowman, a contributing analyst at The Motley Fool, an investment advice firm, suggested that the latest results showed Target's coronavirus pandemic boom was over, and its valuation was being readjusted to its new sales expectations.
-Target Losing Billions in Value Is Unlikely About Boycotts by Aleks Phillips in Newsweek
I thought so too. Boycott campaigns are rarely effective anyway. But in this case, the right-wing media keeps saying how effective their fake-news driven boycott campaign is. Which just shows how dishonest the right-wing media has become in recent years. This is why, in the past year, I've unsubscribed from almost every right-wing YouTube channel. They used to account for nearly half of my subscriptions up until two years ago (because I wanted to have a balanced perspective), but I'm really sick and tired of the deliberately biased perspective they keep presenting as 'truth'. If you have a conservative-leaning news source that is at least honest and unaffected by this culture war stuff, please recommend it to me, because I really need one right now (and can't find one despite my best efforts).
In the past year or so, there’s been a pretty obnoxious trend among brands to do something they’ve been doing for years (trying to get LGBTQ people’s money with rainbow-themed merch), getting coordinated blowback from the right, and then walking back the thing they did in the first place...
With a little over a week to go until the start of Pride month, I urge the marketing teams at every company considering an LGBTQ-related promotion or event to make a decision now. Decide right now if you’re going to panic when a bunch of right-wing websites, commentators, and politicians get together to act outraged over whatever it is you have planned. Because if the answer is yes, then you should do everyone a favor and bail on it right now.
You don’t get to try to make money off of LGBTQ people and then stab us in the back by immediately caving to craven bigots.
I think now that things have gotten so out of hand, not only do corporations have to make a firm choice, the rest of us do too. We all need to make a decision now: you need to be either for or against this kind of politics, where businesses are intimidated just for doing business as they see fit. As a firm believer of the principle of not negotiating with terrorists, I have decided that I am firmly against this kind of politics, and I hope you'll join me too.
In life, there comes a time when we have to make a choice, and this is the time. In the 1930s, another such time, the German conservatives surely made the wrong choice, and even a certain British conservative Prime Minister erred on the side of appeasement for too long. Thankfully, another British conservative Prime Minister, one named Winston Churchill, made the right choice in the end, saving the reputation of conservatism for generations to come.
Note: The articles quoted above do not necessarily reflect my views, and I do not endorse their arguments outside of what I have specifically agreed with.
TaraElla is a singer-songwriter and author, who is the author of the Moral Libertarian Manifesto and the Moral Libertarian book series, which argue that liberalism is still the most moral and effective value system for the West.
She is also the author of The Trans Case Against Queer Theory and The TaraElla Story (her autobiography).