Why The Woke Right Is Wrong
When you picture a woke person, you might be thinking of a pink-haired liberal college student marching through the street carrying some nonsensical sign and hysterically chanting some canned line even she doesn't understand. While wokeness is typically associated with liberals it isn't exclusive to the political left, at least not anymore.
Wokeness can loosely be defined as a neo-form of Marxism in which the economic categories of oppressor and oppressed or rich and poor, are replaced with self-declared identity classes in which your skin color, sexual orientation, sex, or even clothing choices can make you oppressed or an oppressor, or more succinctly, good or evil.
Given that the categories of oppressed and oppressor are self-declared, subjective, often ambiguous, and even impossible to prove, it's easy for almost anybody to opt themselves into being oppressed, which is now a form of social currency. Many on the right whether consciously or not recognize this & have begun to enter the Oppression Olympics. There are numerous examples to cite, but I’d like to point out some of the most obvious examples of wokeness on the right.
Generally, when we hear conservative objections to the diversity, equity, and inclusion model, it’s usually because DEI places these identity classes above competency and skill set. We should base college admittance and hiring decisions on meritocracy they argue, which of course most obviously agree with. However, if we are to base placement decisions solely on meritocracy, many high-skill and prestigious jobs and college spots are likely to go to Asian Americans, who are by far the most successful people in America. Once it becomes clear that Asian men and women are the likely beneficiaries of meritocracy some conservatives immediately change their tune.
The argument quickly goes from the best person should get the position to the best white man should get the position. And they cite the exact same reasons progressives use to justify DEI, racism, and sexism. In other words, while progressives argue Blacks, Hispanics, women, and LGBT people are underrepresented in positions of power because of historical racism/sexism conservatives will argue white men are also becoming underrepresented because of current racism and sexism. While there may be some truth to this, they take the exact same argument from progressives and simply substitute the racial and sexual groups.
Another clear example of the woke right is the recent and troubling views toward women. Conservatives will argue that collectivism is wrong because it doesn’t take into account individual differences. But when the subject turns to gender, woke conservatives will immediately argue that all 8 billion humans can neatly and perfectly fit into one of two boxes.
All women should strive to be wives and mothers, avoid college and careers, and be “submissive” to a man. This isn’t collectivism they’ll argue, it's facts. But suggesting we all must fulfill certain roles not because we want to but because conservatives say so is just another form of collectivism, it's simply the opposite version progressives are pushing.
The traditional Marxist form of collectivism is believing all humans are the same and the only reason for disparities is bigotry. The reason there aren't more black pilots, female construction workers, or transgender CEOs isn't because of a lack of interest, aptitude or inability to meet the minimum qualifications, it is because of discrimination. So because bigotry is preventing more minorities from obtaining these positions it's acceptable and even noble to use reverse discrimination to balance things out. Not only is this a ludicrous notion but no data suggests widespread discrimination against minorities in any field.
Now the right-wing collectivists don't believe humans are interchangeable like progressives do but they believe humans within their respective demographic groups are interchangeable. They do not believe for example that both men and women are the same and interchangeable but that men and women are interchangeable within their respective demographic. So the reason women don't wish to be stay-at-home wives and mothers isn't because they have different interests and aptitudes or are unable to do so, but because reverse discrimination and bigotry have ‘brainwashed’ them into thinking they should focus on careers rather than homemaking.
In short, collectivism is bad when it hurts conservatives but it's preferred when it helps them.
Not only is this deeply hypocritical but when independent-minded voters see this they begin to rethink support for them. While the progressive agenda is repugnant and repellant, if conservatives are marketing themselves as the moral and righteous option why do they appear to be so similar to progressives? If they believe people should be viewed as individuals why are they so focused on viewing people as collectives? If they are offering the best version of America, why does it leave so many Americans out?
Conservatives should be winning now, easily. But there is a good chance Kamala Harris will win the next election and Republicans yet again will fail to capture much in the House or Senate. And this is despite Harris being undemocratically selected to run and up until recently was viewed very unfavorably.
Americans hate progressivism. They hate collectivism. Most Americans like America just the way it was. Sure, we have problems to solve but many of the ones we face today are self-inflicted and are rectified by simply enforcing the laws and social norms we already have in place.
‘All men are created equal, they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.’ This is one of the most important sentences ever written. Our lives would be starkly different if these words were not enshrined in our Declaration of Independence.
Our country was specifically created to allow people to individually decide what's best for them. They consciously and intentionally devised our constitution to prioritize individual rights above all else. Communism is the opposite of this, where the collective is prioritized over the individual.
Individual liberty is what makes our nation unique and the envy of the world. It is what makes us great. And it is this that we are conserving.
Rebecca Velo is a mom, wife, and political writer. She is the Opinion Editor for Wrong Speak Publishing and also writes for Substack. You can follow her on X.
I feel that innate hypocrisy is why this isn’t called out all the time. All collectivist stuff is poison.
Your most insightful column yet, Rebecca.
It's a tough pill for people to swallow when they must acknowledge instances where their side is going too far, and that applies to both the left and the right. Extremism in any form is anathema to the will of the majority, even when it leans our way.
Half of my archive is filled with addressing this issue, when people seem to feel they don't qualify as Conservative or Liberal, Republican or Democrat, unless they fall into lemming lockstep with every extreme policy of their chosen tribe.
Picking a team might be necessary in our binary political party system, but thinking for ourselves still applies.
Nice work. ZL