ArcaMax

In 2018, some activists, appalled by woke nonsense being published by academic journals, submitted nonsensical research. One paper claimed researchers "closely and respectfully examined the genitals of ... ten thousand dogs" to learn about "rape culture and queer performativity at urban dog parks." Some journals published it! One of the hoaxers, James Lindsay, claims this "woke virus" now has spread to the right: "There is a radical segment embedded within MAGA ... that acts the same way, uses the same tactics, acts like the woke left."

I was skeptical. But to make his point, Lindsay pulled off a new hoax. He rewrote parts of "The Communist Manifesto" and, using the pseudonym Marcus Carlson (a play on Karl Marx), submitted it to the conservative magazine American Reformer. His article criticized classical liberal ideas like free markets, global trade and individual freedom, like Marx did. Yet the conservative magazine published it. Even after a reader pointed out that it was "The Communist Manifesto," the magazine kept its article up, writing, "It's still a reasonable aggregate of some New Right ideas."

The New Right, says Lindsay, acts like the woke left. "There's the victimhood mentality, the cancel culture, struggle sessions. They bully people online with swarms; they rewrite history." The New York Times' 1619 Project rewrote history, claiming America was founded to protect slavery. Today's woke right say: Hitler "was trying to encourage community ... family values," (social media influencer Dan Bilzerian).

"I want total Aryan victory ... the only way we are going to make America great again is if we make this country Christian again," says white supremacist Nick Fuentes.

Fuentes' videos have received more than 30 million views. On his show, he says, "Jews better start being nice to people like us because what comes out of this is going to be a lot uglier and a lot worse for them."

Influencer Andrew Tate won 10 million followers largely by attacking feminism: "I am absolutely sexist."

"'Men should be in charge, knock the women down,'" sighs Lindsay, "The woke right literally becomes all the caricatures that the woke left said conservatives are: 'racist, sexist, homophobes.'"

"They're fringe," I say to Lindsay. "No real threat."

"That's what everybody said about woke kids on campuses," he replies.

That shut me up. I admit I thought brainwashed college progressives would drop "safe spaces," trigger warnings, speech codes and other silly ideas once they had to earn a living.

But I was wrong. Most didn't. Those kids brought about lots of change. Their preferences got many companies to mandate DEI training and led many employees to fear speaking honestly at work.

But today, says Lindsay, the energy is on the right.

"It's great that we're having a conservative revival ... but there's also called 'falling off the cliff.'"

Elected officials now say things like, "We should be Christian nationalists!" (Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene) and, "I'm tired of this separation of church and state junk," (Rep. Lauren Boebert).

"Your ability to believe as you will," says Lindsay "worship as you will without state interference, is a bedrock idea of the American experiment. Woke right, like the woke left, is this litany of bad ideas."

He fears that next election, the woke right will elect the woke left.

"The left is going to say, Hillary Clinton was right to call (people on the right) 'deplorable.' Then the left will sweep back in and dominate."

========

Every Tuesday at JohnStossel.com, Stossel posts a new video about the battle between government and freedom.

Copyright 2025 Creators Syndicate, Inc.