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topicnews · September 19, 2024

The political right also has “woke” elements – Opinion

The political right also has “woke” elements – Opinion

Serious historians are weighing in on the hate-filled babble served up by Tucker Carlson and his recent controversial guest Darryl Cooper, whom Carlson calls “the best and most honest popular historian working in the United States today.” By revealing the so-called hidden truth of history, he portrays Cooper, podcaster and Substacker, as not only worthy but also somehow brave for swimming against the norms of the post-WWII Western order. As if the belief that Churchill was a WWII hero is a neo-Marxist postmodern narrative designed to deny the true events of 1933-1945.

The irony that postmodern, ultra-critical thinking is now being deployed by the right to undermine some of our most sacred historical truths should not be overlooked, as this has been largely a project of the left until now. The problem is not the vicious anti-history being presented. Nor is it the rise of the barbaric right, as conservative commentator and author Sohrab Ahmari has called it, or even the Holocaust denial and fake history being presented as “revealing the truth” hidden by those unnamed and dark forces that control the Matrix.

The problem is that Carlson and others are now using historical hostility as a weapon to attack historians and history itself, and to undermine our faith in the core beliefs of our society. This is not an intellectual pursuit of truth or of improving our society, but the exact opposite. It is an attack on Western democracy.

It is a form of reactionary right-wing wokeness designed to unhinge the West and make millions of people cynical about democracy itself. It is no less toxic than the radical left ideology that seeks to deconstruct society, or its own toxic anti-Semitism with its apparent embrace of the jihadist Hamas terrorists. It should come as no surprise to anyone that all these wokeists meet and discuss Jews, anti-Semitism and the Shoah. Decent society is under attack from multiple sides.

It doesn’t matter if serious professors like Niall Ferguson, Victor Hanson, or a hundred other historians and experts on 20th century history, WWII, or the Holocaust write about how awful Cooper and Carlson’s so-called history is and easily refute their charlatan claims. The scope of their influence and impact in real time is minuscule compared to Carlson. They are virtually powerless against the network of influencers, podcasters, and hate preachers on social media (protected by the right-wing woke advocates of absolute free speech). This interview was seen and heard by tens of millions of people.

Tucker Carlson speaks to attendees at the 2020 Student Action Summit hosted by Turning Point USA at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Source: Flickr/Gage Skidmore)

In Carlson’s case, in addition to his online influence, his ecosystem and influence are amplified by his position in presidential candidate Donald Trump’s inner circle. Carlson was a prominent speaker at the Republican National Convention, sat next to Trump during the convention, and was reportedly one of the most influential figures on Trump when he selected JD Vance as his running mate to accompany him on Carlson’s national tour. Trump likes Carlson for the influence and reach he gives him, and Carlson gains influence and normalcy from his proximity to the former president.

WHEN POPULISTS, often extreme politicians, use lies and disinformation to stoke even more political hatred, we face a serious and imminent threat. Think of Andrew Tate and Tommy Robinson after the Southport murders and how their mass spreading of lies about the killer’s identity helped spark mass violence across the UK. This was followed by Elon Musk’s intervention, which challenged the UK government’s response. Musk is the great defender of this online barbarism in the name of absolute freedom of speech, a crucial cornerstone of right-wing wokeness. Tate was recently a guest on Carlson and Robinson was recently interviewed by conservative star Jordan Peterson.

Axis of global chaos agents

Putin and the agents of the Axis of Global Chaos are rubbing their hands in glee. Senator Marco Rubio has simply dismissed the latest criminal Russian influence scheme in the US. The US Department of Justice has indicted a US media outlet for being paid by Putin’s proxies to distribute content containing hidden messages from the Russian government to US audiences. The media outlet employed highly popular conservative social media influencers on its platform. Rubio responded that it was not that important as the Russians were only amplifying existing political opinions.

This, of course, completely misunderstands Russia and China’s strategy. Anne Applebaum, senior writer at the Atlantic, recently pointed out that these extreme opinions are not invented. “They simply reinforce existing people and movements – whether anti-LGBT, anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant, anti-Ukrainian or, above all, anti-democratic.” The Russians don’t actually have to spend that much money, because Carlson and Co. are content to tear down society in their name or in their own interests for free.

The tragedy of it all

The Western way of life is under threat. Liberal democracy is threatened by the undermining of trust in its institutions and its history. It is our duty to defend ourselves.

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Part of the solution must come at the state level, as we face state-sponsored influence programs designed to reinforce cynicism toward democracy and liberal ideas, and the spread of illiberal stereotypes. This means that if the social media moguls responsible for X, Meta, TikTok, and Telegram cannot take responsibility, then stronger regulations are needed to restrict the harmful elements abusing these platforms.

More importantly, we need a much better informed and educated public that does not get lost in the mire of woke ideas, whether they denigrate Churchill because he was a racist colonialist or they denigrate him and claim he was an even greater villain than Hitler. Critical thinking should serve society to improve itself, not to reinforce the group psychosis we are heading toward. Successful history and politics teaching without overly politicized messages is vital to the health of a free society.

In the words of Wall Street Journal columnist and professor Walter Russell Mead, “The only way to fight bad history is with good history.”

The author, a founding partner of Goldrock Capital, is founder of the Institute for Jewish and Zionist Research. He is a former chairman of Gesher, World Bnei Akiva, and the Coalition for Haredi Employment.



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