It is the most malignant foundation of progressive ideology. Elon Musk, among others, calls it a "mind virus." And it appears the American people who were bullied into accepting it have finally had enough. It is the gospel of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), which was given birth by Barack Obama and then overwhelmed the country with remarkable ease and haste following the George Floyd affair in 2020 when liberals and conservatives alike were riven with anger.
The rise of DEI was, in many senses, a mirror image of the aftermath of 9/11, when leftists not given to performative patriotism joined conservatives in rallying around the flag. In both cases, the grieving and healing in the immediate aftermath of these nation-altering events eventually gave way to greater division than we have witnessed since the 1960s. Both sides ultimately returned to their respective corners, more militant than ever in their newfound overarching philosophies.
Like the broad disapproval of foreign entanglements that heightened over the second term of President George W. Bush and led to the rise of Barack Obama in 2008, a reckoning for DEI was undoubtedly delivered by voters in the 2024 election. But just as conservatives who supported wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the formation of the behemoth Department of Homeland Security following 9/11, progressives who have succeeded in welding DEI to major institutions and the culture at large will not just roll over and go quietly into the night, no matter how toxic, divisive, and unpopular their identity politics has proven to be. As any craftsman will tell you, prying apart items welded together is possible but extremely difficult.
The Growing Plague of DEI
Between the rock-ribbed progressive Obama and those like Joe Biden, who evolved into wokeness ruling the roost for 12 of the last 16 years, with the aid and comfort of big corporate media, much of the DEI philosophy has become as deeply embedded in American politics and culture as a person slowly descending into quicksand. Escape is possible but not without herculean effort. It is fair to say that a victory by Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election would likely have rendered it a permanent feature of a quasi-socialist America standing in the starkest possible contrast to the liberty-centered vision of the founding fathers and generations that followed.
The clever strategy of progressive ideologues was to place the words “diversity” and “inclusion,” largely favored by everyday Americans, first and last in the DEI acronym, surrounding the word revealing the true intent of their philosophy, “equity.” Most people likely view equity as similar to equality, but in reality, it is quite the opposite. While equality signifies equal opportunity for all, equity means the enforcement of equal outcomes. It follows that such equity can only be achieved by an “all-of-society” project of social engineering from the loftiest levels of government and industry, mandating quotas based not on merit but on race, gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. Equity has become the poison pill threatening democracy in general, and the American Republic in particular, with the rule of over-educated elites suppressing the will of the people.
Will DEI be Done by the Time Trump Leaves Office?
With the virulently anti-DEI Donald Trump set to assume the presidency while surrounding himself with like-minded partners such as Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy, Pete Hegseth, and many other nominees to his cabinet and federal agencies firmly committed to Trump’s America First agenda, to what degree will the new regime be able to detoxify the country from the worst of the now-bygone progressive era?
Progressives joined at the hip with the un-elected and permanent DC bureaucracy are doing their best to “Trump-proof” the government, having long since proven they will stop at nothing to throw wrenches in the gears of the MAGA movement that held sway in the election. From the Russia collusion hoax, impeachment for a phone call, legal warfare on multiple fronts, together with twin attempts to assassinate the 45th-turned-47th president, to say Trump faces headwinds in his second administration might be the understatement of the year. But by winning the popular vote, all seven swing states, and a larger electoral college victory than his first time around when he was a novice, the politically experienced Trump now represents an existential threat – to a far greater degree than in his first term – to all that the left holds dear.
This is exactly why, in contrast to his mostly mainstream appointments in 2017, Trump has made sure to populate his second administration with fellow travelers who will take no prisoners in effecting massive reforms. Polls conducted during the presidential election revealed that a solid majority of voters favor an end-to-end reshaping of the way government does business, viewing Trump as their preferred agent of change. In his first term, Trump set the country on a path to banning critical race theory in the federal government but did not possess the political capital to make it stick. This time, he does.
Detoxification Must Begin on Day One
In an excellent piece entitled “Counterrevolution Blueprint” in the City Journal, author Christopher F. Rufo says vital detoxification of the administrative state must commence immediately when Trump re-assumes office:
“The Trump administration has a unique opportunity to take decisive action on Day One, through executive orders that can serve as the opening salvo in a counterrevolution … The process of ideological capture has taken decades. But the counterrevolution can, and must, quickly retake those institutions in the name of the people and reorient them toward the enduring principles of liberty and equality … Bureaucrats abusing the public trust to advance their own ideologies should be put on notice: they will be shut down, their departments abolished, and their employment terminated. The administration will work to rid America of this ideological corruption before it further rots our institutions, demoralizes our citizens, and renders the government totally incompetent."
Left-wing dominance in the DC swamp is not a matter of opinion. Anywhere from 84% to 97% of employees in the Departments of Justice, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education voted for Joe Biden in 2020, according to Bloomberg. The swampocrats, together with media and academia, have long formed an iron triangle resistant to Trump and other proponents of systemic change.
So far, the best news for Trump since his election has been that many high-tech moguls, once wedded to left-wing ideology, have come calling on him, though admittedly, outside of Elon Musk, they have done so as acts of self-preservation with a new sheriff coming to town. Nevertheless, the likes of Mark Zuckerberg, who helped assure the president-elect’s defeat in 2020 by pouring a whopping $400 million of “Zuckbucks” into local and state election boards, is intent on getting his piece of the action. Whether these titans of industry kissing Trump’s ring – including Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Apple’s Tim Cook – return to their leftist ways when another Democrat wins the presidency is anyone’s guess.
This much can be said: If there is any one man who could possibly achieve genuine radical reform in a federal government largely distrusted or despised by the bulk of Americans, it is most decidedly Donald Trump. The upside for conservatives in the new administration is that Trump has put all the elements in place to disrupt the existing order. The downside is that if the 47th president is unable to effect radical reforms that outlast his four years in office, the Swamp will have survived the most monumental threat it is ever likely to face.
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