I’m Tired of Boring Sellouts
James Lindsay has been a successful activist explaining the woke aspects of American culture in the same manner a Philosophy teacher describes current events in an academic context. Many are subscribed to his monetized YouTube channel with fans and twitter is to clamor with other online personalities.
This week featured a riff with him and another household name in right wing circles: Pedro Gonzalez. The two outlined their position on the political spectrum, revealing the ideological wedges cleaving both sides against one another. On paper, their common enemy should be enough to create a coalition as many did during the 1980’s fusionism movement. However, modern politics agitates for ideological purity and Gonzalez failed that test according to Lindsay.
Lindsay, usually saving his energy for leftists, announced his moment of clarity. He found the exclusive attention on the woke agenda to be a repetitive exercise and declared a new enemy for open season: “The smug, proto-fascist right.”
One might confuse this term as a left wing smear. Throughout the Trump era, many labels like it have been in constant rotation from outlets including Salon and the SPLC. Yet, Lindsay insists on taking their vocabulary and using them against “rightward” opponents of his.
This is very confusing to see another infighting episode unfolding between two commentators who appear to be on the same side. It would make more sense to do a background check on each subject in order to see the motivation behind this internet spat.
Gonzalez is the editor of Chronicles Magazine, one of the only outlets left from the remnants of the paleoconservative movement. After Pat Buchanan lost two elections and everyone around him was deemed unfit to speak on political affairs, the only thing a paleocon could do was write where it was tolerated. Gonzalez, younger than his ideological heroes, is the 21st century successor to the Old Right’s cause. His takes may have gone out of fashion after the 1992 Republican National Convention, but he has made quick friends with all the respectable name in the online right.
Lindsay has the more standard background from the D.C. scene. An author who became a bestseller in the same vein as Jordan Peterson and Dave Rubin, finding a safe space in the classical liberal ecosystem. After Bari Weiss popularized the Intellectual Dark Web into a pop culture movement, classical liberalism was the new platform for commentators to cut their teeth and make videos for young conservatives. Lindsay was the latest Joe Rogan guest to be accepted into the mainstream right. In 2022, others like Douglas Murray shared similar concerns with Gonzalez and his twitter sparring words reaching Andrew Dice Clay levels of brutal honesty.
Murray, author of Neoconservatism: Why We Need It, has a familiar arc as Lindsay. He gained the attention of Craig Robinson from Uncommon Knowledge and represented the emerging overton window shift that gained notoriety during the Obama presidency. This was the time when social conservatism gained traction in right wing media for another peak period since the Tea Party movement. However, Murray quickly had no room for civility when addressing the young defender of paleoconservatism.
This is a pattern that usually reserves itself online and eventually reveals itself into the public space. For example, Trump’s anti-Bush, anti-Iraq War stance was a pivotal moment during the 2016 presidential debate. The clear distinction between the old conservatives and the neoconservatives was out in the open. A new era ushered in the Buchanan sentiments that were previously unwelcomed in D.C.
Many factions from the neoconservative wing still remain an influence within the GOP. The media pundits are among the same company as the D.C. RINOs being outed by Trump’s base. The feud between Gonzalez and these loyal insiders are not exclusive to Twitter and online forum boards.