Red Scare - America's Cultural Revolution w/ Chris Rufo *TEASER*

Episode Date: August 1, 2023

How do you make inroads into a system where at such a great disadvantage? But ultimately, I think that he's too pessimistic because the question is, what do you do? You just curl into the feudal position and wait till they kick your door in. And then you hope that Elon and his mercenary army of Wagner troops storms the times and takes... It's like, then you're retreating into fantasy. Whereas in my mind, there's still a lot of opportunity to make a good life and to carve out your own space and to assert your own autonomy. And ultimately, I think that even small victories are the things that inspire courage and others. And the small victories are, they have to be small to begin.

But we're experimenting, we're creating prototypes, we're working on strategies, we're passing legislation, we're elevating some political figures. And to me, it's also important to recommend, or to remember, like I described in the book, the black panthers were like top of the headlines in 1968. Nixon wins 49 states in 1972. And so Curtis hopes for a kind of CEO ruler. I hope for like a new Richard Nixon. That's what I hope for.

And I think in terms of small victories, you and Curtis aren't so different in that he also, you know, in his like dark elf These he also I think is angling for kind of like soft power through the season of The avant garde whatever you want to call it through like for sure through yeah making If culture top down He's absolutely right in that. I mean, he's absolutely right in that. I think you would be allowed to that regard. That is, I mean, obviously, the only way that you

can shift the cultural consensus by being more aesthetically persuasive and persuasive in your messaging than the opposition, which is an arena that conservatives have traditionally really face planted in. Oh face planted. So face planted. Yeah. I have a question for you about like how much of the anti-racist and gender, goblin stuff is really also like a jobs program to compensate for the fact that we have a lot of obsolete people, obsolete degree holders in a stagnant economy, eliminating these forces from institutions as a challenge, not only because they're so ideologically entrenched, but because they're so economically rooted.

And I think a lot of the calculation you mentioned, even left liberals turning on their commitment to DI and axing all these DI managers and hensh people. Why? Well, I'm assuming there was an economic calculation underlying it for its foremost. Yeah, I mean, the conservative line, and it's like you look at the past history on these issues, and it's just just cope and naivete over and over the conservative line for many years you've probably seen this it's like the talk radio then it's uh look at all these you know you know you know gender people and the pink hair and there and there you

know they're useless degrees they're never gonna get a job wah-wah-wah-wah you know it's like that was the big of, your grandpa would always be saying that. They're getting a job. They're just stilting. They're just stilting. Yeah, no. They're going to get jobs, and then they're going to bull you from HR.

And they're going to be in the DEI department conducting Scientology Style Anti-Racist Audits, measuring your pulse or whatever. And so the problem is not that they were unemployable. I mean, they're economically unproductive, right? They're dead weight in any organization, but they're ideologically productive, and they've managed to turn their degrees.

They actually kind of quite brilliantly, they've managed to create the demand for their skills. Right. In an artisan way. Yeah. And I think that it's a huge part of the problem. And I think, and I'm curious here in New York and the arts and culture scene,

seems like this is 100% it, but you have an interesting cycle. I mean, these are people that in my experience are just see-then with resentments, with inferiority complexes, with just objects of just immense rage. And they can barely contain it within the rules of kind of HR bureaucracy. But in my experience, and even as a trustee at New College of Florida,

they do real damaged institutions. And because they're really there like they're like they're saw through the wood. Yes, institutional scaffolding. institutions and because they're willing. They're like, they're like, they're saw through the wood. Yes. Institutional scaffolding. They do and they're very effective at using their psychological strategies to intimidate people because they're willing to do things that are so outrageous, that otherwise polite and responsible people get very

flustered and bewildered and they want to avoid getting in trouble or all right, well, I'm triggering your trauma. I'm so sorry, what can I do? You know, yeah, trainings, yes, let's do a training.