The term "state conquest" has always seemed a little off to me. A state can be conquered but still continue to function in vaguely the same way, legitimized by the same ends. However, "state usurpation" (suggested by Peter Brimelow), seems better. It emphasizes that what is happening is the complete inversion of the state. The new regime pursues ends diametrically opposed to its predecessor. The previous national myth becomes the new regime's eternal enemy.
What the United States of America is doing is creating a new national mythology, that of a collective self-overcoming of its own past. The Revolution, the Constitution, the conquest of the West, and all the other achievements of the historic American nation are now not the "mystic chords of memory," but obstacles to be overcome. The new story that defines America is the overturning of the traditional nation, created by whites and especially White Anglo-Saxon Protestants, who bear a special burden of guilt. Indeed, anyone who crosses the border now (illegally or not) is more American than those who have been here for centuries. After all, they created this racist entity that must now be overthrown.
National Review entertained this possibility in a new piece, but didn't seem to take it too seriously.
Wokeness will provide a new national narrative. The means of salvation will be the products of a technocratic enclave, built by the savvy members of the rural diaspora. Children in rural white America will read the holy texts of Kendi (PBUH) on the Internet and set Dad straight at the dinner table. The scales will drop from their elders’ eyes, clanging like manhole covers, and they’ll roll up their sleeves and craft a new identity. The Noah Smiths will gaze upon it and say that it is good, and they will on the seventh day rest.
[Woke: 'White, Wrong,' by James Lileks, September 16, 2021]
This jovial tone is all very well, but conservative posturing like this has failed for almost a century now. The implied assumption that crazy "Wokeness" will simply outlast itself, that it won't be a big deal, or that the kids will grow out of it is false. Today, the most radical social theories move quickly from the university, to the journalists, and then to the boardrooms of corporate America that Conservatism Inc. defends. Perhaps Mr. Lileks really is taking this seriously and I give him credit for recognizing that "Wokeness" really will be the new national mythology. That said, rolling our eyes at it won't defeat it.
What is "Wokeness?" It is simply the ideological window dressing for usurping the property, wealth, identity, and political power of white Americans. It's just anti-white. There's nothing more to it than that. It is explicitly a racial challenge. If it is not met and defeated on those grounds, conservatives will continue their long retreat. It will be Robert E. Lee today, George Washington tomorrow, and everything else that identifies with the old America will fade after that.
Tax cuts will not solve the problem, nor will pointing out "double standards." Wokeness is internally consistent. If white racism is the required explanation for all racial disparities, and we all agree that racial disparities are the worst thing in history, why shouldn't whites be targeted collectively? Retreating to classical liberal grounds about "freedom of speech" aren't much good when supposedly mainstream conservatives have nothing worthwhile to say.
There are glimpses that Conservatism Inc. is beginning to see the real problem. However, to defeat it will require will and courage. Unfortunately, given the movement's history, I suspect we'll get just performative complaints but no real action. If America is to be saved, it won't be done through Conservatism Inc. It will be accomplished by the people that Conservatism Inc. hacks have spent their lives trying to purge.
