No halfway revolution

There is an air of triumphalism in many corners of the American right since Donald Trump’s re-election and inauguration. After years of feeling like political and cultural underdogs, victories are stacking up. Even progressives at the New York Times are admitting the right’s current momentum. Trump critic Bill Mahar even admits that Trump is not only politically powerful but also culturally popular.

Big changes are evident everywhere. Mainstream media’s influence seems to be at an all-time low. Corporate America is repealing its commitments to woke capitalism. Academia’s ideological rot is under profound scrutiny. Censorship regimes are falling while renewed commitments to free speech spring forth. Democratic power and the progressive brand are spiraling to historic lows. The “demographics are destiny” canard that Democrats based their future upon is now matched by a Republican coalition that is as diverse as it has ever been. Add to that the rapid-fire sequence of executive orders undoing four years of Joe Biden’s chaos at the border, lawfare, and gender ideology, and it seems like the wind in the right’s sails has never been stronger.

But let me offer a word of caution: As welcome as all this newfound momentum is, it will be nothing but a halfway revolution if we do not combine our cultural momentum with a moral vision. Until we address the deeper cultural rot that has corroded our national soul, we are celebrating prematurely. The mere act of defeating an opponent does not mean we have built something in its place. “Owning the libs” may make for an entertaining political spectacle, but it is not a strategy to build a culture of marriage, stem the tide of pornography consumption, or revive our civic and spiritual health.

The present concern is that the right’s coalition will be more successful at defeating a common enemy than it is at fostering ideological unity. Consider that the strategic alliance of religious conservatives, pod-bros and tech-bros, anti-woke Barstool conservatives, and Rogan libertarians have little in common except a shared contempt for liberalism’s power. Whether the diverse strands of the American right can consolidate into a cultural majority that can control the commanding heights of culture like the left has for the last six decades is still unknown.

What would it mean for America to be “back”? It would mean, in short summary, that a cultural consensus emerges that uniformly celebrates the Declaration’s famous dictum: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” American society must return to God. Not just the idea of God, but God himself. The pillars of Western civilization that had Judeo-Christian values as their foundation would once again be normal. Only by returning to the truths of nature and Nature’s God could America ever really be “back.”

That would result in more marriages and fewer divorces. It would mean, ideally, no abortions. Law would mirror the natural law. Sexual promiscuity would give way to a revolution of marital monogamy between one man and one woman. Human dignity would be consistently applied. A surge of new children would offset the looming fertility crisis. It would mean that male and female are no longer disputed categories. The Sexual Revolution would be regarded for what it truly is—a culture-destroying pathogen that harmed women and reduced men to little else than nerve endings with consciousness. Pornography would return to the shadows. Church pews would be at maximum capacity. Moral rectitude, kindness, and modesty would be valorized.

If the American right stops at the political and fails to rebuild the moral and social fabric of the nation, we are merely winning skirmishes while losing the war. That is where liberalism’s power still lies. The real battle is not over tax rates or regulatory reform—important as those may be—but over the nature of family, the dignity of the human person, and virtue itself.

The progressive left did not create all of these problems, but its policies and philosophies have exacerbated them. The right’s response must be more than just defeating them at the ballot box—it must be about offering something better. Conservatives should hope that our efforts at building a counter-elite create a new mainstream.

Most importantly, we must reclaim the idea that truth exists, and that human nature is not infinitely malleable. The postmodern left thrives on the belief that identity is fluid, morality is subjective, and reality itself can be reshaped according to personal whims. But we know better. We know that human flourishing is found not in endless self-reinvention but in anchoring ourselves to eternal truths—truths about what it means to be men and women, about our responsibilities to each other, and about our duty to God and country.

This is the true revolution we need—a counter-revolution to the chaos of the last six decades. The victories we are seeing today should not be an excuse for complacency but a call to action. This is our moment to do more than just push back against the excesses of the left. It is our chance to rebuild what has been broken, to restore what has been lost, and to reassert the values that made America strong.

If you are wondering how to start this revolution, begin at home. If you are married and have children, eat dinner together around the table. Take yourself or your family to church. Read your Bible. Tell someone you care about that you love them. Invite another family over for dinner. Make ordinary things normal again.

If we fail to seize this opportunity before us, if we are content to simply play defense while the cultural decay continues, then all current victories will be temporary. A nation cannot thrive on policy wins alone—it must build a moral and spiritual foundation to sustain those wins.