Conform or Perish

Conform or perish. This is the message the left is sending to its opponents. If you support Donald Trump, you’re not only canceled, your life is over. And those who associate with you are not spared the wrath of the mob.

It may sound hyperbolic but it’s precisely the tactics they’re using to silence dissent.

For many conservatives, especially those working in industries dominated by the left, living in the shadows is the only way to survive. Disclosing your affinity for conservative views or your support for the former US President subjects you to an unpersoning. You’ll face a hostile work environment. You might even lose your job. Speak out and you’ll even be unable to find a job elsewhere.

The mob doesn’t simply cancel you for your opinions. It delves into your life. Everything you’ve ever done comes under scrutiny. An errant word, a joke that you made ten years ago, a remark you made to a coworker - nothing is off the table. Everything you’ve ever done is now viewed and scrutinized through a woke lens to make sense of your support for Trump.

I can personally attest to this. I used to be a ‘social justice warrior’. Over time, I got tired of it, as have many others. I got tired of the incessant complaints about every little issue. Scrolling down my Twitter timeline was like pulling teeth, one tooth at a time. All anyone did was complain about everything.

I was tired of it, and I left the scene. I reached out to people whom I’d spoken out against as a member of the mob to make amends. They were only just people, after all, who had come under attack by cancel campaigns - rightly or wrongly.

More often than not, these attacks were indiscriminate. When you’re a part of the crowd, attacking someone feels like a dopamine hit. It makes you feel like a hero among your peers, punching up, fighting against fascism, or what have you. You’re fighting the good fight and standing up for the little guy - or so you think. It’s easy to lose sight of what you’re fighting for when everything looks like an enemy. It’s as the saying goes: when you have a hammer and sickle, everything looks like a nail and a bushel of wheat.

When I departed the social justice mob, I too became a nail to hammer down. My inbox was flooded with “concerned” messages telling me I was being misled, that I was being used, that talking to targets of the woke brigade was “not a good look.” I rejected these concerns. F ‘em. I’ll talk to whoever I want.

For all of their supposed virtue, members of the mob are themselves just as “cancellable” as anyone else. I recall numerous conversations in which they too were upset by other members of the mob, whom they deemed too fanatical, or even hypocritical in their crusade against unwokeness. They would make bad jokes like anyone else - the same jokes they’d cancel a total stranger for making in public, if only to make themselves look good. They would complain about “social justice warriors,” a term they themselves used disparagingly to describe other ‘social justice warriors’, apparently without a hint of self-awareness whatsoever. They would complain about those who brag about their laundry list of mental illnesses, wearing them like a badge in their Twitter bios - while speaking out about the importance of mental health. They would condemn men for being men and refer to men as “incels” while simultaneously advocating for male suicide prevention, as if they weren’t contributing to the oppressive culture many men perceive themselves to be in, especially young men in colleges who feel out of place with their peers.

The writing was all over the wall and it spelled the word “HYPOCRITE” in large font.

In contrast to the “virtuous” individuals who make up the woke mob, and contrary to their claims about the supposed badness of the people they go after, I was made to feel quite welcome by those they deemed “problematic.” Carl Benjamin, better known as Sargon of Akkad, published a video telling his audience to be inviting to people like me and to accept my apparent turnabout.

“No need to be excessively cynical, though, we don't lose anything by accepting his apology,” Benjamin wrote. And it’s this healthy attitude that you’ll find on the right, but rarely among the woke. Try naming a single Trump supporter who was accepted back by the left after having backed him for four years.

Simply put, the woke do not believe in the concept of redemption. To the mob, wrath is a virtue, forgiveness is a vice.

When Gina Carano rejected the woke movement and spoke out in defense of conservatives on the receiving end of leftist bigotry and violence, she too was canceled. The star of the Mandalorian was no longer allowed to be on the show.

J.K. Rowling, the beloved children’s author, too, has been canceled for her pro-women views by defending a “transphobic” researcher who came under fire by the woke mob for questioning trans identities - woke culture’s latest cause célèbre. Even the child stars, Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe, and Rupert Grint, whom her books and movies made famous, joined the brigade against her. 

Even those who function in service of the Constitution and the right to fair representation are not spared condemnation and violence. Trump’s lawyer, Michael van der Veen, who is by all accounts apolitical, chose to represent the former President in his impeachment trial by the Senate. Trump - whether you love him or hate him - has the same rights as anyone else. But Van der Veen’s successful defense of Trump subjected him to harassment from Antifa militants and leftist activists who egged his place of business and vandalized his home. Many sent him death threats, forcing him to hire security to protect his family.

It’s worth noting that van der Veen even represented a client in a lawsuit against Trump mere months before the impeachment. But he did his job, as he was supposed to.

In what civilized society is it okay to deny any person - even one accused of “insurrection” - the right to a fair trial? And in what society do we live where the same people who would deny Trump his right to a defense stand in favor of rapists and murderers condemned to death by the court, even after conviction?

And in what society is it okay to attack those who merely choose not to side with the mob? Anyone who’s ever associated with Trump, done business with him, or voted for him, is now subject to violence - violence that the progressive left claims to oppose. Violence is violence, no matter who does it.

Hypocrisy isn’t merely written on the walls. It’s literally written in books, in academic papers, on social media, broadcasted directly through the television and every internet platform known to man. It’s all over the place, and there’s no escaping it. Something's gotta give.

You can follow Ian Miles Cheong on Twitter @stillgray