Is the Culture War Lost?
The full text of my 2020 exchange with Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Some of you know that I had a series of public letter exchanges with Ayaan Hirsi Ali about wokism in late 2020. We were approached by the founders of a (now defunct) site called letter.wiki to have a kind of long-form conversation, presumably about Islam.
But when Ayaan and I finally got a chance to discuss what was on our minds, both of us found that we were far more interested in discussing the rise of another ideology: wokism. Ayaan was surprised by my sense of dismay. I believed that the battle was already lost, but she did not agree. She was sure that liberalism could face the challenge ahead of us, but I felt that it had already proven itself too vulnerable to it.
As this disagreement felt far more interesting than any conversation about Islam, we decided to hash it out in the letter format.
However, since then the website was taken down and our exchange disappeared along with it. I asked one of the founders, Clyde Rathbone, if he could send me the text and Ayaan whether I could repost it on this substack. Both were very obliging, and so now our letters are back up, listed in order below. I have added in some titles (the originals did not have any), but other than that, the text is unchanged.
If you haven’t read them before, I think the best are #1-3 (especially, the 3rd if you want a detailed breakdown of my views).
Looking at them again today, I am feeling as if my pessimism was warranted. I will give you all a chance to read before I send along more detailed thoughts on our exchange.
What do you think? Was I right?
Thank you for sharing thus exchange. You both made points that were enlightening and provocative. As to which of you were the more prescient I don't think there is an answer. If one is inclined toward a more pessimistic outlook, then you Sarah, would seem to have correctly forecast the state of affairs we see today. But the more optimistic views of Ayaan could very well reflect the future; and perhaps a near future.
I am old enough to have seen the idealistic young people I grew up with become the reactionary old Republicans of today. And even I, a slow learner, have found myself recoiling from the excesses on the left. Universities, and Hollywood, and media companies are not where most of us spend most of our lives. These cultural institutions can move us only so far before we snap back.
The extremists have some value in that they stretch our views. We may become more sensitive to others and more tolerant. But it won't be the way the woke would approve of. Nor will we wind up looking quite like the world Ron DeSantis wants to make. We'll just get along much as we always have because life is hard enough without fighting over stupid sh*t.