If Wokeism Dies, What Cause Will the Left Embrace Next?

In his recent speech at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Argentine President Javier Milei delivered an urgent plea against the postmodern Left. He did so not in his usual punk rock tone but with calm aplomb: “Woke ideology is the cancer that must be removed.” And he celebrated Donald Trump’s determination to be America’s surgeon. Many attendees lowered their heads because they have been the promoters of these ideas for years. Milei had gone to the woke temple to humiliate them. What does it all mean for the future of the Left?

Already, in the last year, big corporations have been among the most significant entities to have disavowed wokeism and DEI. The thousand genders, the new masculinity, and the medical establishment’s readiness to mainstream the amputation of functioning body parts are in the throes of a popularity crisis, whereas the popularity of Trump and Milei and the new European Right has grown thanks to a discourse that, more than anti-woke, is just plainly commonsense. The Left has to choose: Embrace wokeism to the last, or maneuver toward a new cause and ideological framework. To guess the Left’s next move, it is worth taking a look back.