I like to browse The Telegraph, which is the most conservative of Britain’s three major papers. (The Guardian is Marxist, The Times is slightly left of center, and The Telegraph is slightly right of center.) Yesterday, The Telegraph published an article with an intriguing title and subtitle: “Maga is tearing America’s offices apart: Trump’s return to the White House has turned petty office politics into open warfare.”

I was struck by the blame in that title but, reading the article, what I learned is the real story: conservatives no longer feel the need to keep silent, and the left doesn’t like it. When the worm finally turns, those who have benefitted from being the only ones to shout their politics—usually non-stop—really don’t like the change. Moreover, we’re seeing this new, open conservativism, not just in offices, but across the Western world.

For years, conservatives have kept their views to themselves in their neighborhoods and workplaces. In Marin County, California, where I once lived, cars with Trump (or McCain or Romney) bumper stickers were often keyed. More than that, if you espoused conservative politics, you could expect to be ostracized, with the fallout affecting your kids, too.

Image made using Fotor AI.

The same held true at work. I was an independent contractor, and, when clients called Trump a Nazi or argued for gay marriage, I held my tongue. Contradicting them wouldn’t mean a healthy political debate and mutual respect. It would mean a lost client and the money that came with it. 

My experience was a microcosm of the politics of personal destruction that befell people who openly supported conservative ideas or politicians since 2008. The left doesn’t seek to persuade you. Instead, it will swat you, destroy your business, try to imprison you (no specific hyperlink; just look at the war on Trump and anyone close to him), and even try to kill you (again, Trump). Even Amy Comey Barrett’s low-key, apolitical sister is not immune (leaving us to wonder whether Justice Barrett will stand strong in the face of threats or cave).

Most people aren’t willing to risk everything to speak out, because they figure that the only thing that matters is their voice at the polls—except that 2020 made them deeply suspicious that even their voice at the polls might have been silenced. Still, in the police state of Biden, silence, especially for those with dependents, was the best option.

Trump, however, wouldn’t stay silent. No matter what they did to him, up to and including trying to kill him, he would not stay silent. Instead, he said, “Fight, fight, fight!” He told the American people that he would fight to keep millions of illegal aliens, including many deeply hostile to America or greedy for benefits, from flooding the border; get men out of women’s locker rooms, off of sports teams, and away from children; keep taxes low; reinvigorate America’s energy independence; fight China’s trade depredations; and so much more.

Then, two things happen: First, Trump won a stunning Electoral College victory and a strong popular vote victory. Suddenly, Trump supporters knew they were not alone (and, indeed, many suspect that, were our voting systems clean and fair, Trump’s victory would have been even more resounding). Second, Trump kept his promises. “Fight, fight, fight.”

Courage begets courage. Inspired, the same people who meekly hid their values will do so no more. The worm has turned. And the leftists hate it. Which gets me to that essay in The Telegraph, which essentially shows that workplace discord is happening because Trump supporters are finally speaking up:

According to a poll of 1,000 US workers by software company Resume-Now, 91pc have witnessed or experienced political clashes in the workplace – and 81pc of respondents said that workplace tensions have risen since Donald Trump was elected.

Half of those polled said they now avoid collaborating with colleagues who hold opposing views.

[snip]

Teachers have taken to social media to discuss tension in the staff room, saying that they are avoiding Trump-supporting colleagues or feeling shocked that some – such as the “very nice art teacher” who plays guitar – pulled out a “teachers for Trump” T-shirt.

It’s not just in the workplace or even in America. In Greenland’s latest elections, conservatives surged, as they did in Germany’s elections last month. (Note regarding this last linked article that the media always describes people who want strong borders, assimilation not conquest, biological reality, etc. as “far right.” This maintains the fiction that small government conservativism is Naziism. The Nazis, of course, were big government socialists.)

Predictably, huge numbers of leftists are responding as a cornered animal would. In America, leftists are invading buildings, and swatting and doxxing conservatives. The more extreme (usually in education) take to social media to threaten Trump or demand overthrowing the government (both illegal acts). In Romania, the leftist government invalidated an election in which a conservative won. In Brazil, the leftist government, led by the courts, has shut conservatives entirely out of the political process, while targeting them for prison.

Courageous conservativism may be ascendant worldwide, but the left, though down, is not out. It will not try to persuade people to its values (it can’t, because its viewpoint cannot survive reality), so all that’s left is terrorism, whether soft (bullying, ostracism) or hard (firebombs, arrests, swatting). Conservatives must stay strong because this is the last chance to stop the jackboot from slamming down on the West forever.

As for me, I’m taking precautions, not the least of which is letting the local police know that I may be the victim of swatting.