Andrew Breitbart famously said that “politics is downstream from culture.” In a democracy, if politics are going to change, people’s values must change first. Recently, there are signs that, in the areas of transgenderism, anti-natalism (that is, the push to stop having babies), and climate change madness, there is a cultural shift taking place that favors conservative values.

A recent Pew poll shows that American tolerance for people claiming that they are members of the opposite sex or some made-up sex is diminishing fast. Thus, in 2022 and 2023, Americans were all in on pretending that “transgenderism” was normal, so that self-proclaimed “trans” people should be treated as the imaginary sex they claimed to be. However, the Pew poll reveals that a strong majority of Americans is now hostile to athletes competing in the wrong sexual category and to “transitioning” children.

Image created using AI.

That’s all to the good. But if you really want to learn that the leftist love affair with so-called “transgenderism” has peaked, just take a look at the sketch that ran last weekend on Saturday Night Live. It’s not funny, it’s not well-written, and it’s not well-acted. It hides behind a fiction that the problem in sororities is sneaky frat boys, not sexually perverse men claiming to be women. None of that matters. What matters is that it’s a full frontal (yeah, I meant to say that) attack on men in women’s spaces:

If that doesn’t mark a sea change in the culture, I don’t know what does.

The second sea change comes from an interview with the actor Timothée Chalamet, who is a big deal among younger actors. I’m too old to get the appeal, but he’s got great box office numbers and the critics like him. Leftists like him, too, because he’s willing to radiate androgyny and dress like a girl to maintain his fame. (See, e.g., here and here.)

Given all that, it’s no wonder that Chalamet got tagged as a Vogue cover model, including scoring a full interview. However, during that interview, this guy, who is at the top of his career, said something deeply conservative:

No spoilers, but the specter of fatherhood hangs over Marty Supreme too. It’s something Chalamet would like to experience. He remembers sitting with a friend, watching an interview with someone whose name he is “definitely” not going to share. The person in question was “bragging about not having kids and how much time it afforded them to do other stuff,” he says. Chalamet and his friend turned to each other: “Like, holy s***. Oh my God. Bleak.” He knows some people can’t have children or are never in a position to. But he does believe procreation is the reason we’re here.

Yes, children: “That could be on the radar,” he says.

It’s clear that Chalamet wasn’t insulting those who have legitimate reasons for not having children. He was pointing out, however, that if lifestyle narcissism is the reason for not having children, that’s a breakdown of humanity.

If parties, bigger TVs, and promotions at a soulless corporation (or, in the case of some people I knew, a dedication to marijuana) are why you’ve chosen to cut yourself off from children, you are consigning yourself to a diminished life. This is the opposite of the anti-natalism the left has pushed since the 1960s, with increasing energy and effect in the last decade or so.

The usual people squawked, of course, but the important point is that Chalamet felt that he wouldn’t be destroyed for saying this. And aside from the leftist, feminist squawkers, there are young, female fans who are listening. Talk about a culture shift.

Finally, Bill Gates has abandoned efforts to ”prevent” climate change. Perhaps someone whispered in his ear that, while humans can control the local environment, the climate has changed on its own for billions of years, and that the sun, not humans, seems to be in charge.

But I think what’s equally likely is that Bill Gates is a trend spotter and, in that way, a follower. What he saw were opportunities that he could piggyback on. He’d buy other people’s programs and graft them onto his basic product—and he often did so in ways that were quite brutal. Both he and his ex-wife, Melinda, when talking about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, make it clear that Epstein was the alpha and Gates the beta in the relationship.

So, when Bill Gates announces that he’s done with climate change, it means that this natural-born follower who has a knack for spotting trends and jumping out in front of other people’s parades has figured out that the climate change movement has peaked, and it’s time for him to move on.

Of course, now is not the time for conservatives to sit back on their laurels. Now is the time to fight harder than ever with our ideas, our pocketbooks, and our votes. After all, as we’ve seen, Democrats are not taking their losses peacefully, and we certainly cannot do what we always do, which is to relax and hand them back our victories. Moreover, as many have warned, unless Trump truly tames the economy, Republicans will lose next November.

So, take a page from Trump, and continue to “fight, fight, fight” to win the culture, the economy, and the ballot box.