Ourobouros A-woke-ning
A libertarian journalist makes sense of angry millennial anxiety
Millennial activists are anxious and angry again.
This time, J.K. Rowling is in trouble for not being “woke” enough. Although the Harry Potter author seems like an ally to all kinds of progressive causes, including LGBTQ rights, she is apparently among the ranks of a growing number of so-called #TERFS — or, trans-exclusionary radical feminists. TERFs often believe that women’s rights include the right to privacy in a women’s locker room or the right to compete with only other biological females in professional sports — to the exclusion of transgender individuals.
Apparently this makes Rowling the enemy of those “intersectional” feminists, who believe that the more victim categories one can claim to belong to, the more rights they can claim over and against their alleged oppressors.
Indeed, the hierarchy of victimhood is one of the more perplexing phenomena of modern life. Reading the news only leaves me more perplexed.
When I want to understand what’s really happening, I always turn to my favorite magazine — Reason.
Robby Soave, an associate editor at Reason, recently aged out of the “30 Under 30 cohort” in which he was ranked by Forbes in 2016. Since then, his journalism has only attracted an even larger and more enthusiastic fanbase — one that includes Fox News host Tucker Carlson and a growing number of online readers seeking nuance in the limited menu of options.
Robby Soave has done us a service in his new bestseller, *Panic Attack: Young Radicals in the Age of Trump.* He likens the trend of Social Justice Warriors cannibalizing their own allies to the mythical “Ourobouros” serpent creature, who self-destructs by eating his own tail.
As I’ve learned from my on-air personal tutors Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff, this phenomenon of mob justice, dis-invitation campaigns and “cancel culture” with regard to controversial speakers is particularly bad on college campuses, and has gotten worse with the rise of “Generation Z” — which has taken the leftist antics of its millennial forebears a step further. That was the subject of my most recent book, The Bubble: How Higher Education Became America’s Most Over-Rated Product, and it’s one of the main themes in Panic Attack.
We last heard from Robby when the Covington Catholic story had just broken. While fools rushed in (where angels dared to tread), Robby took the time to watch the entire 2+ hours of video that ended up vindicating the students and indicting the media. His tweets and articles went viral, forcing several major personalities who had gotten the story wrong to retract their premature judgments on the students.
Get Bob’s latest book: *The Bubble: How Higher Education Became America’s Most Over-Rated Product*
In such times, it is every American’s patriotic duty to question the predominant narratives being pushed by those in power — whether that’s high office or the media. The press is often the least trustworthy source for breaking news, and its analysis fares even worse.
Soave’s reporting on everything from hate crimes and sexual assault hoaxes (see the Rolling Stone debacle) to the #MeToo movement has earned him a reputation as a savvy thinker who stays ahead of the curve. He has taken the rare but common-sense approach that we should believe some victims — namely those who can prove the crime perpetrated against them with a preponderance of evidence.
His new book profiles the rise of millennial activism since the 2016 election — primarily the “social justice warriors” that have trampled on free speech and due process on college campuses, and the street mobs that have increasingly used violence to silence peaceful dissent and journalism.
Mainstream media hates journalists like Soave when they challenge their preferred narrative.
Tucker Carlson says that “the Bill of Rights has no greater defender than Robby Soave.” If you’re confused about what’s happening in millennial America, you must read Robby’s book.
Let me phrase that differently for the “Zillennials”:
Listen in Sunday for the still, small voice of liberty, and call in to speak with Robby at any time (8–9am PACIFIC):
