Eric Weinstein is an intriguing guy.
The Managing Director of Thiel Capital in San Francisco is an inarguably brilliant intellect whose writings range from philosophy, to finance, to a unified theory of physics. He counts himself a member of the intellectual dark web, and while that label became the target of online mockery, Weinstein is objectively a genius without any need for qualification.
He is also a liberal.
Weinstein tweeted in November something that I believe comes eerily close to perfectly defining our current moment: “The great idealism of every age is usually the cover story for its thefts.”
Idealism as a philosophical school traces its roots back to Plato. His work was aspirational in nature and, to generalize for the sake of brevity, focused on unlocking the full potential in every man. Idealism is distinct from utopias, which can never exist on earth, in that idealism can effectuate real, transformative change. We likely would not have ended slavery, passed the Civil Rights Act, landed on the moon or defeated fascism without aspiring to a higher ideal. Such grand movements in society don’t take place without some sort of vision for the way things ought to be.
But idealism, as Weinstein so aptly put it, can also blind us to deeper, more pragmatic truths if the packaging, PR and marketing plans are designed to lie to you.
If you listen to the predominant messaging out of the Biden White House, it’s clear that the ideal he is lifting up is that of unity. In Biden’s inaugural address, he called for the end of domestic terrorism, white supremacy and political extremism. To the average American that sounds very appealing. But his ideal of “unity” requires the use of government and institutions to quarantine, silence and eliminate people who voted for Donald Trump, people he and his party falsely equate with being endowed with the aforementioned traits.
Joe Biden and his propagandists are now actively describing half the country as an insurgency movement, one that arguably should be punished through a new series of domestic terrorism laws that will require revisions and enhancements to the powerful Homeland Security Act.
I wonder if Joe Biden thinks that peace-loving conservatives like me, people like most of you, actually exist? We are people who do not believe in political violence. We believe in limited government. We believe in individual liberty and the notion of e pluribus unum, wherein individual freedom leads to a collective, united desire to protect that freedom.
If I had those ten minutes with Joe Biden, I would say this:
I am a political opponent of yours. I will likely oppose you publicly on almost everything. If you do something I agree with, I will give you credit. My opposition to your agenda will be direct, thoughtful, hopefully well-articulated and fair. I ask only for you to tell all Americans that people like me who supported Donald Trump do not need to be surveilled, isolated, or censored.
It is improbable that Joe Biden will have that conversation with me or any other personality or political leader who was publicly supportive of President Trump. Afterall, the Democrat Party has demonstrated in less than a month into the Biden Administration that it isn’t very interested in having conversations with grassroots conservatives; they would rather crush us quickly and permanently this time around to prevent another Tea Party-type uprising that threatens their political power. This is what the impeachment charade was really all about: banishing Trump and Trumpism into permanent political exile.
Unity is certainly a noble ideal. We should all hope and pray for unity to return to the American political and cultural landscape. But it cannot be achieved at the expense of our rights as Americans.
If we make an idol out of unity, and lift it up as the highest of ideals, we will be robbed blind of the truly American ideals of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness, the ideals that make America great in the first place.
Charlie Kirk is the founder and president of Turning Point USA, Chairman of Students for Trump, and host of the nationally syndicated radio show and podcast, The Charlie Kirk Show.