The Wounded American Right
Diego Martín Velázquez Caballero
The assassination of Charlie Kirk, a singular and prominent figure of Trumpism, highlights the deep polarization that corrodes American society.
This tragic event falls within a context of social anomie, where responsibility apparently falls on the behavior of populist progressivism.
In the wake of this event, the debate between conservatism and progressivism intensifies.
The MAGA movement presents itself as the victim of an attack, arguing that it embodies order, stability, and Christian nationalism, a perception that seems to gain legitimacy.
Progressivism, for its part, is perceived as a movement approaching a "culture of death," where iconoclasm becomes a central value and destruction is an end in itself.
Under this lens, any society that adopts it would be on the verge of cultural suicide.
The problem with progressivism, seen from this perspective, lies in its linear view of history and progress.
The upcoming Trumpist conventions will be revived by this event, boosting right-wing activism both in the United States and throughout the Western world.
Kirk's death has resonated even in Latin America, where, despite the racism inherent in the MAGA movement, this event has been viewed in a strange way, almost as a kind of martyrdom.
In this context, progressivism faces the challenge of articulating effective public policies that counter the exacerbated voluntarism of libertarianism and postmodernism.
In a geopolitical world where the West seems to be waging a battle against itself, while non-Western civilizations thrive on conservative values, it is almost inevitable that right-wing positions will gain ground, especially in countries like the United States.
President Trump has found in Kirk's death a perfect pretext to reinforce his isolationist and exceptionalist policies.
It will continue to pursue the MAGA agenda without compromising its nationalist and Christian beliefs, as figures like Charlie Kirk have become martyrs to its ideology.
This tragic event represents a direct threat to progressive populist movements, which seem to be losing their direction and the ability to offer functional solutions to society.
Disillusioned, people will rally, as if in a chain reaction, to politicians who promise order, stability, employment, economic growth, and security.
Perhaps the time has come to contain modernity and, as Samuel Huntington once suggested in Who Are We?, regenerate Western culture.
In this context, progressive populist movements lose their bearings and become a pretext for aggressive geopolitics by conservative nations.
For Mexico and leftist governments in Latin America, Kirk's death heralds a hardening of Trumpism on crucial issues such as migration, drug trafficking, and governance.
Ultimately, this murder highlights the supposed essence of cultural post-Marxism in universities and its advancement at any cost, an argument that will undoubtedly be exploited by his political adversaries.
