Conservatives must offer something better.
Budapest – I was on a flight to Europe Sunday night while the Seahawks defeated the Patriots in what was apparently a dull Super Bowl. Upon arrival, I checked X and saw that the halftime show, performed in Spanish by a Puerto Rican rapper named “Bad Bunny,” attracted more attention than the game itself, sparking significant outrage on the right.
This reaction was hardly unexpected. Earlier in September, Bad Bunny’s selection for the halftime show had already upset many conservatives due to his habit of wearing dresses and criticizing America’s immigration enforcement. Reacting swiftly, the conservative group Turning Point USA organized alternative halftime programming featuring country-rock-rap artist Kid Rock.
Which path for Western culture? A Latino performer dancing amid sugar cane fields, liquor booths, and bodegas welcoming food stamps—that’s the Bad Bunny choice. Or a washed-up provocateur sporting a baseball cap, mixing gritty ’90s post-grunge vocals with awkward spoken word—that would be Kid Rock.
The strengths of the former? High production values and cultural clout. Although the right now controls the White House, the left maintains dominance over culture, its ideology influencing many, and excels in culture (no matter how debased) and dogma (no matter how foolish). As Bad Bunny moved around the stage, a Jumbotron flashed the phrase, “The only thing more powerful than hate is love.” Who could argue with that? Most Western men will swallow the blue pill of Bad Bunny, largely because the vast majority of Western women will.
Yet, there was a subtle issue with Bad Bunny’s spectacle: it was less a musical act than a tribute to, and enactment of, America’s cultural disappearance. Near the show’s end, he shouted “God bless America” and enumerated all the nations he considers part of America, including every Latin American country. (Mr. Bunny tends to yell and mumble more than sing, which is fortunate since his crooning oddly resembles the grunts of the Velociraptor in the kitchen scene of Jurassic Park.)
From a conservative viewpoint—or at least mine as a conservative commentator—the sensible choice is Kid Rock over Bad Bunny. But that decision comes with no illusions: supporting Kid Rock means joining the losing side in America’s culture war, not just because the Hispanic demographic will grow in the coming years. Figures like Bad Bunny represent a form of idealism, and having studied enough Nietzsche, I detect the nihilism and ressentiment behind Kid Rock’s shallow rejection of the left. In contests between idealism and nihilism, the former always eventually prevails.
Judging by my X feed, many conservatives either embraced Bad Bunny or didn’t fully comprehend the uproar. They have yet to realize that “inclusion” is the wrong lens for interpreting the large-scale Hispanic migration at our southern border and the adverse cultural impact this influx is having on the nation. Notably, there were no non-Hispanic white performers included in this Sunday’s carefully choreographed dances. (Jay-Z, who has produced every Super Bowl halftime show since 2020, has never chosen a white headliner—apart from the racially ambiguous rapper Eminem, who appeared alongside four black artists in 2022.)
The proper way to frame Bad Bunny’s performance is as “Reconquista,” a decades-long cultural and linguistic reclaiming of America by Hispanics. This represents a form of revenge for their defeat in the Mexican–American War and the long-standing U.S. dominance of the Western Hemisphere. Hispanics are reclaiming the southwestern U.S., and they aim to take even more if possible. And objection to this is dismissed as hate, not love.
“Reconquista,” originally referred to the Christian reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula from Muslims in the 700s, a prolonged effort concluding in 1492—the same year Italian explorer Christopher Columbus, backed by Spanish monarchs, sailed west. His discovery became a target for conquest and exploitation by Europeans, who at that time still possessed fierce resolve. In North America, Europeans displaced indigenous peoples, unlike in Central and South America where they ruled over natives. From this, the seeds of a great republic were planted.
Today, Europe faces a similar reversal of territorial control due to mass migration from the Global South. In some respects, Europe’s situation is even more serious. Hispanic immigrants in the U.S. are mostly Christian and hardworking, often assimilating in conservative states. (Drawbacks include loud Mariachi music, wage suppression, and gradually turning red states blue.) In contrast, Europe’s most active newcomers concentrate in liberal cities and perpetrate heinous acts like beheadings, gang rapes of schoolgirls, and vehicular attacks at Christmas markets. It’s grim—and Europe lacks figures like Kid Rock, let alone a Donald Trump.
They do, however, have Viktor Orban, Hungary’s prime minister, and other nationalist leaders in the “postliberal” vein. Here in Hungary, where I am attending the annual Budapest Global Dialogue, I’ve heard from several, including the foreign minister. These figures highlight how Orban’s opposition to mass migration works, as Budapest remains a rare European capital where women can safely walk alone after dark.
Nonetheless, my experience at this two-day event didn’t inspire optimism. In the past, this well-curated and surprisingly elegant gathering served as a platform for challengers of the liberal global order. But what use are critics now? In the second year of Trump’s second term, everyone concedes the liberal world order has collapsed, and it’s time to create something new. Yet, the nationalist internationale seems as lackluster a replacement as Kid Rock was compared to Bad Bunny.
Some presenters at Budapest described today’s turmoil as an “interregnum,” implying a subsequent regnum, which feels presumptuous. I see little reason to believe a fresh “mode and order,” as Machiavelli termed it, is emerging. If a global system of competing petits nationalismes arises, it may bring great power conflicts, revived suppressed ethnic animosities, the fall of dollar dominance, and destabilized trade frameworks. In other words, our descendants might endure diminished security and greater poverty than we experienced under liberal supremacy.
A European political expert suggested Trump embodies a Machiavellian founder’s spirit, evident in his White House renovations and ambitions to build an Arc de Triomphe. He possesses a near-supernatural skill for exposing liberalism’s flaws and exploiting them politically. Yet Trump seems sui generis, raising the question of how much of liberalism’s demise stems from his unique, combative charisma versus structural causes. The White House might be larger and more ornate after his tenure, but will America truly regain greatness?
If post-liberalism falters or fails to materialize, one clear outcome could be a return to liberalism, though perhaps a more refined and potent version. Just as Bad Bunny cast aside overt wokeness in favor of subliminal anti-white, anti-American messaging, liberal technocrats have realized that blatant attacks on white majorities and common sense do not win politically. Eventually, liberals will find openings to renew their direct assault. Picture a future where Bad Bunny forever waves a Latin American flag in your face while wearing a dress.
Original article: theamericanconservative.com
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