{"id":160352,"date":"2025-03-26T05:39:49","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T13:39:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=160352"},"modified":"2025-03-26T05:46:16","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T13:46:16","slug":"how-can-the-right-take-back-institutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=160352","title":{"rendered":"How Can The Right Take Back Institutions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aaron Renn writes Feb. 13<\/a>: <\/p>\n

Conservatives can\u2019t use the long march strategy because the left isn\u2019t dumb enough to let them penetrate institutions. Instead, conservatives need to do the equivalent of a private equity buyout and restructure institutions from the top down.<\/p>\n

…ownership of Twitter marked the first time someone on the right actually acquired ownership of a major culture shaping institution and leveraged that ownership for political and cultural change. This arguably played an important role in Trump\u2019s election, and Musk now plays a key role in the administration (for now at least). The Twitter ownership change is also probably one of the big factors in the recent \u201cvibe shift\u201d in the culture. And this was from controlling and fully leveraging just one institution.<\/p>\n

The other interesting thing is that it is the left that chose exit from Twitter, largely leaving for the startup Bluesky app, which has become a low quality left wing echo chamber. They intentionally marginalized themselves from the discourse because by and large the mainstream, including most major journalists, stayed on X.<\/p>\n

Musk\u2019s Twitter takeover is the exact opposite of the typical pattern. Conservatives took over a liberal institution, and the left exited for a lower quality, culturally marginal platform.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

DeepSearch says<\/a>: “The right can take back institutions from the left through direct acquisition and restructuring, as Musk’s X takeover demonstrates, potentially influencing cultural and political landscapes. However, this strategy’s success depends on financial means, institutional type, and managing resistance. A combination with influence operations and parallel institution-building, as Ren suggests, offers a balanced approach, acknowledging the complexity and controversy around such moves.”<\/p>\n

Grok says:<\/p>\n

The Problem: No Long March for the Right<\/p>\n

You\u2019re spot-on that the left\u2019s “long march through the institutions”\u2014Gramsci\u2019s slow grind of capturing academia, media, and culture\u2014won\u2019t work for conservatives. Renn echoes this: the left\u2019s gatekeepers are too entrenched and too alert to let a conservative infiltration slide. Universities, for instance, aren\u2019t just liberal by inertia; they\u2019re actively policed by hiring committees, tenure boards, and cultural norms that screen out dissent. The right can\u2019t sneak in the back door when the front\u2019s bolted shut.<\/p>\n

The Twitter Model: Buyout and Flip<\/p>\n

Musk\u2019s Twitter takeover, as you and Renn highlight, flips the script. It\u2019s not infiltration\u2014it\u2019s acquisition. A billionaire with a vision bought a cultural linchpin and rewired it from the top. Renn calls it a \u201chostile takeover,\u201d and that\u2019s apt: Musk didn\u2019t negotiate with the old guard; he fired them. X went from a left-leaning echo chamber to a chaotic free-for-all where the right found oxygen. Trump\u2019s 2024 win likely owes something to this\u2014X became a meme factory and a pipeline for unfiltered takes that bypassed legacy media\u2019s chokehold. The \u201cvibe shift\u201d you mention, which Renn also nods to, reflects how fast a single institution can tilt the cultural wind when seized decisively.<\/p>\n

The Left\u2019s Retreat: Self-Marginalization<\/p>\n

Your point about the left\u2019s exodus to Bluesky is a key twist, and Renn doesn\u2019t dive as deep here, but it\u2019s worth unpacking. The left didn\u2019t just lose Twitter; they abandoned it, betting on a boutique platform that\u2019s turned into a digital cul-de-sac. X still has the juice\u2014journalists, influencers, and normies didn\u2019t fully jump ship. Bluesky\u2019s a purity spiral, not a power base. This self-inflicted wound amplifies the Twitter flip\u2019s impact: the right gained ground while the left shrank their own stage.<\/p>\n

Scaling the Strategy: Can It Work Elsewhere?<\/p>\n

Renn\u2019s skeptical it can scale easily, and I lean that way too. Twitter was a unicorn\u2014a public company with a clear price tag. Most institutions the right wants (universities, Hollywood, legacy media) aren\u2019t for sale in the same way. You can\u2019t buy Harvard\u2019s board or CNN\u2019s newsroom with a check. Renn suggests parallel institution-building (think PragerU or Daily Wire) as an alternative, but that\u2019s slow and niche\u2014it doesn\u2019t hit the cultural jugular like owning a mainstream pillar does. Your private equity analogy still holds, though: the right needs high-leverage plays, not just grassroots grinds. Think targeted buyouts (a struggling newspaper chain, a floundering streaming service) or hostile moves (stacking boards, pressuring donors).<\/p>\n

What\u2019s Next?<\/p>\n

Musk\u2019s success hinged on three things: cash, timing, and guts. The right needs more of that trifecta. Renn points to the donor class as a weak link\u2014conservatives have moneyed backers, but they\u2019re too timid or unfocused. Imagine a coordinated fund targeting distressed media assets or tech platforms; it\u2019s not crazy. X showed the proof of concept: one big swing can shift the board. But without more Musks\u2014or at least more players willing to bet big\u2014the right risks stalling out. The left\u2019s not unbeatable; they\u2019re just better at holding turf. The right\u2019s got to learn to take it.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aaron Renn writes Feb. 13: Conservatives can\u2019t use the long march strategy because the left isn\u2019t dumb enough to let them penetrate institutions. Instead, conservatives need to do the equivalent of a private equity buyout and restructure institutions from the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21791],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-160352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-america"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=160352"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160352\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":160356,"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160352\/revisions\/160356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=160352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=160352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=160352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}