Let's confront a provocative thesis head-on. David Azerrad's December 2025 essay in American Greatness, "Feminism, Anti-Racism, and the Unraveling of Western Civilization," doesn't mince words: the West's decline isn't from external threats like economic rivals or geopolitical foes, but from internal ideologies that erode its foundational strengths. Chief among these are feminism and anti-racism — pillars of the "woke" agenda — that, in their radical forms, foster division, weakness, and a rejection of meritocracy. Far from empowering the marginalised, these forces, Azerrad argues, accelerate societal unravelling by undermining family, community, and national cohesion. In this blog piece, I'll explore the logic, evidence, and implications, drawing on the article while broadening the view to the West's broader crisis. Is "wokeism" the solvent dissolving our civilization? Yes it is; the signs are ominous.
The Woke Doctrine: Equality as a Weapon Against Excellence
At its core, woke ideology — encompassing radical feminism, anti-racism, and intersectionality — posits that Western society is inherently oppressive, structured around hierarchies of power that privilege white men. The solution? Dismantle those structures through affirmative action, cultural re-education, and relentless critique. But as Azerrad points out, this isn't benign progress; it's a revolutionary fervour that inverts traditional values. Feminism, for instance, isn't just about equal rights (a goal long achieved in the West); it's evolved into a crusade against "patriarchy," portraying men as perpetual oppressors and women as eternal victims. This manifests in policies that prioritise gender quotas over competence, from corporate boards to military ranks, diluting standards and breeding resentment.
Anti-racism follows suit, redefining racism not as individual prejudice but as systemic "whiteness" — a cultural toxin embedded in everything from maths curricula to classical music. Ibram X. Kendi's dictum that "the only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination" becomes policy, leading to DEI initiatives that sideline merit in hiring, education, and promotions. The result? A zero-sum game where advancing one group requires demoting another, fracturing social trust. Azerrad highlights how this erodes the West's secret sauce: a commitment to individual achievement, innovation, and rational inquiry, born from Enlightenment ideals. When excellence is labelled "colonial" or "masculine," societies stagnate, as seen in declining productivity and innovation rates across Europe and North America.
Family and Fertility: The Demographic Death Spiral
One of the most insidious unravellings comes at the hearth. Radical feminism, Azerrad contends, has weaponised women's liberation against the family unit — the bedrock of stable societies. By promoting careerism over motherhood, hookup culture over commitment, and abortion as empowerment, it contributes to plummeting birth rates. Western nations like Italy (1.24 children per woman), Spain (1.23), and the U.S. (1.66) are far below replacement levels, leading to aging populations reliant on mass immigration. But here's the twist: anti-racism demands open borders as atonement for historical sins, importing cultures often at odds with Western values — further straining social fabrics through the Great White Replacement.
This creates a vicious cycle: native populations shrink, economies falter, and governments import labour, accelerating cultural fragmentation. In the UK, for example, non-native births now outpace native ones in major cities, fuelling tensions that woke narratives dismiss as "xenophobia." The West unravels not through conquest but demographic dilution, where family dissolution meets unchecked migration. Azerrad warns this isn't sustainable — civilizations that fail to reproduce or assimilate perish, as Rome did amid barbarian influxes.
Institutional Capture: From Universities to Corporations
Woke forces don't just influence policy; they've captured institutions, turning them into echo chambers of grievance. Universities, once bastions of free inquiry, now enforce speech codes and "safe spaces" that stifle debate. Azerrad cites the purge of dissenting professors — often white males accused of insensitivity — replaced by DEI hires. This intellectual monoculture produces graduates more versed in microaggressions than critical thinking, ill-equipped for real-world challenges.
Corporations follow, with ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) mandates embedding woke priorities into profit models. Bud Light's 2023 Dylan Mulvaney fiasco or Disney's string of "woke" flops show how alienating core audiences leads to financial hits. Yet the unravelling goes deeper: by prioritising identity over innovation, companies (plagued by DEI-linked safety scandals) compromise quality. Across the West, this institutional rot manifests in declining trust — polls show majorities in the U.S., UK, and EU view elites as out-of-touch, fuelling populist backlashes like Brexit or Trumpism. Wokeism, intended to unify through justice, instead polarises, weakening resilience against external threats like China's rise or AI disruptions.
The Broader Unraveling: A Civilization in Freefall
Zoom out, and the pattern clarifies: woke forces accelerate entropy by rejecting Western exceptionalism. Feminism and anti-racism frame the West's achievements — democracy, science, human rights — as tainted by oppression, justifying their deconstruction. This self-loathing invites external exploitation; adversaries like Russia or Iran mock our "decadence" while advancing unapologetically. Azerrad's essay echoes Oswald Spengler's Decline of the West, where civilisations fall when they lose vital energy — replaced here by guilt and division.
Evidence abounds: rising crime in "defund the police" cities, educational declines (U.S. and Aussie maths scores at historic lows), and social isolation (young men retreating into digital worlds amid "toxic masculinity" shaming). The West unravels thread by thread: cultural confidence erodes, economies strain under entitlement burdens, and borders blur into irrelevance. If unchecked, Azerrad implies, we risk a dark age where woke purity spirals into authoritarianism — censoring "hate speech" today, mandating re-education tomorrow.
Reweaving the Fabric: Is Reversal Possible?
Truth-seeking demands balance: feminism and anti-racism unravel by design, prioritizing utopia over reality. Solutions? Reassert meritocracy, protect free speech, and revive civic pride without apology. As Azerrad concludes, the West must rediscover its virtues — or fade to dark.
https://amgreatness.com/2025/12/24/feminism-anti-racism-and-the-unraveling-of-western-civilization/