Book bans. Abortion rollbacks. Attacks on DEI, trans rights, and public education. From state legislatures to the Supreme Court, conservative lawmakers have launched a wave of policies that many Americans—predominantly Black, brown, queer, and marginalized communities—are feeling in real time. But if you ask the architects of these moves, the discomfort is part of the plan. For them, short-term suffering is a necessary sacrifice for a future that aligns with their vision of a “better” America.

Framed as a return to “order” or “traditional values,” these dystopic measures are being sold to the public as discipline today for a utopia tomorrow, ala George Orwell’s classic book “1984.” 

But behind the coded language of patriotism and morality lies a much more calculated goal: long-term political power. At this stage of my life, I’m more inclined than ever to investigate how political stunts and shows affect my life and the lives around me. But it’s getting harder and harder to avoid the gaslighting. 

At this point, wordplay is a core element of American politics, probably even more than the actual actions. From political slogans ending in victorious campaigns to sparkly speeches that win over voters, semantics are king in this game. So, when I find conservatives accusing the left of employing Orwellian ideologies to push their version of Utopia, that language burns my ears. 

As political opinion writer James Kelly points out in a 2024 essay, conservatives love to take a phrase, rebrand it as their own, and wrap it in hypocritical lunacy.

“Conservatives embrace linguistic absurdity,” Kelly writes. “They do not mean what they say. They do not say what they mean.” 

The most recent example is the Trump officials’ handling of SignalGate. The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief was inadvertently added to a group chat hosted on the Signal app, where sensitive details about war strategies were discussed. Instead of saying anything about the grave failure in leadership they displayed, conservatives painted the sloppy move as a “mistake.” Instead of acknowledging the glaring security breach, officials, in front of a Senate committee, tried to reframe the chat's data as non-sensitive. Sigh. 

For the first time in my 35 years, I am genuinely terrified for my country. Not because of the ugly truths being told, but because of the pretty, confounding, idiotic lies the conservatives keep spouting and expecting the masses to think it is for the good of America’s future. They claim the future will be paradise if we just stick it out. 

But my question is, why are conservatives leaning into chaos and cultural regression as a strategy and banking on the belief that their base is willing to endure hardship now, so long as it leads to dominance later? Even larger questions keeping me at night (my phone’s screen time is awful!): At what cost, and to whom? Let’s hope those answers aren’t as dystopic as I think they are.