Why the woke right is winning Gen Z: A look inside the machine

By Mikale Olson, Op-ed contributor Monday, December 15, 2025

Older generations need to understand something uncomfortable: America’s youngest adults are not only trending in a new political direction — they’re doing so for reasons that most people over 30 haven’t even begun to diagnose. And if we don’t figure out why this is happening, we will not be able to offer any solution. The next generation will pay the price.

This article isn’t a justification for Gen Z’s political trajectory, nor is it an endorsement. Think of it as reconnaissance. This is a trip into the mindset of a generation that feels betrayed — and into the ideologues who have successfully captured that frustration and weaponized it. The enemy isn’t Gen Z. The enemy is the movement that has taken advantage of them.

This isn’t an exhaustive list of every factor, but these are the major ones driving the rise of the so-called “woke right.”

First, where is Gen Z actually going?

On the surface, Gen Z looks like it’s drifting “right.” Polling suggests they’re more skeptical of progressive nonsense than Millennials were at their age (particularly young men). Online, they share Bible verses, post Crusader memes, and roast Left-wing ideas with the confidence of people twice their age.

But don’t confuse right-wing aesthetic with conservatism.

And don’t confuse Christian branding with Christian belief.

For many, “Christian” and “right-wing” have become the new version of counterculture rebellion — the same way sex, drugs, and rock & roll defined the 1960s. This is Christianity as attitude, not faith. A thin veneer of religiosity, not repentance. A “screw you” to the system, not submission to Christ.

That’s why you see far more enthusiasm for medieval Crusader imagery, “Bronze Age” masculinity, and authoritarian strongmen like Franco — and even, disturbingly, Hitler — than for evangelism, missions, family, marriage, or serving the lost. Christianity is a tool. Conservatism is a costume.

And now many are abandoning even the word “conservative,” opting for labels like “post-liberal,” “monarchist,” or outright “fascist.”

So no, Gen Z isn’t becoming more conservative. They’re becoming more reactionary, more aesthetic-driven, and more radical.

The question is: Why?

Why Gen Z is heading this direction. Deep political failure and economic pain

Gen Z believes — accurately — that the political class has failed them.

They’ve grown up in an era marked by:

• Skyrocketing inflation.
• Crushing national debt
• Wages that can’t compete with housing prices.
• Student loans that feel like lifetime shackles.
• Corruption and insider enrichment in both parties.
• Broken schools and ideological indoctrination.
• Pharmaceutical scandals.
• Gas, food, and healthcare costs that rise faster than paychecks.

And while all this unfolds, what do they see?

Congress happily voting to send billions overseas while Americans can’t buy a starter home.

They see veterans homeless on the streets while millions of illegal migrants are welcomed into cities with little demand to assimilate, and with an undeniable share committing violent crimes.

They see crime increasing, prosecutors refusing to prosecute, and cities decaying.

Their frustrations aren’t imagined. They’re lived realities.

And Republicans — especially the “old guard” — have offered little more than sternly worded letters and fundraising emails.

Gen Z feels abandoned. Resentment fills the vacuum.

2. Censorship and information control

Every major platform — Meta, YouTube, Twitter (before Musk), TikTok — has censored legitimate information.

COVID policies. Transgender ideology. BLM. Election debates. Border statistics. The message to Gen Z was loud and clear: You will not be allowed to speak the truth.

Isaiah’s ancient warning suddenly felt prophetic: “Truth has stumbled in the public square.”

When truth gets outlawed, radicals flourish. Because radicals promise what institutions no longer provide: unfiltered speech and an outlet for anger.

3. A Generation that feels unheard and unprotected

Gen Z, especially young men, feel like their future has been stolen. Women are trending further left than ever and are being ushered into institutions. Young men, meanwhile, are being pushed out — academically, economically, and culturally. Even dating is becoming an impossible burden for young men in the wake of this newfound normal. Everything they see older generations enjoying en masse seems unattainable. 

The result? A desire not for reform, but for revolution.

And into this chaos walk the agitators: Nick Fuentes, Tucker Carlson, Mamdani (a leftwing mirror image of what Fuentes represents on the right), and others who offer a simple scapegoat for complicated problems.

They tell young men:

“It’s the Jews.”

“Everything is a lie.” 

“We need a New Founding.”

And the hurting, angry young men — desperate for someone to blame — listen.

Nuance (truth in the details) is dead in the streets.

Truthfulness is irrelevant.

Someone has finally given them a target.

But here’s the reality:

Blaming a racial group is the same strategy used by the radical left — the very strategy that boxed young white men out of American institutions under critical race theory.

Replicating the same racial grievance politics isn’t a solution. It’s a mirror image of the disease.

The hard truth: Reality requires more of you

Gen Z is being sold a victim narrative because grievance is always easier than responsibility.

Grievance lets you rage.

Reality forces you to grow.

Grievance says:

“It’s all someone else’s fault.”

Reality says:

“Clean up your room first.” (As Jordan Peterson put it.)

The solution isn’t in racial blame or authoritarian fantasies.

The solution is in maturity, discipline, truth, and long-term thinking — not instant emotional gratification packaged as ideology.

And yes, that’s a hard sell. But it’s a worthwhile, fulfilling, and the only path out of this mess. 

Grievance is easy.

Reality is hard.

But reality is the only thing that actually fixes the world.