How the CIA invented the woke narrative

Commies everywhere

 

From heated debates over critical race theory and gender ideology to the perpetual skirmishes on university campuses and social media, it appears as a fundamental schism between a “woke” progressive left and a traditionalist conservative right. The standard narrative, particularly on the populist right, often frames this as a long-term victory for a form of “Cultural Marxism”—a deliberate, subversive plot to undermine Western civilization by attacking its core values and traditions.

But this narrative, while compelling, misunderstands the true origins of this ideological conflict. The roots of the modern “woke” left are not found in the halls of the Kremlin, but in the boardrooms of Washington, D.C., and the covert operations of the CIA.

The bitter polarization we see today is not the culmination of a Marxist conspiracy, but the unintended consequence of a different, largely forgotten war: America’s Cold War campaign to save the West from communism.