Introduction

Why some people see fairness as a threat, why “woke” became the ultimate insult, and why democracy itself is at risk in the new battle over legitimacy.

"[...] our country will be woke no longer.

[..] our message to every child in America is that you are perfect exactly the way God made you.

Because we are getting wokeness out of our schools and out of our military and it’s already out. And it’s out of our society. We don’t want it. Wokeness is trouble. Wokeness is bad. It’s gone. It’s gone.

And we feel so much better for it, don’t we? Don’t we feel better?"

The words were met with applause. The press barely pushed back. Few Democratic voices dared oppose it publically. But buried within Trump’s speech to Congress was the most important and polarizing issue of our time - a battle over legitimacy itself.

The word “woke” has been turned into an insult so toxic that even its defenders hesitate to say it. But strip away the branding, and this is not about curriculum disputes or military policy - it is about who has the right to be seen, to be protected, to be acknowledged as fully legitimate members of society. It is about who is allowed to hold power - and who must be erased.

Power is never neutral. Every government, institution, and social order must justify itself - must prove that it has the right to rule, to make laws, to define morality, to decide who belongs and who does not. This is the foundation of legitimacy. It is the difference between authority that is respected and authority that is merely feared.

But legitimacy is not a fixed or universal concept. Throughout history, societies have justified power in different ways. Some have ruled through divine right, claiming legitimacy from gods or kings. Others have asserted legitimacy through force, believing that strength alone is proof of authority. Democracies, at least in theory, have built their legitimacy on consent and fairness - the idea that governments and institutions must serve the people rather than the other way around.

Today, the United States is experiencing a full-scale legitimacy crisis. This crisis is not just about politics, elections, or individual leaders. It is a battle over two competing visions of legitimacy itself - one that justifies power through hierarchy and dominance, and one that justifies it through fairness and accountability. This is the legitimacy war.

The Two Legitimacy Systems: Hierarchy vs. Fairness

At its core, every legitimacy struggle comes down to two competing frameworks:

Hierarchy-Based Legitimacy: Power belongs to those who have tradition, religion, status, or force on their side. Hierarchy is seen as natural or god-ordained. Fairness is a threat to that order.
Fairness-Based Legitimacy: Power is only legitimate when it is earned through accountability, consent, and justice. Hierarchy is suspect, and fairness is the standard.

These two models have always been in conflict. Every major social movement - abolition, women’s suffrage, civil rights, LGBTQ+ rights, labor protections - has been a battle between those trying to expand fairness-based legitimacy and those trying to restore hierarchy-based legitimacy.

For much of the 20th and early 21st centuries, fairness-based legitimacy made undeniable gains. Segregation was struck down. Women entered the workforce in unprecedented numbers. LGBTQ+ people won legal recognition. Racial, gender, and economic justice movements reshaped institutions, from universities to corporations to government policies.

But those who believe in hierarchy-based legitimacy never accepted these shifts as legitimate. They saw them as betrayals, as unnatural disruptions to an older, better order. And when Donald Trump rose to power, it was clear that the legitimacy war had reached a turning point. This is what we are going back to "Again."

Trumpism as a Legitimacy Counter-Revolution

Donald Trump did not create the legitimacy war - but he weaponized it for his own ends in ways no modern American leader had. Unlike past Republican presidents, who at least paid lip service to fairness-based legitimacy while quietly reinforcing hierarchy (often unknowingly), Trump is an instinctual and reactionary force who fully embraces hierarchy as the sole justification for power.

He does not just argue against his political opponents - he denies their legitimacy entirely.

He claims the 2020 election was stolen - not because of evidence, but because he simply refused to accept that he could lose legitimately.
He attacks the press, the courts, the intelligence agencies - not as institutions that could be improved, but as inherently illegitimate unless they served him.
He does not just oppose racial justice, feminism, or LGBTQ+ rights - he seeks to erase their legitimacy as social movements altogether.

Trump’s appeal was never just about policy. It was about restoring hierarchy-based legitimacy - reasserting the idea that power should belong to those who had always had it, and that fairness-based legitimacy was not just wrong, but dangerous - a uniting concept for people who believe in hierarchy-based legitimacy.

What Happens When Legitimacy Collapses?

Legitimacy is not just about laws or constitutions. It is about whether people believe in the systems that govern them. When that belief breaks down, societies do not simply “debate” their way out of crisis. They fracture. They turn toward authoritarianism, violence, or chaos.

We are already seeing the effects:

The judiciary, once seen as neutral, is now openly partisan.
Voting rights are being systematically dismantled.
Fair elections are no longer accepted as final by a growing number of Americans.
Basic truths - about science, history, and governance - are being rewritten by those who refuse to accept fairness as a valid principle.

The assumption that American democracy will self-correct is dangerously naive. Once hierarchy-based legitimacy has embedded itself in institutions, it does not leave voluntarily.

The Legitimacy War Must Be Fought

This is not just a battle between left and right, between Democrats and Republicans. It is a battle over whether fairness itself will remain a valid foundation for legitimacy in America.

Those who believe in fairness-based legitimacy cannot afford to be passive. Defending fairness is not “radical.” It is necessary for democracy to function.
Those who believe in accountability, human rights, and justice must not simply react to hierarchy-based legitimacy attacks - they must assert their own vision of legitimacy and fight for it.
Fairness-based legitimacy will not win because it is morally superior. It will win if enough people recognize the war that is being waged against it - and choose to fight back.

The legitimacy war is already here. The only question is who will win.