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Right-wing podcaster Michael Knowles was criticized after he expressed his desire for society to become as socially conservative as it was in the year 1220.
Knowles made the statement during an episode of his podcast, challenging the notion that conservatives merely long for a return to the 1950s.
He cited recent Gallup polling data, which indicated that around 38 percent of Americans identify as conservative or very conservative on social issues, surpassing the figures from 2022 (33 percent) and 2021 (30 percent). While he regarded this shift as a positive development, he emphasized that it fell short of his own aspirations for societal conservatism.
You can hear what he said in the video below.
\u201cKnowles: "I want our civilization to be as socially conservative as we were in 1220 ... before all the modern ideology started corroding our civilization"\u201d— Brendan Karet (@Brendan Karet) 1686853622
Knowles said:
“I do not want America to be as socially conservative as 2012. I want our civilization to be as socially conservative as we were in 1220. I don’t even want the 1950s"
"I don’t even want the 1880s. I want 1220. That would be a good spot to land at."
"At the very least, I think we oughta be as conservative as we were before all the modern ideology started corroding our civilization.”
While Knowles' perspective drew attention, many, including conservatives and liberals alike, swiftly critiqued his vision, highlighting the impracticality and potential drawbacks of a return to medieval conservatism.
His desire for such a drastic shift in societal norms and values prompted criticism, with Twitter users pointing out the numerous advancements in human rights, equality, and individual freedoms that have taken place since the Middle Ages.
Knowles has been harshly criticized as a result.
\u201cI too think this man should catch the black plague and not have access to antibiotics like it\u2019s 1220\u201d— \ud83d\udd2eEsoteric Doomerist\ud83d\udc80 (@\ud83d\udd2eEsoteric Doomerist\ud83d\udc80) 1686859226
\u201c@bad_takes He's apparently not a Medieval Historian lol... \n\nLife was not pretty in the 1200s\u201d— Brendan Karet (@Brendan Karet) 1686853622
\u201cThat\u2019s a very nice sentiment, are you offering to be a feudal subsistence farmer? Think very carefully before I take the microphone away and put you to work at the plow\u201d— Adam \u03c0\u03cc\u03bb\u03b5\u03c9\u03c2 (@Adam \u03c0\u03cc\u03bb\u03b5\u03c9\u03c2) 1686859681
\u201cSo, women as property? State and Church sanctioned child abuse? Stoning? Witch burning? Trial by ordeal? It\u2019s almost as if this guy has no idea what he\u2019s talking about.\u201d— Jonah Goldberg (@Jonah Goldberg) 1686855551
\u201c@bad_takes Increasingly, they are not serious people. And they're too full of it to be embarrassed.\u201d— Brendan Karet (@Brendan Karet) 1686853622
\u201c@bad_takes I don't think he knows what living in 1220 was like. He's imagining a utopia that never actually existed.\u201d— Brendan Karet (@Brendan Karet) 1686853622
\u201c@bad_takes They really hate the Enlightenment period, which had a huge impact on the US founders' thinking and led to our system of government.\u201d— Brendan Karet (@Brendan Karet) 1686853622
\u201cSo he wants a feudal system in which women have no rights whatsoever, so-called "undesirables" are tortured and killed, and we are all ruled via a hereditary monarchy with no democratic say?\u201d— Justin Baragona (@Justin Baragona) 1686855623
Knowles is a well-known right-wing provocateur who has shared views condemned as dangerous and as an affront to basic human rights.
Several weeks ago, he suggested the Pride Flag—a symbol of LGBTQ+ rights and progress—should be banned from public spaces and made "culturally toxic" so big companies "think twice" about supporting a community the far-right has attempted to isolate and targeted through draconian legislation.
In March, he was criticized for saying "transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely," views that liberals and conservatives alike interpreted as a call for genocide of one of the United States' most marginalized communities.