Lasting change must be built on what we collectively can be for, not just what we are against. Princeton law professor Robert P. George, proposed an idea for the month of June that has the potential to lead to significant change. Though he did not intend Fidelity Month to directly counter Pride Month, it is worth noting that fidelity is a virtue while pride is a vice.

Recently, communications giant Verizon announced it will end its DEI program. The move follows other prominent companies who have either downsized or dropped diversity quota hiring and education. Something has definitely changed in corporate America.

To be fair, Verizon switched its stance because a $9.6 billion merger was on the line. Other companies, however, announced that they were abandoning DEI initiatives even before the Trump administration forced the hand of companies tied to federal funding. Ironically, many of these companies, including Verizon, had established their DEI programs in response to pressure from previous administrations, something that Senator Tom Cotton described as a “dictatorship of woke capital.”

Pitched as necessary to bring equality for women and ethnic minorities, DEI pushed Critical Theory, transgender ideology, conscience restrictions, and corporate “struggle sessions” straight out of Orwell. But it’s now clear that there were few true believers in corporate America. Disney, Netflix, Starbucks, and many others were all in until the financial hit. Rather than woke champions, they were really only committed to remaining on the good side of whoever held the cultural leverage. A big upside for the rest of us is that “Pride Month” is not nearly as obnoxious as in previous years.

The whole back-and-forth should remind us how fickle corporate convictions can be, and how effective social pressure can be. We should all know that if the price is right, the very same corporate entities who shifted away from DEI could shift again. Therefore, if the current vibe shift is to last, it cannot be just anti woke. After all, there are plenty of anti-woke crusaders today who are just as rootless as the woke, even embracing antisemitism and elements of Marxism. Sometimes, the opposite of a bad thing can still be a bad thing.

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