Daily Wire journalist speaks on the benefits of being conservative 

ALLEGRA THATCHER
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Photo by: Sabrina Ariss

Journalist Michael Knowles of the Daily Wire delivered an address to Franciscan University of Steubenville on the conservative movement and “the simple joys of being right” on Thursday evening, Sept. 27, in the Gentile Gallery.

The first in his “Covfefe on Campus” tour, Knowles’ visit to Franciscan was, as he put it, part of “a mission to spread covfefe on college campuses” by answering the question of why conservatives are enjoying themselves right now.

He defined the confusing term “covfefe,” first tweeted by Donald Trump on May 31, 2017, as “the relaxed, funny exuberance that conservatives seem to be enjoying right now.” Trump’s original post, later deleted, read: “Despite the constant negative press covfefe.”

According to Knowles, conservatives are happier, more satisfied and find greater purpose in life than leftists. He gave seven reasons for joy in conservatives, contrasting them with the leftists, who have “whipped themselves into a hysterical frenzy.”

The seven simple joys of being right, said Knowles, are laughing, listening, looking, learning, loving, letting the world be as it is and limiting your demands on life.

Knowles emphasized that humor is key to happiness. “The left can’t laugh because it can’t think,” he said. “It has no sense of proportion or humor,” he said.

With this sense of humor, he also encouraged listening and conforming one’s views to reality. There is a lack of discussion and listening on the part of leftists because they believe themselves to always be right, and because of this their views don’t align with reality.

“The left sees things not as they are, because they impose their ideology on the world around them,” said Knowles.

The other essential point Knowles emphasized was the love conservatives have for their country: love enough to not wish for its fundamental transformation, but rather its improvement.

While conservatives want the best for their country, they know that there is no possibility for perfection on earth. The principle behind “letting the world be as it is” lies in acknowledging that there can be no utopia, while “progressives want perfection here and now.”

“Every grandiose plan for utopia fails,” said Knowles.

Finally, Knowles called out the hypocrisy of many leftists. “They preach love and encourage harassment,” he said. “The left loves humanity but it doesn’t love humans.”

Knowles also briefly addressed how conservatives are happier because they embrace religion. “Religion forms the basis of our identities,” he said. “What a culture worships will define that culture.”

Conservatives who hold more traditional values such as getting married and staying married, he said, are twice as likely to be happy as those who believe nothing. “You’ve already been evangelized, I’m here to proselytize,” he said jokingly.

Ana Abbamonte, senior, was excited to see Knowles on campus. “I think it resonates … because it taps into the reality of human nature and the reality of what progressivism is.”

The talk was sponsored by Young Americans for Freedom (YAF), a chapter of Young America’s Foundation.

Junior Frank Arlinghaus, a member of YAF, said, “We have a different focus here with Young Americans for Freedom. A lot of colleges are fighting the left. The problem we’ve got here is getting people motivated. We get too comfortable. Let’s push it and evangelize to more areas.”

The talk ended with a Q&A session in which students addressed their questions to Knowles and then all had an opportunity to take pictures with him.