In a public reply on X dated May 3, 2026, Steve Tanner responded to a post claiming that the American education system was intentionally designed to produce a “woke activist class.”
The original post cited Charlotte Iserbyt, described the Department of Education as a tool for “brainwashing” children, and claimed that major foundations had helped replace academics with behavior modification in order to produce “obedient socialist workers” for a “New World Order” and planned global economy.
Tanner replied:
“actually wokeness is worse than communism. communism firces you to submit and give away your property. wokeness brainwashes you to believe its a good idea to do so.”
The reply accepted the framing of “wokeness” as a form of brainwashing and escalated the comparison by describing it as worse than communism.
Critics may argue that Tanner’s reply amplifies conspiratorial claims about public education while using broad ideological language that portrays political opponents, educators, or students as products of manipulation rather than people with legitimate beliefs. They may also argue that elected officials should be especially careful when discussing schools, teachers, and children, where inflammatory claims can undermine trust in public institutions.
Supporters may interpret Tanner’s reply as a criticism of progressive influence in education and a warning against ideological conformity in schools.
Definitions and Context
Communism is a political and economic ideology centered on common or public ownership of the major means of production. Britannica describes it as seeking a classless society in which major productive property is publicly owned or controlled.
Woke is a contested political term, but its original and dictionary meaning is not an economic system. Merriam-Webster defines it as being aware of and attentive to important issues, especially racial and social injustice. In modern political debate, critics often use the word more broadly as a negative label for progressive social views.
Brainwashing generally refers to coercive persuasion or forced ideological reconditioning. Britannica treats it as related to coercive persuasion, not ordinary education, disagreement, political speech, or exposure to ideas someone dislikes.
Why the Claim Is Misleading
Tanner’s comparison collapses three different things into one accusation: communism, progressive social politics, and brainwashing. Those are not the same category.
Communism is an economic and political system involving property, production, and state power. “Wokeness,” even when used critically, is not a system of property ownership and does not itself give the government authority to seize property. A person can support racial equality, gender equality, LGBTQ rights, or anti-discrimination policies without supporting communism.
The brainwashing claim is also unsupported. Schools can teach values, civics, history, and social norms, and people can reasonably debate whether specific lessons are fair or biased. But calling education “brainwashing” implies coercive control over belief. Tanner did not provide evidence that schools are coercively reprogramming students rather than teaching contested subjects that he politically opposes.
The underlying claim about the Department of Education controlling children through curriculum is also wrong as a description of federal education authority. The U.S. Department of Education says education is primarily a state and local responsibility, and federal law bars the Department from exercising control over school curriculum, instruction, personnel, textbooks, or library materials except where specifically authorized by law. The same limit appears in 20 U.S.C. § 3403.
That does not mean every school policy is wise, neutral, or beyond criticism. It means the sweeping claim that “wokeness” is a coordinated brainwashing system worse than communism is not supported by the definitions of the terms or by the legal structure of American education.