About

Reject Modernity, Embrace Tradition is a phrase originating from conservative and traditionalist image macros that has been used in memes to humorously point out the change to an object or place over time, positioning the earlier version as superior.

Origin

The phrase "reject modernity, embrace tradition" has been used by traditionalists and conservatives to argue that society has degenerated and traditions from an earlier era are superior. For example, Christian Twitter account @TheCounterRev^[1] used the phrase in an image macro making a political point on July 27th, 2017 (shown below).

The phrase began seeing use in memes in late 2018. On December 19th, 2018, iFunny^[2] user Primitivist used the phrase in a picture showing the before and after of what was once Nickelodeon Studios, gaining 300 likes (shown below).

Spread

Over the following months, the joke began to trend on Instagram and Reddit. On May 13th, 2019, Instagram user salad.snake^[3] posted a variation which gained over 33,000 likes (shown below, left). On May 21st, user humanity.gone24^[4] made a Doge meme with the phrase, gaining over 3,100 likes (shown below, right).

On Reddit, popular posts include another Doge meme posted in /r/dogelore by macsk^[5] that gained over 260 points (shown below, left). Redditor dubstepzeph^[6] posted a Realm of the Mad God joke in /r/rotmg^[6] that gained over 500 points (shown below, right).

Related Memes

Become Ungovernable

Become Ungovernable or Be Ungovernable is a slogan associated with anarchism and related movements. Starting in 2020, the slogan gained popularity as a caption for parody image macros in which people, animals or characters break social norms, often by abandoning practical approach for the sake of independent thought.

Return to Monke

Return to Monke encompasses a series of memes closely associated with anarcho-primitivism that romanticize a simplistic archaic lifestyle, with apes (often referred to as monkeys or monkes) serving as a symbolic representation of that lifestyle. The meme often features intentionally simplified language and is closely associated with similar traditionalist memes such as Reject Modernity, Return to Tradition and Consume Product.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References