The anti-woke movement

Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1726/27) once defined his third law of motion as follows: for every action (force) in nature there is an equal and opposite reaction. Hence, we should not be surprised of the rise of an anti-woke movement (eg, the Conversation, the Spectator, the Telegraph).

It’s useful to give two versions of how people perceive the word woke:

Wiki: “Woke “is an adjective [] meaning “alert to racial prejudice and discrimination”. Beginning in the 2010s, it came to encompass a broader awareness of social inequalities such as sexism, and has also been used as shorthand for American Left ideas involving identity politics and social justice, such as the notion of white privilege and slavery reparations for African Americans.” (Wiki)

Ipsos, 2023: “A new USA Today/Ipsos poll finds that Americans are divided on whether “woke” is a compliment or an insult. When asked what it means to be “woke,” however, a majority say it entails being informed about social injustices rather than being overly politically correct.”

Recent interviews on Canadian public broadcaster CBC and in Dutch newspaper Trouw are enlightening because Susan Neiman (b.1955), a moral philosopher, includes both views. She is promoting her 2023 book: Left is not woke. She may well be right but her message is unconvincing to many.

Once you believe in (full) equality then the woke movement will make sense to you. However, once you believe in natural differences (eg, intelligence, men vs women, talents) then the anti-woke movement will make sense to you. Also see my recent blog: Politics, a belief in (in)equality.

In 1976, Stevie Wonder released his album Songs in the Key of Life, including its opening track: Love’s in Need of Love Today (eg, 1976, 1985, 2001). In my view, nothing has changed. The woke and the anti-woke movement both show that things have gone downhill ever since.

“Woke and cancel culture are both signs of a judgmental culture, not a mentally mature one. A world where you cannot even speak to another person without worrying about what they are going to think of you, has not advanced much from the days when the white people used to own slaves. Let me tell you this, if you are kind, if you are compassionate, if you hold no discrimination towards people whatsoever, then you have no reason to worry about whether you are woke enough.”

A quote by neuroscientist and author Abhijit Naskar from his 2021 book When Veins Ignite: Either Integration or Degradation

All You Need Is Love (1967) by The Beatles
band, lyrics, video, Wiki-band, Wiki-album+fim (1968), Wiki-song

Note: all markings (bold, italic, underlining) by LO unless in quotes or stated otherwise.