I am an academic and am liberal…that is, liberal by the standards of the United States on the whole. My liberal arts colleagues would probably consider me to be a conservative or at least an out-of-touch fossil.
I lead with that paragraph to head off the question: why do I harp on these sorts of topics instead of, say, the last President who lost reelection, or the gym owner who represents a Georgia district in House of Representatives?
The answer is pretty clear: I want nothing to do with the current Republican party. Aside from a Mitt Romney here or a Liz Cheney there, there is nothing I find honorable. That isn’t my house.
Besides, my “speaking out” does, what, exactly? We are way too polarized for a Republican to care anything at all about what I have to say. That might prove to be unfortunate as, given that Illinois lost a House seat and Cheri Bustos is retiring after having very, very narrowly defeating her Republican opponent, I am likely to be represented by a Republican in the House..in the very near future.
So, I might end up trying to persuade ONE Republican (not likely to be able to)
But back to the Democrats and to liberals: that is my house. So I want a say and I’ll continue to talk about things.
And yes, I do share many of the long term goals that many liberals have, but I think we have to be smart about how to achieve said goals.
And so, I frequently attack wokeness; I think this is a good article on the subject.
What problems do I have with it?
“Cancel culture is essentially a boycott. Its refusing to participate or support those that promote racist, homophobic, sexist, transphobic, or otherwise ignorant behavior. Protest is at the heart of this country and it shouldn’t be limited in the name of making already powerful people feel safer to spew ideas that are not tolerable in today’s society.”
Ok: who decides what is “racist, homophobic”, etc.? Sure, there are some things that are universal: slurs directed at people, not hiring someone based on the color of their skin, sex, sexual expression, gender identity, etc.
But the collection of “xx-ist” things is really a fuzzy set.
Skim through all 36 parts; it is hilarious..and from the media..not from nobodies on Twitter:
Part of my reaction is a reaction to the personalities of the wokes themselves: they appear to have “I talk, you listen” attitude. The remind me a lot of the more sanctimonious Bible Beaters.
Part of my reaction to wokeness is the attitude of degree, punishment, and atmosphere.
I’ll give you an example from my past, oh, 23 years ago or so (the professor in question has long since retired)
I was taking a class and an Asian student (not from the US) asked if we would have to code on the exam. The prof sarcastically answered the question by saying “No coding..” but in an affected accent to mimic the student.
An undergraduate student (of Asian descent) said “I heard that Asian accent..”..laughing…the prof said “I didn’t do that” and the student laughed and said “oh, yes you did.”
And, to my knowledge, that ended it. That prof never did that again (to my knowledge) which, IMHO, was the goal. No inquiry, no provost involvement..an otherwise good man who had a moral slip was called out..and corrected himself.
To me, that was a proportional response. I honestly think making everything into a severe transgression may well make some LESS likely to speak out.
I believe in correction and redemption…and only calling in HR and “the suits” when the transgressions are repeated or egregious.
There is a political aspect too. I honestly think the public is tired of wokeness and that cost us dearly in 2020. We came within 45,000 votes of losing the Electoral College to a complete incompetent buffoon.
I honestly think that wokeness cost us:
No, it isn’t just the comedians who think that.
Sadly: many of the top Democrats aren’t big on introspection; if they don’t do well, it is the fault of the voters. (ok, here is a different take on the book)
Life of an old goat 