‘Woke’ is fast becoming an unhelpful label..... as this nonsense concept ‘Woke Right' well illustrates. When labels get co-opted by people to mean very different things then they risk becoming essentially meaningless. (A similar fate has sadly befallen the once highly meaningful term conservative.)
A much better term than Woke is Hyper-Progressivism. Progressivism became the rule and conservatism the exception from the early 20th c. onwards. Then a massive late 20th c. expansion of tertiary education put this partisanship on steroids...ie to hyper. This progressive intellectual hegemony is the great political-philosophical story of the 20th century and beyond. But this is only part of a broader story of how, what I have called a madness of intelligentsias leaked out from the groves of academe and spread virus-like, first through the political and then – much more importantly - through the apolitical fabric of Western civilisation. The story, in other words, of its relationship to a 21st c. madness of crowds. https://grahamcunningham.substack.com/p/the-madness-of-intelligentsias
I would generally agree with you, with one exception- the evangelical right have made the unborn a sacred group. However, the degree to which this sacralised group can be considered the beneficiary of the woke right is relatively rare- I would argue that giving the unborn sacred status only becomes woke when the unborn doesn't actually exist in most cases- I've seen the evangelical right argue against the morning after pill, when in most cases no foetus exists to be protected.
Sperm can survive in a woman's body for up to five days. In most instances, the morning after pill works by preventing fertilisation, not by preventing a foetus from taking. Of course, the Left also increasingly sacralises a woman's right to choose- the concept of post-birth abortions advocated by some in America, would chill most ordinary people if they realised the intent behind the Motte element of this particular Motte & Bailey argument. Aborting a third trimester baby for 'mental health' reasons is pathological- it's not abortion, but rather something else entirely...
The acid test would be seeing whether someone who believes the morning after pill works in a way in which it doesn't is susceptible to rational empirical arguments.
Agreed. The concept of “Woke Right” stretches the concept of “Woke” so far as to make the term meaningless. Don’t play the Woke game of changing the definitions of words to avoid coming to terms with reality.
"That’s not to say that in the Venn diagram between the woke left and MAGA right there aren’t some shared features. Both indulge in emotionalism, ad hominem attacks, cancelling enemies as disloyal, conspiracy theorizing about shadowy forces, and casting their identity group as a victim." Every organization does this kind of thing.
I find Prof Kaufman's take on wokeness in The Great Awokening to be the most convincing. Lindsay describes its intellectual origins and Hanania discusses its rooting in institutional incentives. But only Kaufman has explained why wokeness has such broad appeal among former liberals and centrists, who excuse its illiberalism because of the "care/harm" paradigm. I think it's essential reading for anyone who wants to understand wokeness and fight its excesses.
This is convincing. I was not comfortable with the concept of ‘woke right’, it did not seem to hang together, and this essay articulates why. Thank you.
I'm unconvinced by your argument, Eric. The implementation varies, but the victim narrative is identical. Notice Trump made the BLM fist symbol after the assassination attempt on him, shouting 'Fight! Fight! Fight!'
The reality is woke isn't a thing outside of social media. It is a way for right wingers to dismiss legitimate discussions. It's lazy and it over simplifies conversations because right wingers can be bothered or are not smart enough to understand the issues at hand.
What's the legitimate discussion? Reparations? Biological men in women's sports? Manifest Destiny being an evil land theft from people who lived in accord with Mother Gaia?
These are all things being called woke or formerly "cultural marxism" which is a label that was quickly abandoned a couple of years ago. Obviously, people of an ideological in-group will have labels that quickly dismiss out-group ideas. It's called a heuristic. I could say the same thing about labels like "racism", "misogyny", "transphobia" or "homophobia". "They're not a thing outside of social media. It is a way for left wingers to dismiss legitimate discussions. It's lazy and it over simplifies conversations because left wingers can't be bothered or are not smart enough to understand the issues at hand."
Thank you! James Lindsey is retarded, all of his interviews he states how dei/cultural Marxism is satanic. When in reality it’s deep seated cultural issues that grew into productive discrimination that overtime encompassed everyone but white, males (and now Asians).
Excellent piece. Important distinctions.
‘Woke’ is fast becoming an unhelpful label..... as this nonsense concept ‘Woke Right' well illustrates. When labels get co-opted by people to mean very different things then they risk becoming essentially meaningless. (A similar fate has sadly befallen the once highly meaningful term conservative.)
A much better term than Woke is Hyper-Progressivism. Progressivism became the rule and conservatism the exception from the early 20th c. onwards. Then a massive late 20th c. expansion of tertiary education put this partisanship on steroids...ie to hyper. This progressive intellectual hegemony is the great political-philosophical story of the 20th century and beyond. But this is only part of a broader story of how, what I have called a madness of intelligentsias leaked out from the groves of academe and spread virus-like, first through the political and then – much more importantly - through the apolitical fabric of Western civilisation. The story, in other words, of its relationship to a 21st c. madness of crowds. https://grahamcunningham.substack.com/p/the-madness-of-intelligentsias
This is so awesome. Perfect analysis.
I would generally agree with you, with one exception- the evangelical right have made the unborn a sacred group. However, the degree to which this sacralised group can be considered the beneficiary of the woke right is relatively rare- I would argue that giving the unborn sacred status only becomes woke when the unborn doesn't actually exist in most cases- I've seen the evangelical right argue against the morning after pill, when in most cases no foetus exists to be protected.
Sperm can survive in a woman's body for up to five days. In most instances, the morning after pill works by preventing fertilisation, not by preventing a foetus from taking. Of course, the Left also increasingly sacralises a woman's right to choose- the concept of post-birth abortions advocated by some in America, would chill most ordinary people if they realised the intent behind the Motte element of this particular Motte & Bailey argument. Aborting a third trimester baby for 'mental health' reasons is pathological- it's not abortion, but rather something else entirely...
The acid test would be seeing whether someone who believes the morning after pill works in a way in which it doesn't is susceptible to rational empirical arguments.
Agreed. The concept of “Woke Right” stretches the concept of “Woke” so far as to make the term meaningless. Don’t play the Woke game of changing the definitions of words to avoid coming to terms with reality.
"That’s not to say that in the Venn diagram between the woke left and MAGA right there aren’t some shared features. Both indulge in emotionalism, ad hominem attacks, cancelling enemies as disloyal, conspiracy theorizing about shadowy forces, and casting their identity group as a victim." Every organization does this kind of thing.
Nice contribution: a family resemblence between the sides is a good way of putting it.
I find Prof Kaufman's take on wokeness in The Great Awokening to be the most convincing. Lindsay describes its intellectual origins and Hanania discusses its rooting in institutional incentives. But only Kaufman has explained why wokeness has such broad appeal among former liberals and centrists, who excuse its illiberalism because of the "care/harm" paradigm. I think it's essential reading for anyone who wants to understand wokeness and fight its excesses.
This is convincing. I was not comfortable with the concept of ‘woke right’, it did not seem to hang together, and this essay articulates why. Thank you.
Kaufman is an anti-White.
Quite.
Sure there is
I'm unconvinced by your argument, Eric. The implementation varies, but the victim narrative is identical. Notice Trump made the BLM fist symbol after the assassination attempt on him, shouting 'Fight! Fight! Fight!'
How is Zionism or say evangelical Christianity not woke. Both sacralize victimhood. Zionism is clearly a woke identity politics. It has all the features. https://www.wetheblacksheep.com/p/you-cant-be-anti-identity-politics
The reality is woke isn't a thing outside of social media. It is a way for right wingers to dismiss legitimate discussions. It's lazy and it over simplifies conversations because right wingers can be bothered or are not smart enough to understand the issues at hand.
What's the legitimate discussion? Reparations? Biological men in women's sports? Manifest Destiny being an evil land theft from people who lived in accord with Mother Gaia?
These are all things being called woke or formerly "cultural marxism" which is a label that was quickly abandoned a couple of years ago. Obviously, people of an ideological in-group will have labels that quickly dismiss out-group ideas. It's called a heuristic. I could say the same thing about labels like "racism", "misogyny", "transphobia" or "homophobia". "They're not a thing outside of social media. It is a way for left wingers to dismiss legitimate discussions. It's lazy and it over simplifies conversations because left wingers can't be bothered or are not smart enough to understand the issues at hand."
So all the published books discussing "woke" are nothing but social media?
Thank you! James Lindsey is retarded, all of his interviews he states how dei/cultural Marxism is satanic. When in reality it’s deep seated cultural issues that grew into productive discrimination that overtime encompassed everyone but white, males (and now Asians).