At The Heart Of "Woke"ness Is An Erosion Of Individualism
Some interesting points by a guy who calls himself Liberavoce in a blog post:
Free speech is the expression of being you, the ability to express your beliefs and aspirations. Now consider what we are being told about being "woke", a phrase that holds much to be wary of. According to that proposition you apparently are asleep socially and politically, and therefore not really a valid being unless you adhere to what you are told by those that profess to know what existential meaning is; should you deviate from that, you will be canceled; hence the term "cancel culture"....Understanding meaning is essential to knowledge as without understanding there is no knowledge; if that makes sense to you, you are not "woke" and much the better for that. When just being yourself you don't need a social crutch to help support or limit you, which is the essence of being an individual and capable of independent thought.
The whole point of being an individual is that you're not just another nothing in some awful collectivist nightmare of non-being; how have we as a society lost that concept? It did not happen overnight, it was a slow but steading erosion of the respect for the individual, a concept called liberty.
Consider the current social stigma free expression may inflame in the polarized world in which we live, especially in this country's institutions of higher learning where suppression of free expression is so accepted; it seems the more elitist the school, the more prevalent this phenomenon, which then appears to inform the behavior of so many of our other institutions. It is not surprising then to also see a rise in alcohol and drug abuse, depression and suicide among the younger generations. According to the founder of existentialism, Soren Kierkegaard, "The most common form of despair is not being who you are."
...What is it that the "woke" fear about free expression? How can we have a civil discourse in America without that? The definition of civil discourse is engagement in conversation intended to enhance understanding. The most important requirement for civil discourse is respect for the existential right of everyone to express their own individual thoughts on any subject and therefore does not represent a threat to anyone else's beliefs. By definition, civil discourse avoids physical hostility as it requires consideration for other ideas.
To take the position that silencing someone because what they have to say is objectionable, and therefore represents a threat or violence against you, is to take the position of every dictator throughout history. One of my favorite quotes about liberty in regards to free speech is from George Orwell, who said "If liberty means anything at all it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear."
...Based on this, psychologically it would be fair to say that being "woke" is actually a contradiction in terms relative to its current meaning as actually that represents a suppression of awareness in regards to others, a lack of empathy, perception of reality and an inability to objectively observe and consider anything outside of yourself; sounds dangerously similar to narcissism.
Politically and sociologically it is corrosive, creating a them-and-us conflict, the very essence of polarization. If you are not only unwilling to listen to another viewpoint, but willing to suppress it, how would you ever be able to understand it and therefore be able to judge its worth or have a meaningful discussion about it?
I'm sure we have all heard of the famous quote attributed to Voltaire regarding free speech that says "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." Maybe the "woke" will wake up and catch up on centuries of the Enlightenment.
It's certainly an erosion of individualism, but thence a seemingly childish desperation for simplistic inclusion. They want popular comity to be easy: They want everyone else to be rote and milquetoast as they are; to be right about things without discussion or contention.
There's nothing new under the sun, right? These wokies have always been daywalkers, moving about next to us normies in line at the bank and sitting in the doctor's waiting room and queuing up at the DMV.
Who knows what stupidities they were silently nourishing behind their moodless little faces? All they knew, from childhood experience, was that if they actually said what they were thinking, at truly spirited and courageous kid was likely to point out that they were being silly and unlearned. So they kept quiet. It was great.
But then social media allowed them to find each other, and all Hell breaks loose.
Big picture, they will be returned to their timid quiescence of your, but it's going to be a tremendous pain in the ass.
Crid at November 8, 2020 6:39 AM
"What is it that the "woke" fear about free expression?"
See my post Is Free Speech Too Exhausting?
https://chicagoboyz.net/archives/64391.html
David Foster at November 8, 2020 12:53 PM
"What is it that the "woke" fear about free expression?" The emphasis on feelings is first of all immaturity and narcissism. If you are mentally immature, you have not examined your feelings and opinions and do not know why you have them thus you cannot defend them. Opposing (different) views challenge your feelings and threaten your shallow world-view. This feels catastrophic and will leave you abandoned in life with no firm ground to stand on. Second, the focus on feelings comes from advocates of nonsensical views like literary deconstruction, a self-contradictory world view which can only be defended by shutting everyone else up. It also comes from radicals of all types who say absurd things that logic and facts contradict. "systemic racism" for example, if questioned cannot be documented so they just say they "feel it" and it is their "lived experience" whereas I have known multiple black people who deny they are suffering discrimination at all. Who is right? No way to prove it,it is feelings. Same with feminist claims to be "oppressed by the patriarchy" when they are getting 60% of all college degrees (etc).
cc at November 8, 2020 2:38 PM
It may begin childishly. But the Red Guard, unused to leadership and drunk with state power, turn vengeful.
"with Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on the cusp of victory, Ocasio-Cortez asked on Twitter if anyone was “archiving these Trump sycophants for when they try to downplay or deny their complicity in the future?”
“I foresee decent probability of many deleted Tweets, writings, photos in the future,” added the New York lawmaker,
Spiderfall at November 8, 2020 2:44 PM
cc's right - wokeness is largely a defensive emotional response and a cloak for malicious behavior. These aren't people who are interested in the points Liberavoce is making. If they were, they wouldn't have become 'woke' in the first place.
>> Spiderfall - Robert Reich's actually the one who came up with that idea first, about a week ago on Twitter. I used to have some respect for that guy.
nana at November 8, 2020 5:07 PM
"Robert Reich's actually the one who came up with that idea first"
He may have thought of it, but Ocasio-Cotez is putting it into action.
Spiderfall at November 8, 2020 7:48 PM
I was just surprised to see Reich recommending an inquisition. But looking at his other recent posts, it looks like he's itching to persecute pretty much everyone, and believes that everything he associates with the US is racist.
But yeah, Cortez is all over the idea. Which doesn't surprise me, she's got a wicked mean streak.
nana at November 8, 2020 8:46 PM
Ideological zealots, of any stripe, tend to have a mean controlling streak. They want to compel a uniformity to society. And AOC is an ideological zealot.
Conan the Grammarian at November 9, 2020 6:17 AM
Interesting point about daycare and its influence, David Foster; about daycare fostering identity with the group over individualism. Daycare encourages children to share everything and pushes "fairness" in the distribution of toys, snacks, naps, etc. Millennials and Gen-Z prize security and certainty in life, two things in short supply in the adult world.
The thing is, I think most people imagine the past was a much more stable existence than it actually was; that in earlier eras jobs and lifestyles were secure, marriage was stable and happy, and foreign relations never involved the threat of destructive war. They look longingly on an era which never was.
Never has the world been a stable place, nor can it be made one. Even in rigidly structured feudal societies where everyone knew his place, crops could fail, barbarians could ride through the village at any time to pillage and plunder, disease could wipe out half the population, or a natural disaster could leave the village in ruins.
Conan the Grammarian at November 9, 2020 7:08 AM
https://www.nytimes.com/1996/08/20/opinion/surely-he-is-spoofing.html
From 1996. The columnist Russell Baker commented on Senator Bob Dole's remarks on "the good old days."
Quote:
"...If Dole sincerely believes things were better back then, we had best beware. Elderly folk who yearn publicly for the good old days must always be approached with caution.
"They are not remembering what the world was really like back then; they are only remembering what it was like to be young. The time of one's youth commonly seems in retrospect to have been a golden age. It is almost impossible, after middle age has done its grisly work of destroying the child within, to remember how much suffering and fear must be endured in a typical youth..."
(snip)
Of course, for most non-white people - and other minorities - of certain generations, there WERE no "good old days" or innocent childhoods.
Lenona at November 10, 2020 9:54 AM
https://www.nytimes.com/1996/08/20/opinion/surely-he-is-spoofing.html
From 1996. The columnist Russell Baker commented on Senator Bob Dole's remarks on "the good old days."
Quote:
"...If Dole sincerely believes things were better back then, we had best beware. Elderly folk who yearn publicly for the good old days must always be approached with caution.
"They are not remembering what the world was really like back then; they are only remembering what it was like to be young. The time of one's youth commonly seems in retrospect to have been a golden age. It is almost impossible, after middle age has done its grisly work of destroying the child within, to remember how much suffering and fear must be endured in a typical youth..."
(snip)
Of course, for most non-white people - and other minorities - of certain generations, there WERE no "good old days" or innocent childhoods.
Lenona at November 10, 2020 9:56 AM
Additionally, I would never misspell "yore."
Crid at November 18, 2020 2:26 PM
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