Woke
“Woke”. It stems from being woken up or being awake. Well? Are we..?
Folks, believe me when I say that I truly have an open mind. I’m basically ruling out nothing. I will not categorize, nor will I discriminate. When I’m engaged in a conversation with a black, handicapped, lesbian Muslim woman, I don’t see a skin color, a physical deficiency, sexuality or a Religion. I see an individual, a person. In that conversation I learn about her personality, character, values, virtues and vices. Believe me, I may not always agree on some of her issues, but I accept who she is as a whole.
As I hope she would extend me the same courtesy in return. It’s called mutual respect, on a basic human level. However, in these modern times, a basic value such as this one is seriously under fire. In our neck of the woods we have “freedom of speech”, firmly anchored in a Constitution and some additional Laws. And in this day and age, with all these nifty devices and social media opening up the entire world and shrinking it within reach for everybody, one would expect that right to be honored.
However, what I see is quite the opposite. First, folks are literally “buried” in their smartphones, even when eating out in groups. Not communicating with the person next to them, glued to that little screen. In my view not engaging, not taking part in the society in the real world. Social skills are becoming sort of impoverished, especially after masses have stayed at home during this Corona pandemic. People simply don’t look in the other’s eyes and truly talk to each other anymore. A pity.
It’s as if the real world has largely been traded in for a virtual one, with its Facebooks, Instagrams, Twitters and yes, Tik Toks. A dangerous place where algorithms are mining ever step you take on the internet, completing your footprint, attacking you with content specifically tailormade for you, denying you access to all the other stuff going on in our blue-marbled world. And so, a generation grows up with a distorted view of our world. And these are our future Leaders. Very worrisome.
Out of this distorted reality a phenomenon has grown which is reason for concern to all of us who like to live harmoniously in the real world: “Woke”. This found its origin over a Decade ago in the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement in the United States. Since then It has spilled over to all kinds of “minority” groups and has flowed into Nations outside the USA, such as my country, The Netherlands. On the surface it seeks recognition and equality for all minorities in our societies.
I do believe that “all men are created equal”. But, by launching this quote alone, I already commit a crime according to Woke rules. Today, I’m not allowed to say “men”. Because that would rule out “women”. It’s even worse. I’m not allowed to talk about “men” and “women”, “mothers” and “fathers”, “sons” and “daughters”, “nieces” and “nephews”, “aunts” and “ uncles”. Because it defines too much and rules out other “genders”. Because there seems to be an “umbrella of genders”.
Excuse me. But if a person has male reproductive organs, HE is a MAN. Does that person have female reproductive organs, SHE is a WOMAN. That is sex, defined by biology. However, I can appreciate that some of these persons feel that they have been assigned the wrong body and feel exactly the opposite. That’s called gender preference. Either they undergo a sex change operation or live their live without that and define themselves as a trans-gender. I appreciate that. More power to them.
Everybody, who has had a sound upbringing, possesses “values”. The do’s and don’t’s in terms of manners and decency. There is a moral self-regulation instilled in us if upbringing has been done right. In a well-developed society this should be sufficient. And I’ve always believed that I’m living in such a society. But, according to Woke, I’m not. A lot seems to be wrong and should be corrected. Apparently it’s the moral duty for all of us to recognise this, adhere to it and take corrective action.
Have you noticed it? First there was the “Gay Community”. Then it became “LGBT”. And now it’s become “LGBTQIA+”. With all kinds of rainbow flag symbols attached to it. It seems that this community is striving for incorporating the entire Alphabet into their definition. Trying to encapsulate all “binary” and “non-binary” gender preferences. Gays, Lesbians, Transsexuals, men who feel woman, women who feel men, a-sexuals, gender-fluids. The list is literally endless…
A hot item right now is the so-called “pronoun”. This is the way a person should be referred to, defining his or her gender preference. “He/him”, “she/her”, or a non-binary “they/them” etc. There is a whole list that all of us cannot catch up with. Especially in American Universities, but also already over here, this “pronoun” thing is being validated, legalized, by school/campus rules. People using the wrong “pronoun” when speaking to someone with that gender preference get into real trouble.
In other words, two things: 1) all of us should be psychics. We must be able to guess accurately what the person’s gender preference is, even when we clearly see a man or a woman in front of us. We MUST address them correctly! And that’s 2) we have no choice. We MUST take part in this pronoun bullshit! And there’s the “freedom of speech” thing again. It’s one thing to state what one is NOT ALLOWED to say, it’s another thing to state what we MUST say. So, in my view, we are under attack.
The Woke culture, the cancel culture, globalism and all that derailed political correctness, it all does not provoke acceptance and unification. On the contrary, it’s all very divisive, and quite despotic, I might add. And the “trailblazers” of all this are ( and now I’m indeed going to label…) mentally disturbed TikTok weirdos who nine out of ten times have no work, have too little to do and too much time on their hands. These folks have not contributed a single thing to society. But they feel entitled.
Some of them do work. As teachers on Primary Schools for example. Subjecting their pupils not too much to the basic stuff such as reading, writing and counting, but instead discussing gender preferences with associated use of pronouns. With 8-year old kids. In a time where school boards, mass media and politics are already under fierce pressure to go along with this madness. To me this is the new Marxism or Communism. I may be labelled a “right-winger” now by these extreme leftists.
That’s OK. I know better. But hey folks, I’m not going to take part in this bullshit. Plugging out. Nobody is going to tell me what I can and cannot say or the way I say it. Relying on my upbringing and don’t seem to do so badly, judging my surroundings. Stop this Karen-like madness now, I say. Because otherwise it will never end, and plunge all of us into the abyss of fake tolerance that is basically a suppressive phenomenon. Research psychologist Jordan Peterson. And learn.
There are more lunatics outside that asylum than inside. Dropping mike…
