Thanks John. I tend to agree with a lot of what you're saying.
The place where I'm perhaps in a different spot is that I think that many of the most strongly "anti-woke" folks feel similarly to the woke people..."life is a battle between good people and evil people." They just have a very different idea of who the evil people are.
Wild fact: when asked to name America's greatest enemy, nearly 40% of Americans choose a domestic political party over Russia, China, North Korea, Iran (22% say Democrats are the greatest enemy, 17% say Republicans).
And while political views and woke / non-woke leanings aren't technically the same as political leanings, I'd argue they are functionally getting at the same underlying value systems.
What do you think?
Or maybe I should sit tight and wait. If the current direction of the woke movement is what happens when left leaning values like egalitarianism and "progress" go sideways, maybe you're already envisioning a future piece on what happens when more conservative value systems go off the rails. :)
Appreciate your writing and your perspective. Always learning something new here!
It's a valid point, Zack. I agree that the woke left has no monopoly on seeing the world in terms of the good versus the evil. Yet I do think this is important: the perspective I'm examining in this post encourages and gives a philosophical justification for that tendency. In contrast, those outside the woke left (on both the left and the right) will tend to embrace a view that emphasizes our common humanity and provides a counterweight to the us vs. them tribalism.
As for your idea about a future piece, I have not envisioned this. But it's a good idea. Thanks.
Thanks John. I tend to agree with a lot of what you're saying.
The place where I'm perhaps in a different spot is that I think that many of the most strongly "anti-woke" folks feel similarly to the woke people..."life is a battle between good people and evil people." They just have a very different idea of who the evil people are.
Wild fact: when asked to name America's greatest enemy, nearly 40% of Americans choose a domestic political party over Russia, China, North Korea, Iran (22% say Democrats are the greatest enemy, 17% say Republicans).
And while political views and woke / non-woke leanings aren't technically the same as political leanings, I'd argue they are functionally getting at the same underlying value systems.
What do you think?
Or maybe I should sit tight and wait. If the current direction of the woke movement is what happens when left leaning values like egalitarianism and "progress" go sideways, maybe you're already envisioning a future piece on what happens when more conservative value systems go off the rails. :)
Appreciate your writing and your perspective. Always learning something new here!
It's a valid point, Zack. I agree that the woke left has no monopoly on seeing the world in terms of the good versus the evil. Yet I do think this is important: the perspective I'm examining in this post encourages and gives a philosophical justification for that tendency. In contrast, those outside the woke left (on both the left and the right) will tend to embrace a view that emphasizes our common humanity and provides a counterweight to the us vs. them tribalism.
As for your idea about a future piece, I have not envisioned this. But it's a good idea. Thanks.
emphasizing our common humanity...that's a really helpful and encouraging thought. Thanks John.