Quote:
Originally Posted by Fuzz
The ridiculous thing is that the attributes of being "woke" are actually what we should strive for. Being aware of the injustices happening around us should be a positive attribute. Yet those using it are celebrating their ignorance and perpetuating inequality, as if it is a sports team to cheer for. Essentially criticizing the woke left is lashing out at those who have concern for the situations of their fellow citizens. What a horrible thing!
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Two problems with that line of thinking.
1) It assumes everyone of goodwill agrees on what constitutes an injustice and how they should be remedied. But in the real world, to give an example, only 38 per of Black Americans think race should play any part in college admissions. Are blind auditions for orchestras fair, or do they perpetuate inequality? Is it unjust to write novels or movies from the POV of a person of a different racial or gender identity? Disagreements about these matters don’t break neatly along lines of compassion or justice.
2) Social values often conflict with other values in messy ways. What are the pitfalls of emphasizing group identity over individual identity? Of employing shame and ostracization to enforce consensus on issues people feel passionate about? What do we lose when we treat ideas as violence? People who have spoken out against the illiberal left - people like Margaret Atwood, Malcolm Gladwell, and Salman Rushdie - have not been watching too much Fox News. They see a genuine threat to vital liberal values and norms emerging from the left.