Wokeism

I have been watching some extremely interesting interviews by Andrew Gold [YouTube @andrewgoldheretics] on wokeism. 

In short: the initial "woke" movement was a specific call for racial consciousness and vigilance within the Black community as a means of survival and resistance against systemic racism. Its transformation has seen it expand to a broader awareness of all forms of social injustice and inequality, becoming a watchword for progressive activism. However, this expansion has also led to its appropriation and weaponisation as a derogatory label in political discourse, often used to dismiss or criticise a wide range of movements.

When you classify any critique towards any minority groups as hatred: it becomes dangerous. 

Not because you belong to a minority it means you are bad or good by default. We are all humans and we sin, in whatever part of the spectrum we position ourselves. Even the "most religious" sin, and sin big! Far too many the obvious examples! 

Once you couldn't express any criticism to Jewish people without getting labeled as "nazi". But Jews are not good by default, or because they had gone through the ferocity of the Holocaust. And now, considering what is happening in Gaza, this reality is crystal clear. 

If you have a nasty neighbour: they are nasty whatever colour they are, whatever religion or political party they belong to. 

But I also see another aspect of the situation. Prejudices belong to both parts. Just an example. When Italy was overwhelmed by all the migrants that reached its coasts via Mediterranean sea and the rest of the European countries finally began to open and receive some part of them, Germany was one of the most generous in welcoming them. There was an intense wave of deep support towards them. 

It was winter, Christmas arrived and then new year's eve. In that night an unimaginable number of rapes were recorded committed by migrants. 

Why on Earth should they respond to the Germans' generosity in such a spiteful way? Because in their culture if the woman is "free" it means only one thing: it is because she is eager to have sex with as many men as possible. 

I watched many interviews with Sarah Paine, American historian, author, and professor of strategy and policy at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, especially the ones by Dwarkesh Patel [YouTube @DwarkeshPatel]. 

In one of them she was talking on why Americans failed in Afghanistan with rebuilding a democratic country. This happened simply because it wasn't a "rebuilding". The concept of democracy wasn't in their culture! 

She compared the rebulding of Germany and Japan after WW2. This was successfully possible because they had this concept. They had the structures and the culture. The police, the judicial system, the schools, ... they knew already how society works in a democracy. All this didn't exist in Afghanistan! 

When people are different because of their race, their religion, their culture and social inprinting, or because of their sexual identity, and something in them doesn't align with the general approach in the society they end up with, prejudices and bias arise from both sides.