Conservatives Won't Define "Woke"-- Because it Would Expose their Fraud!
A week ago I wrote What is "Woke"? Ask an Idiot! about a conservative author/speaker who, in moment that went viral, completely choked when a streaming interviewer asked her to define the term, woke. My use of the label "idiot" was ironic. The woman interviewed, Bethany Mandel, is coauthor of a 2022 book all about woke-ism and its supposed perils. She is also a frequent guest speaker on conservative programs and at conservative events, where she is invited specifically to talk about the subject. It would seem that far from being a (literal) idiot she should be among the world's experts on what "woke" is, right?
Here's the rub: She didn't stumble defining "woke" because she doesn't know. She stumbled defining "woke" because she does know... and she also knows that actually defining would make a lot of people go, "Wait, what's so wrong with that? Being woke sounds like a good idea!"
Indeed conservative media figures all united on a common message by the second day after Mandel's viral choke. Defining "woke" is not possible, they argued. It's a feeling, a mindset, they continued. ...Ooookay, well feelings and mindsets can actually be described. For example, I can define "white nationalism" is and how it describes them.... and I'm not even a book author and frequent public speaker on the topic!
Asking us to define "woke" is a trap, cooked up by the Left, the conservatives contended.
You know what? They're damn right it's a trap. It's a trap to expose their hatred, lies, and misrepresentation.
The truth is conservatives just want buzzwords they can repeat to keep their audiences angry. Angry about what? It almost doesn't matter. In fact, they're deliberately vague. Psychology shows that it's easier for people to stay riled up when they use their imaginations to fill in the specifics of what they're so angry about. Basically everyone's got their own personal boogeymen. Keeping it vague also makes it hard to for opponents to respond. Make a specific counterargument, and the conservatives dodge and say, "It's not about that, you clearly don't understand it!" Yes, that bullshit is bad-faith arguing. Welcome to modern conservative politics.
Here's the rub: She didn't stumble defining "woke" because she doesn't know. She stumbled defining "woke" because she does know... and she also knows that actually defining would make a lot of people go, "Wait, what's so wrong with that? Being woke sounds like a good idea!"
Indeed conservative media figures all united on a common message by the second day after Mandel's viral choke. Defining "woke" is not possible, they argued. It's a feeling, a mindset, they continued. ...Ooookay, well feelings and mindsets can actually be described. For example, I can define "white nationalism" is and how it describes them.... and I'm not even a book author and frequent public speaker on the topic!
Asking us to define "woke" is a trap, cooked up by the Left, the conservatives contended.
You know what? They're damn right it's a trap. It's a trap to expose their hatred, lies, and misrepresentation.
The truth is conservatives just want buzzwords they can repeat to keep their audiences angry. Angry about what? It almost doesn't matter. In fact, they're deliberately vague. Psychology shows that it's easier for people to stay riled up when they use their imaginations to fill in the specifics of what they're so angry about. Basically everyone's got their own personal boogeymen. Keeping it vague also makes it hard to for opponents to respond. Make a specific counterargument, and the conservatives dodge and say, "It's not about that, you clearly don't understand it!" Yes, that bullshit is bad-faith arguing. Welcome to modern conservative politics.