What is "Woke"?

[nanana]

I wouldn’t say I’m conservative but definitely less liberal than I used to be. The aspects of the current version of woke that don’t appeal to me are the unfocused victimhood of it. I’d distinguish that from focused victimhood. If an actual person hits me for example, I’m actually a victim of that persons violence. If there’s merely a premise that I look like someone or are otherwise part of a class of people that might have victimized someone or a distant relative, then that drifts toward collective punishment and creates a toxic culture that encourages people to assume the worst in each other. It gets tiresome to talk about all the things you can’t control, and there’s something insidious about this creeping prejudice. I think It is great to “fight” for justice but even better to lift everyone up to discover their own power to create their own heaven. I often find the current version of woke to be more about taking something from another class of people rather than a mentality of abundance. HOWEVER, like everything else, this version of woke is probably at least partially a parody of how liberals actually think and emphasizes the worst and most objectionable qualities of their intentions like most issues that get hollowed out by incessant partisanship. Still, I have been around enough liberals who just launch into tirades about people for whom they have no genuine curiosity that “woke” has become a mostly unpleasant exercise in stereotyping and having thought be shut down and narrowed. I look forward to a day in which individuals are more valued and listening and exchanging unique original thought without triggers is more cultivated. 

[nanana]

29 minutes ago, nanana said:

Still, I have been around enough liberals who just launch into tirades about people for whom they have no genuine curiosity that “woke” has become a mostly unpleasant exercise in stereotyping and having thought be shut down and narrowed.

To be clear, it is the inability to hear without being triggered that comes across as mental illness, NOT the lovely woke idea that all of Gods children are miracles. 

[viking8x6]

2 hours ago, nanana said:

If there’s merely a premise that I look like someone or are otherwise part of a class of people that might have victimized someone or a distant relative, then that drifts toward collective punishment and creates a toxic culture that encourages people to assume the worst in each other.

I agree with this. Rhetoric or policies that wander into this territory are a form of liberal extremism that causes more problems than it counters, no matter if the intent is to benefit.

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I often find the current version of woke to be more about taking something from another class of people rather than a mentality of abundance.

Disagree here, unless we're talking about "taking something" from a class of people who got that something by systematic exploitation of another class of people (aka taxing the plutocrats). It's well and good to operate from a mentality of abundance, but when that abundance is arrogated by a few people to the detriment of others, it seem legitimate to me to advocate some kind of corrective action.

[KERVORKIANjack]

11 hours ago, NEDenver said:

That’s not happening.  You’re being triggered by someone’s bad fanfic.

"Triggered" isn't that word offensive to victims of gun crime?

(as well as anyone with an IQ above Antarctic temperatures)

[nanana]

12 hours ago, viking8x6 said:

It's well and good to operate from a mentality of abundance, but when that abundance is arrogated by a few people to the detriment of others, it seem legitimate to me to advocate some kind of corrective action.

Hi Viking8x6,

I don’t take issue with your point about injustice and  whether “taking” is justified. My point was that a mentality of abundance doesn’t come from wealth, but instead creates wealth. It comes from an ability to value what others do not value. “Taking” may be “justified” but doesn’t add to the wealth of the planet, just moves it around. I distrust the motivation to fight over a limited resource and trust a motivation to conceive of new value and expand the pie.  Poor leaders just redistribute. Great leaders show people their own power to self-generate. I think NEDenver’s point about whether the word “triggered” is offensive is a perfect illustration of the differing starting points of the current evolution of woke versus non-woke. A woke take on the world would start with whether a statement was “offensive” or not. A non-woke take would start with whether a word was a good expression of an empirical experience. Since I have witnessed people being triggered, including myself, I see a value in capturing and expressing the truth. For me, this is another challenge I have with the woke mindset. It starts with the premise that other people should think your fantasies  are more important than their truth.  I’m willing to coexist with your fantasies, but I’m not willing to have my truth obliterated.  The seeming desire to obliterate empirical experience makes me think that a woke approach   will insulate me from the reality and diversity of thought required to hone  the quality of argumentation beyond ad hominem snark, which thickens this thread.  I’m sure the guys chiming in here are great guys who wouldn’t need to tear down others to come into their own glory, the kinds who would even deign to help anyone with a subarctic IQ find their greatness 🙂.