Woke continuum
Today I want to present a new concept to you. I call it
The Woke Continuum, or increasingly just The Continuum.
There are various movements alive in the world today.
Most have appeared within the last few decades and they have characteristics in common. These movements include Marxism, feminism and Black Lives Matter and Extinction Rebellion. Another one that is not as well known is the BDS movement. Each of these movements could be described as ’woke’.
Feminism, of course, needs no introduction here other
than to say that while there are many forms of feminism on paper, Intersectional feminism won decades ago. This is so true that referring to feminism without further qualificiation is a reference to intersectional feminism.
Intersectional feminism concerns itself with the intersec-
tion of various grievances based on gender, ethnicity or sex- ual preferences. This set up feminism to be central to the woke continuum that was to come.
It also prompted some anti-feminists to start referring to
the grievance hierarchy in reference to the difficulties femi- nists have in adjudicating difference sorts of grievances.
BDS is short for boycott, divestment and sanctions. The
BDS movement is an anti-Israel movement. While it’s offi- cially opposed to Israel it seems to be anti-Jewish as well.
In 2018 some women’s marches in the US excluded Jew-
ish women’s groups. This is a good example of the types of problems encountered within intersectionality. Who’s grievances are more important?
Black Lives Matter was founded by three women, Pa-
trisse Cullors, Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi. Cullors has explicitely referred to herself and Alicia Garza as trained Marxists. During one interview Cullors commented on the wide range of philosophies she had read while attending a year-long course at the National School for Strategic Organ- ising (NSSO):
We spent the year reading, anything from Marx, to Lenin, to Mao, learning all types of global critical theory and about different campaigns across the world,. . .
Meanwhile Cullors has invested millions of US dollars in real estate. Some Marxism.
Information on what BLM truly believes used to be on
their website but was removed in September 2020:
We make our spaces family-friendly and en- able parents to fully participate with their chil- dren. We dismantle the patriarchal practice that requires mothers to work “double shifts” so that they can mother in private even as they partici- pate in public justice work. We disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear fam- ily structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families and “villages” that collec- tively care for one another, especially our chil- dren, to the degree that mothers, parents, and children are comfortable.
And later on the same page:
We foster a queer-affirming network. When we gather, we do so with the intention of freeing ourselves from the tight grip of heteronorma- tive thinking, or rather, the belief that all in the world are heterosexual (unless s/he or they disclose otherwise).”
Here we see clear links to feminism and Marxism.
BLM was ostensibly founded to assist Africa-Americans
but it was clear during the riots in 2020 that it was doing nothing of the sort. Management at the many American corporations that supported BLM at the time should be ashamed of themselves.
Extinction Rebellion is a radical environmental group
that is well known in the UK and Australia for disruptive protests. Extinction Rebellion aligns itself with feminism and BLM in embracing anti-Colonialism and also aligns it- self with BDS in taking an explicitely anti-Israel position.
Generally speaking groups like Extinction Rebellion are
pushing for a reduced standard of living to counter what they term as an imminent threat from climate change.
Movements These movement exist on a continuum. They don’t all agree with each other on everything. Their members don’t all agree. But they exist on a continuum and they work to- gether when it makes sense to do so.
This helps them to be evasive. They can deny an asso-
ciation with one of the other groups when needed but then join with them when it makes sense to work together. This gives them plausible deniability and has made it difficult for those outside of these movements to define them. Each of these movements have characteristics in common.
They tend to be good at manipulating language. They
redefine words in a manner reminicient of New Speak from Nineteen Eighty-Four and thus avoid clear definitions. Con- sider a word like Colonialism. Who can deny that colonial- ism happened? But they change the implied meaning.
I believe that since about 2015 feminism has been less
successful at manipulating language. They’re tending to produce more clear definitions which is making our job a lot easier. We can now direct responses at their clear definitions and discredit them.
A good example is toxic masculinity. They are increas-
ingly listing characteristics that they argue constitute toxic masculinity. In particular they talk about stoicism as lead- ing to toxic masculinity while stoicism is very much a double- edged sword. It can be destructive but it can also lead men to greatness.
These movements are intolerant of alternative view points
and tend to shout down opposition. They all seem to have been influenced by Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals.
They tend to be grass-roots and have little or no strong
leadership. Even BLM which has identifiable leaders has tended to be decentralised with different groups managing to act in a concerted effort with little coordination.
Many have noticed the apparent decentralised nature of
these groups. Some then posit that there must be a con- spiracy going on. Some even argue that George Soros must be involved.
George Soros was originally born in Hungary. He’s from
a non-observant Jewish family and survived the Nazi occu- pation of Hungary. I’m quite certain these events helped to shape his world view.
Soros funds various progressive groups and organisations
through his Open Societies Foundation but it is notable that the BDS movement has been critical of Soros for his invest- ments in Israel.
I reject the conspiracy explanation. I think something
simpler is going on. I believe these groups are effective be- cause the message and the concepts used are simple and easy to grasp.
I’m arguing these movements are organic, which is far
more dangerous. You can’t cut the head off the snake if it doesn’t have one.
Marxist-Feminist-BLM-BDS Continuum.
Extreme Environmentalism.
Not centrally organised. Grass roots.
Support decolonisation.
Many supporters tend to be sincere but they are divorced from the leadership of these movements.
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