There were some comments the other day that I thought should be expounded upon. The gist of the comments was that even if the woke are defeated this time, their ideas might come back into fashion. While I completely agree with the sentiment, I think it's important to note two things: (1) the woke will always be with us but (2) it's a mistake to think they will keep pushing the same ideas.
To understand what I'm talking about, realize that there is a chunk of the human race which simply relishes having power over/controlling others. This is the instinct which drives rapists: power and control (rape has nothing to do with sex, it's about feeling powerful). This is what drives internet trolls. It's what drives bullies. And so on. These are pathetic human beings who get off on imposing their will on other people. It's a genetic defect and about 1/3 of us suffer from it.
Why does this matter? Because this is who the woke are. They are pathetic people who crave control. They want that sense of power of being able to make other people do as they say. It gets them off. But at the same time, they don't want to feel like monsters and everyone knows that being a rapist makes you a monster. So they hide behind things that sound moral at the time, and they act vile in the name of virtue. These are the same people who turned Christianity into an inquisition... to save the souls of nonbelievers, not to get off on power. They imposed empires on brown people... to save them from their savagery, not to feel like Gods. They killed the middle classes and opened death camps in the names of the peasants of Russia and China... to help the peasants, not to get even with their betters. They backed Eugenics throughout the West... to protect the children they would abort or sterilize, not to make themselves feel genetically superior like Nietzsche's supermen. They helped Hitler round up Jews and other undesirables to protect the ignorant German masses. And so on. It goes up through NGOs engaging in neocolonialism, Islamic fundamentalism, and legal foundations subverting the will of the people.
Make no mistake: these people do not care about the cause, even as they seem to anguish over it. They simply hijack what they can use to make themselves the victims and the virtuous and they use those causes as a means of imposing their control on others. And when the causes burn out, they move on.
I would actually argue that movements like the communists, the feminists, environmentalists, unionists, religious "zealots" and the such were genuine and probably honorable intellectual movements at first. They may not have been good answers, but they were good faith attempts to solve the problems of their ages. But each got hijacked by these monsters who turned them into weapons of control. Look how the Civil Rights Movement went from equality to the hate of BLM. Look how feminism went from women gaining rights to angry lesbianism trying to destroy men, inventing a fake rape culture and the ridiculous attempt to seize power known as #metoo. Look how communism went from an economic theory of disparity to death camps and secret police.
I think these people are drawn to social movements, not because they care about the movements, but because they see them as offering the chance to impose control. "Oh, the world likes to save baby seals? rubs hands together I can use that to control what people drive or even eat, what they pay employees, to race bait! Wait till they have to order their lives the way I tell them!" Soon, these people take over the movements and attack society.
The sad truth is that these people are always there, always ready to steal a movement. It's in their nature. And they will use a movement as long as it's useful and then they move on... and they don't care to what. Right now, the highest moral calling in the West is tolerance, so they seize the tolerance movement and use it to impose extreme intolerance on the world. When tolerance loses its power, and it will, they'll find something new. Another banking crisis? Time to rail against THE Jew Banker... maybe even occupy Wall Street. Gays go libertarian? Maybe it's time for a revival of old fashioned morality. Militant atheism becomes Militant Islam becomes the Great Catholic Revival. It doesn't matter. Whatever is trending in society becomes the thing. They don't care what the issue is, only that it gives them power.
So we will never be rid of them because some portion of the population is genetically inclined toward hate and control, but the woke's issues are almost played out and won't be back.
Thoughts?
To understand what I'm talking about, realize that there is a chunk of the human race which simply relishes having power over/controlling others. This is the instinct which drives rapists: power and control (rape has nothing to do with sex, it's about feeling powerful). This is what drives internet trolls. It's what drives bullies. And so on. These are pathetic human beings who get off on imposing their will on other people. It's a genetic defect and about 1/3 of us suffer from it.
Why does this matter? Because this is who the woke are. They are pathetic people who crave control. They want that sense of power of being able to make other people do as they say. It gets them off. But at the same time, they don't want to feel like monsters and everyone knows that being a rapist makes you a monster. So they hide behind things that sound moral at the time, and they act vile in the name of virtue. These are the same people who turned Christianity into an inquisition... to save the souls of nonbelievers, not to get off on power. They imposed empires on brown people... to save them from their savagery, not to feel like Gods. They killed the middle classes and opened death camps in the names of the peasants of Russia and China... to help the peasants, not to get even with their betters. They backed Eugenics throughout the West... to protect the children they would abort or sterilize, not to make themselves feel genetically superior like Nietzsche's supermen. They helped Hitler round up Jews and other undesirables to protect the ignorant German masses. And so on. It goes up through NGOs engaging in neocolonialism, Islamic fundamentalism, and legal foundations subverting the will of the people.
Make no mistake: these people do not care about the cause, even as they seem to anguish over it. They simply hijack what they can use to make themselves the victims and the virtuous and they use those causes as a means of imposing their control on others. And when the causes burn out, they move on.
I would actually argue that movements like the communists, the feminists, environmentalists, unionists, religious "zealots" and the such were genuine and probably honorable intellectual movements at first. They may not have been good answers, but they were good faith attempts to solve the problems of their ages. But each got hijacked by these monsters who turned them into weapons of control. Look how the Civil Rights Movement went from equality to the hate of BLM. Look how feminism went from women gaining rights to angry lesbianism trying to destroy men, inventing a fake rape culture and the ridiculous attempt to seize power known as #metoo. Look how communism went from an economic theory of disparity to death camps and secret police.
I think these people are drawn to social movements, not because they care about the movements, but because they see them as offering the chance to impose control. "Oh, the world likes to save baby seals? rubs hands together I can use that to control what people drive or even eat, what they pay employees, to race bait! Wait till they have to order their lives the way I tell them!" Soon, these people take over the movements and attack society.
The sad truth is that these people are always there, always ready to steal a movement. It's in their nature. And they will use a movement as long as it's useful and then they move on... and they don't care to what. Right now, the highest moral calling in the West is tolerance, so they seize the tolerance movement and use it to impose extreme intolerance on the world. When tolerance loses its power, and it will, they'll find something new. Another banking crisis? Time to rail against THE Jew Banker... maybe even occupy Wall Street. Gays go libertarian? Maybe it's time for a revival of old fashioned morality. Militant atheism becomes Militant Islam becomes the Great Catholic Revival. It doesn't matter. Whatever is trending in society becomes the thing. They don't care what the issue is, only that it gives them power.
So we will never be rid of them because some portion of the population is genetically inclined toward hate and control, but the woke's issues are almost played out and won't be back.
Thoughts?
Not exactly the same thing you're talking about here, but I have an idea that part of the reason why everything always seems to be going left is because that's how things get defined. Whichever way things are going--up, down, forwards, backwards--we just think of it as "left." It looks a little different depending on the timescale. In the short-term, it takes the form of making whatever idea the left is chasing look popular, and tearing down popular ideas they don't like as "populist," "astroturf," or "rising anti-goodness." In the long term, it takes the form of Democrats claiming the legacy of Abraham Lincoln (and, increasingly, Reagan) and pretending that George Wallace and the KKK were Republicans.
ReplyDeleteSpot on, both of you, and it really is vile on all levels. What's worse is when you've seen this crap happen enough times, both from studying history and seeing how these things always unfold, you can see where this is frequently the camel's nose under the tent but good luck trying to make that argument without sounding crazy and/or setting yourself up to be attacked as the actual vile person in the equation. It's always bothered me that nobody has ever stuck to a solid "this far and no further" line when they start pushing things farther and farther in the name of social progress and I'm still not completely sure why that's the case. Regardless, let's hope more people get on the ball and get better about watching for and fighting back against this crap soon. The stakes are still too high to be bumbling around.
ReplyDeleteHi all! Been a long time!
ReplyDeleteI called simply the Arc of a movement. Happens every time. I witnessed this "phenomenon" from within the Tea Party and from across the street during Occupy Wall Street. At first they both were well-meaning sane movements to make a solid focused issues from Centrist on both sides of the political spectrum (middle-left to middle right). The point of the TP was strickly fiscal - demanding accountability and fiscal responsibility from our government (audit the Fed). But then politicians started seeing power they might gain by moving in, pushed out the focused leadership, and the whole movement changed. (my exit point in the TP) and began moving into very conservative views on social issues.
Same happened with the OWS with the same result except different goals.
Rush referred to them once as "permanently offended". He was right of course. I've been around those types all my life. When I was a young airman one of the junior officers referred to us as "violent drunks",,,our AMMO chief told us to take it as a compliment.
ReplyDelete