Left not Woke

woke, adj., alert to, and concerned about, social injustice and discrimination

woke, adj., actively aware of systemic injustices and prejudices, especially those relating to civil and human rights

woke, adj., a non-bigot

Woke Mind Virus, 6 August 2024.

Contents

Preface
I thought I was woke!
Waking up
Problems
DEI
Am I infected?
Left is not woke
T25
Snow White - a hero of the Left?
References

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1. Preface

Woke is a problem, was a problem, became a problem, remains a problem as of January 2025, especially for the Left, as the two are often conflated in public discussion. On the positive side it was seen to be a manifestation of socio-cultural innovation driven by compassion. However, since its inception during the mid' 2010s, the phenomenon variously labelled woke (refer definitions above) generated violent activities directed towards peaceful protestors; broke relationships across the socio-economic divide, including long-standing friendships; was manipulated by the media and organisations across the political spectrum; and used by government and business in adoption of misinformation and disinformation programs, whereby they were actually the perpetrators rather than the police. Woke contained elements which were proven problematic, and the Left went missing in critiquing the phenomenon and ensuring that what it sought to achieve through the birth of woke actually remained true to long-held Leftist ideals. The fact that the Right jumped on board, unrestrained in a manner morally or ethically held by the Left, and both used and abused the agenda, expanded the problem. A genuine, social justice initiative became the so-called monstrous Woke Mind Virus which the Rockwell Country Band would sing about in August 2024, and Elon Musk (a Democrat turned Republican) would claim caused the death of his son (Robledo 2024). With subsequent relentless attacks from media stars such as Musk, Jordan Peterson and Donald Trump, supported by a barrage of vilifying YouTube commentators and right-wing politicians and media, woke was in trouble and many long-term Leftist were abandoning ship. By 2025 one former adherent was publically apologising for prior associated actions, and seeking to return to traditional Leftist ideals. This is seen in the following January 2025 interview between Benjamin A. Boyce and a woman known only as Tahli.

When you're so woke you trans your own wife, Benjamin A. Boyce, 5 January 2025, YouTube, duration: 154.12 minutes.

Though lengthy, the interview presents a first-hand account by a former woke acolyte and Leftist who, in hindsight, is critical of her own behaviour and beliefs during the period from the late 2010s through to early 2020s when woke was at its height. Tahli, as a psychology major, is able to give both a personal and academic perspective to her analysis of the phenomena and how it played out on both campus and within personal spaces real and online. This video was first viewed after the following discussion was published. However, as it supports many of the statements presented below, it has been included as a preface.

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2. I thought I was Woke!

The present writer (born 1956) is an Australian of the Left, and has been since youth. He is, however, both supporter and critic, where such is warranted. He abhors core elements of the Right's political, social and economic agenda, and despite the Left's losing its focus over recent years, there is no way he would ever be a traitor to the cause; not in his mind, anyway. However, the writer is not a mute bystander, whinging on the sidelines. Some of his comments in recent years around issues labelled woke have been virulently attacked from within those elements of the Left who are actively pursuing the agenda discussed below. They are genuine in their beliefs and concerns, just as the writer is. However, like many others, he was surprised and concerned at the intensity of attacks towards fellow Leftists who were critical of what was happening. Many were subsequently "cancelled" or expelled from the new woke tribe, and left to wonder if they were truly Left any longer. All of this was very confusing. When your enemy's enemy is your friend, and your friend's friend is your enemy, life can get very tough. It is perhaps even more so then when your enemy is actually your friend or ally, even if only on select issues.

Australia has not been excluded from woke. This is understandable as it remains a close ally, both politically and culturally, with the United States and Great Britain, the prime movers in regards to woke. This can be seen noted in the following video interview by an English presenter with a Sky News correspondent who associates with the Left, wherein frequent mention is made of woke and its more salacious and problematic outcomes or associations. It is difficult to hear for someone who considers themselves Left and comes at issues primarily from the position of equity and compassion, which is not the direction seen here.

Andrew Gold, Australia's sick grooming scandal cover-up - Will Kingston, Heretics, 10 January 2025, YouTube, duration: 59.05 minutes.

On a personal note, the writer was never a student of modern history or politics, preferring instead to study in high school works such as Thucydides' The Peloponnesian War - a classic Greek text - and later the early colonial history of his hometown of Bulli, Australia, including that of the Indigenous people. Gradually made aware of autistic (aspergers / neurodivergent) abilities, the writer was long suspicious of philosophical fence-sitting and cynical when it came to the activities of government and big business. The many facts and lists he compiled proved him right and them wrong in regards to his suspicions. Paranoia? No, just pragmatism leading to cynicism. Having grown up in a lower middle class housing commission estate, the writer went on to become a community activist and - surprisingly - an Australian federal politician between 2002-2004, as a member of the Greens. By the time he was elected he definitely knew he was a Lefty, and was totally at ease with that and the Greens policy platform. He would later realise, after he had left politics, that his personal beliefs were closely aligned with what academics would define as Socialism, but which he had no clue about at the time.

Holding a simplistic view of politics - because his Rainman-like head was full of too many other interesting things to bother with a deep dive into political ideology - there was a nice fit with the so-called Left, tending towards the middle of that group. The writer had no real understanding of what terms such as Marxism, Communism or even Neoliberalism meant, especially in the Australian context. He had Leftist academic friends who went down those rabbit holes, and actually wrote about the phenomenon of his election success, brief though it was. The fact that the Australian Liberal Party and its partners the Nationals were extremely right wing (i.e. definitely not liberal) did not help alleviate his confusion and aversion to politics, politicians and the language of the genre. To the writer, those on the so-called Right were simply viewed as the monied people or the conservatives who did not focus on social welfare issues such as health, education, welfare, the environment and heritage, peace, or human rights. These were the bread and butter of the writer's ex-houso world. The right-wingers seemed to lack compassion, with money-making their primary aim in life; at least it was for the most powerful of that sector of society, and for their political acolytes. Politics seemed so simple back in the early 2000s when the writer graced the floor of the House of Representatives in the federal parliament building, Canberra, and political ignorance was bliss amidst the practicalities of parliamentary democracy and trying to make universities free again, increase funding to public schools and ensure that Australians had access to a quality health service. Housing? Well that was a big problem even then, and became worse over the following years. The environment? Well, senators Bob Brown and Kerrie Nettle took care of that in the Senate.

Coming forward to 2024 everything had changed. No longer did politics appear linear - like a snake slithering along the ground from left to right, with clear distinctions at both ends of the spectrum. It now seemed to be an ouroboros, wherein the snake was circling around consuming itself, with the extreme Left and the extreme Right coalescing on numerous issues. Needless to say, this left the writer even more confused. "I have not changed, have I?" he thought to himself as Christmas 2024 approached. "Or have I...."

All of this brings us to the present article, or blog (such a horrible word!) which was composed in an attempt to sort out what exactly was going on, both inside the consciousness of the writer - not his physical brain, but his external, non-material, eternal consciousness - and outside of it in the wider (Western) world. Significantly, in the middle of all this, around 2019 a word appeared on the scene which would become representative of a new social and cultural world order. That word was WOKE.

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3. Waking up

The present discussion was brought about when a friend posted on Facebook on 4 December 2024 the following defining elements of what is commonly referred to as Woke:

10 Symptoms of Woke Mind Virus

You read books, and don't burn them.
You embrace science.
You are willing to change your mind when new information becomes available.
You understand that most issues aren't black and white.
You believe in true equality for all people.
You like to share.
You embrace cooperation.
You respect others' rights.
You believe culture and the arts has value.
You care for the planet and all its life.

To many people this would seem reasonable, and noble even, especially to a person from the traditional Left. It represents the very definition of a "nice" person. To the writer / politician in 2002-2004 it would have been spot on, no argument, and all ten boxes would have been ticked. On the surface they appeared representative of many of the traditional traits of the Left and those of a compassionate disposition. However, when read in 2024 the writer's mind was immediately flooded with instances of where the Left no longer adhered to these principles or statements, at least the woke manifestation did not. Participants were now anything but "nice" - they were burning books, disregarding science, closing their minds to free and open debate, disrespecting rights, and censoring the arts and cultural heritage. Surely not! Was this list a joke, or sincere? Why was the writer confused, and why did he see this as a parody? What had the Left become, and was woke Left or Right or both?

Part of the reason for this confusion was that the Right had weaponized the activities of the Left with vigour since the mid' 2010s. "Nothing new there!" you might say, and you would be correct. The fight between the Left and Right has been vigorous and vicious throughout the writer's lifetime. However, for some reason when it comes to woke, the traditional manner in which the Left had dealt with similar initiatives was abandoned, and it appeared in many instances to turn on itself. For example, it had always been important to the Left that it be open to criticism and commentary from within. Consensus was valued, though it is not always achieved in reality. The abolition of internal criticism in recent years was a devastating feature of the so-called Woke Mind Virus. This article seeks to confront that, in a manner which may, on the surface, appear to reflect the criticism of the Right, but is in fact a criticism from within the Left which seeks remedies and a return to traditional Left ideals and values.

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4. Problems

The woke agenda may be screwed in its form as of December 2024, but at its heart it has merit. Unfortunately, the list the writer encountered on Facebook on 4 December 2024 no longer rang true. They say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. So here is some Christmas pudding - exhibits 1 through 10 and beyond which suggest that these statements are not definitions of woke, but merely reminiscences of past Leftist ideals which are in a spiralling process of abandonment. What follows is the ideal, supplemented by an example, or examples, of the counter reality:

You read books, and don't burn them.

Counter: You ban books and burn them, as in the case of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, because of the author's pro-feminist statements which are wrongly presented as transphobic. Some banning and burning is also associated with witches and the occult. But that is something more related to right-wing phobia. Another example is Ian Fleming's James Bond novels which were now subject to censorship in order to align with present-day woke-related criteria. Perhaps worse concerned the books of children's author Roald Dahl which were being expurgated, censored and rewritten to remove so-called objectionable content. Censorship had returned after being defeated across the Western world back in the sixties, and the film industry was a notable victim, with a host of staff attached to companies and projects to enforce the DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) agenda in support of woke.

Trans activists burn Harry Potter books, The Daily Mail, 23 March 2023.

You embrace science.

Counter: You reject science. For example, biological sex is not the same as sexual identity. A man who identifies as a transgender woman is not a woman; a woman who identifies as a transgender man is not a man. He is a transgender woman; she is a transgender man. Medical procedures and the use of hormone supplements do not alter this scientific fact. Futhermore, this is a basic fact upon which human society is based.
Counter: You reject science, such as the scientific evidence surrounding the COVID-19 virus and its treatment. Instead, a conspiracy is mounted by governments and the United Nations to push a pro-Big Pharma agenda through the dispersal of untested and dangerously toxic vaccines. Censorship of countering academic research and social media postings is widespread and initiated by government intelligence agencies such as the American CIA and supported without significant opposition or ongoing critical assessment by the Left political parties and organisations.

Facebook censorship, 2 September 2024.
Counter: You reject and cover up scientific innovation and discovery. The existence of Free Energy and other advanced technologies such as anti-gravity as utilised by the United States military-industrial complex since the 1950s are not dispersed to the world in order to eliminate the Climate Change crisis brought about by the continuing use of dangerous fossil fuels and nuclear energy generation. The science supporting such technologies is hidden and proactively censored. Physicists support the coverup. Political parties across the board ignore the issue. The Left remains mute around such issues, preferring to pursue renewable energy options such as EVs, solar and wind and phasing out the use of coal. These are mere stop-gap measures in comparison with the ultimate adoption of Free Energy technologies. Green groups actually refer to wind and solar as free energy, when they are not.

You are willing to change your mind when new information becomes available.

Counter: Your mind is now closed tightly shut, not willing to listen to divergent views. For example, COVID-19 and the benefits in dealing with the symptoms through the use of drugs such as Ivermectin and other treatments are rejected by government, the media and political parties and public and private organisations in lock-step with the disinformation and misinformation dispersed by government and those with a vested interest in the dispersal of the vaccines. The medical fraternity supports use of the drug but is censored or forbidden to promote it. During COVID-19 the US FDA officially rejected the use of Ivermectin in treating the COVID-19. A 2023 academic study revealed the follow: * Ivermectin, an FDA-approved anti-parasitic agent, was found to be an inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 replication in the laboratory; * Ivermectin may be effective for the treatment of early-onset mild COVID-19 in adult patients; * Early viral clearance of SARS-CoV-2 was observed in Ivermectin treated patients; * Remission of fever, cough and sore throat did not differ among treatment groups. No severe adverse event was observed (Ahmed et al. 2023).
Counter: You refuse to accept evidence of damaging behaviours and processes. Sections of the Left promote an extreme transgender agenda which subverts the rights of other groups in the community, and has negative impacts upon the transgender community and related LGBTI+ communities. These include the detrimental affects associated with transitioning young people through the use of hormonal drugs, invasive surgical medical treatments and a policy of not questioning the individual concerns of young people regarding their evolving identity.

You understand that most issues aren't black and white.

Counter: Opinions are now non-negotiable and nuance is not accepted. For example, individuals are labelled transphobic if they promote the rights of women as against the rights of men presenting as transgender women, especially in sports and women's spaces. Australian Greens leader Adam Bandt stated that "Trans rights are non-negotiable" in the face of concerns that they discriminate against the basic rights of women. This revealed the lack of nuanced understanding of this complex issue, and the strict adherence to a policy which in actuality subverted other policies which were anti-discriminatory and addressed basic human rights. For the Left to go down this path and prioritize human rights in this manner is discriminatory.

You believe in true equality for all people.

Counter: You now believe that some people are more equal than others. For example, you discriminate in favour of transgender individuals over women. As a result, free speech is being attacked with virulence by sections of the Left. For example, members of the Australian Greens wrongly accused in parliament a peaceful women's rights activist protest of being transphobic and aligned with Nazi sympathisers. The protest was lead by a British member of the Labour Party, and sponsored locally by a member of the Victorian Liberal Party. Greens members were also vilified internally for attending the rally. The fact was any minor criticism or critique of the transgender agenda was met with howls of "You're a transphobe!" or a TERF, i.e., a gender-critical feminist or Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist. In turn, those making such accusations were called woke radical feminists by the Right.

You like to share.

Counter: You have stopped engaging in open discussion on present-day issues, and have become part of the Cancel Culture phenomena.

Counter: You hide the truth. For example, in dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak, you adhered strictly to the government agenda and refused to present a rationale and critical assessment of that agenda as it was rolled out, despite evidence available for that to take place.

You embrace cooperation.

Counter: You refuse to cooperate with those promoting issues worthy of cooperation, based purely on political affiliation. For example, the Australian Greens did not support a motion in the Australian Senate to investigate the abnormal increase in death rates following the end of the COVID-19 pandemic because it was proposed by right-wing parties. This was an issue affecting all Australians, across all demographics, and therefore worthy of consideration and investigation.

You respect others' rights.

Counter: You no longer respect aspects of the innate rights of women, as against those of transgender males who identify as women; and to a lesser extent those of transgender women who identify as men and seek to present as men. The following quote from Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling on 11 April 2024 summarises this debate, answering a query as to whether ex-Potter actors Danielle Radcliffe and Emma Watson would be exempt / safe from her wrath: ....Not safe, I'm afraid. Celebs who cosied up to a movement intent on eroding women's hard-won rights and who used their platforms to cheer on the transitioning of minors can save their apologies for traumatised detransitioners and vulnerable women reliant on single sex spaces. In opposition, Potter actress Emma Watson stated: Trans people are who they say they are and deserve to live their lives without being constantly questioned or told they aren't who they say they are. The divide remains extreme.
Counter: You no longer respect the right to free speech. Cancel Culture is evidence of that, as are the violent protests against peaceful women's rights activist protests.

You believe culture and the arts has value.

Counter: You apply censorship and censorial regimes to the arts and culture, banning both historical and present-day material which may be part of artistic expression and not seek to promote violence or racism. For example, a version of Homer's The Odyssey is rewritten with an anti-patriarchy censorial stance, with Emily Wilson saying that she is: ...making visible the cracks in the patriarchal fantasy.

You care for the planet and all its life.

Counter: You promote technologies which are less harmful to the environment, though nevertheless have harmful and toxic elements, both physically and socially. For example, lithium-ion batteries and toxic materials in solar panels.

Counter: You encouraged medical treatments which had harmful effects and result in many cases in deaths. It could be claimed that the mindless acceptance of the COVID-19 agenda resulted in the needless loss of life amongst a wide demographic, and that a more traditional approach to a pandemic, through the use of known and similar treatments such as adaptation of the flu vaccine, would likely have resulted in less loss of life.

Counter: You encouraged medical treatments which had harmful effects and result in many cases in long-term suffering. It could be argued that the less than critical adoption of the transgender transitioning regime and use of harmful pharmaceuticals such as puberty blockers and hormone treatments, alongside invasive medical procedures such as mastectomies and penile removals have resulted in harmful effects on individual lives. The number of people subsequently seeking de-transition is testament to that, as is the long-term ill-effects of treatments being suffered by many of those who began transitioning in their youth.

It should be remembered that in many instances actions initiated by woke individuals are not only coming from those aligned to the Left, but also from those from of the Right who seek to inflame situations such as protests. As such, complaints which conflate woke with the so-called extreme Left are not accurate. In fact, there are plenty of woke participants from the Right.

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5. DEI dilemma

One element of the so-called Woke Mind Virus is DEI - the organisational framework centred around Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. It seeks to ...promote the fair treatment and full participation of all people, particularly groups who have historically been underrepresented or subject to discrimination on the basis of identity or disability. This process has, since the mid' 2010s, been applied throughout businesses and non-profit organisations as part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals which tie-in financial incentives with implementation of DEI programs.

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Unfortunately these government and business-led programs have had negative financial and organizational outcomes at the corporate and individual levels, with the mantra Go woke, go broke becoming louder as the 2020s rolled out. Reasons include the reality that DEI criteria have replaced traditional merit-based employment practices, to the detriment of organisational economic sustainability. For this reason alone DEI programs are fading from the scene, and the various elements integrated within HR departments are disappearing. The pursuit of diversity has been shown to be inherently inequitable, as it prioritizes identity (sexual, racial, etc.) over ability or merit. The failure of the Left to publically critique this initiative is yet another example of where its traditional efforts at seeking justice and removal of discrimination has resulted in outcomes which are in themselves unjust and discriminatory. Once again, woke has been shown to not be truly Left and the failure of some of the ten elements outlined above is revealed. For example, #5. You believe in true equality for all people is not implemented in the workplace, but replaced by You believe in discrimination based on identity, as opposed to merit; or, #8. You respect others' rights is replaced by You reject the right to be employed based on merit.

The transgender agenda was also brought into this DEI framework as part of the Diversity element, with sexual identity and gender identity politics integrated within HR department programs. For example, employees were forced to adopt gender identity pronouns, thereby in some instances publically revealing their sexual identity and invading their privacy. With over 4 million views on YouTube as of December 2024, the right-wing Sky News Australia July 2023 report on firms suffering from the Go Woke, Go Broke phenomena revealed the extent of the problem in the workplace.

Go woke, go broke: The fall of mighty brands to the woke agenda, Sky News Australia, 13 July 2023.

Punitive measures were also often implemented if workers did not co-operate with such policies or in any way criticised them. As a result, there was widespread opposition to some of these programs as they were seen as an invasion of privacy and without merit. As of writing a dispute over these issues is taking place on Jaguar UK, involving the pursuit of a woke DEI agenda to the detriment of the company's financial standing and the welfare of its workers. Once again, the Left was seen to be behind many of these initiatives - including at Jaguar - but in reality businesses and governments of all political persuasions had been pursuing related programs since the 1960s (e.g. Affirmative Action) and hijacking HR departments and unions. With the Right supportive due to promised financial incentives (which never eventuated), and the Left mute regarding the negative outcomes to workers (which were significant), DEI was doomed to die, and Go woke, go broke became a significant reality.

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6. Am I infected?

The Rockwell Country Band, in the lyrics of their 2024 song Are you infected with the woke mind virus? lay out their views on the symptoms, as follows:

Watch out! A deadly virus is plaguing every nation
It started in big cities and mostly gets the younger generation.
If you go to a college you might become infected
and now commonsense within your brain will be rejected
You'll criticise everyone and act so righteous
Here are signs you're infected by the woke mind virus.

You wear masks all day and your hair turns blue
You get a septum nose ring and scribble scrabble tattoos
You read the Huff Post and watch shitty politicians to endorse
You think men should be allowed to play in women's sports.
You're infected!

Now once you've got the virus there's no turning back
You want every Disney character to be K and Black
You demand everybody get vaxed and boosted
You watch people party and wonder why you weren't included
You'll always be in a bad mood, want to cause a fuss
Here are signs you are infected by the woke mind virus.

You want to censor everybody and live in a bubble
You protest for terrorists and block traffic to cause trouble
You don't tip your Uber driver because you're so cheap
Everybody laughs at you and thinks you're a creep.
You're infected.

An analysis of the lyrics presents the following issues or symptoms, which can be compared with the 10 Symptoms of Woke Mind Virus discussed above.

Woke is like a virus, spreading around the world.

Comment: This is true, though it has mainly spread to the Western world, though the whole world is to varying degrees affected by its outcomes and products. This is obviously a comparison with the COVID-19 pandemic, which it preceded.

Woke started in the big cities.

Comment: True. It arose in metropolitan areas and within higher education facilities, then spread to businesses as part of ESG and DEI initiatives tied to promised or real incentive financial returns.

Woke mainly affects the younger generation.

Comment: True, though this is a result of education by the older generation who took it up and ran with it. So it can be said to have spread across the generations, though with less uptake by the older generations.

Commonsense is rejected.

Comment: In many instances this is true, as ideology overrules commonsense and tradition. The most obvious example is the abandonment of science with the replacement of biological sex by gender identity fluidity.

Individuals become hyper-critical.

Comment: True. People close their minds to alternate views, refuse to discuss their own views, and a vociferous and often violent in their rejection of diverse opinions. The concept of micro-regressions is linked to this outcome.

Individuals act righteously.

Comment: True. They sincerely adhere to the totality of their beliefs, rejecting all others

Individuals wear masks all day.

Comment: This only occurs in extreme cases, and for people who feel especially physically vulnerable to the COVID-19 virus. This can be genuine, and is undoubtedly the result of the official campaign to scare people into taking vaccines against the virus.

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7. Left is not woke

Whilst on the surface it may appear that all ten of these items are still being supported by the Left, there are unfortunately prominent examples - as noted above - where they are clearly not. This has given rise to the present confusion by the writer over what exactly Woke is referring to. As moral philosopher Susan Nieman noted in her 2023 book Left is Not Woke:

.....wokeism conflicts with ideas that have guided the Left for more than 200 years: a commitment to universalism over tribalism, a firm distinction between justice and power, and a belief in the possibility of progress. Without these ideas, the woke will continue to undermine their own goals and drift, inexorably and unintentionally, towards the Right (Nieman 2023).

So it is that the lofty views of the Left at the turn of the millennium, and for much of the previous century, were initially weaponized by the Right as political correctness and then by sections of the Left itself as woke. The beating around the head from afar was followed by a self-inflicted shot to the foot. The reality of woke was, by 2023, fully revealed, much to the distress of many on the Left. There was a new form of extreme Left, and it was not the dreaded (traditional) Communism or Socialism. The hard Right, in turn, took up some of the issues traditionally supported by the Left. The 2024 US election revealed evidence of this when disenfranchised Left-leaning Americans abandoned the Democrats in droves to the point of re-electing Donald Trump, a proven problem, to say the least. Members of the Left who have spoken out along the way have been sacked, Cancelled, vilified, labelled "extreme right" in their views (probably the worst thing you can do to a Lefty) and generally dismissed and ignored. Over time woke has been revealed to be, in part, a wolf in sheep's clothing. It has given rise to the following revised definitions:

woke, adj., supports tribalism over universalism, power over justice, and regression over progression

woke, adj., someone pushing identity-only politics

woke / wokeism, n., an ideology used to obscure power and funnel people into left/right political fandoms – ensuring culture war arguments that solve nothing

The writer present the reader with the following declaration of independence which is also, at the same time, a statement of to seemingly antiquated and regressive principles:

I am not Woke
I am Left.
Socialist, compassionate
Environmentalist.
Pacifist, humanitarian.

I am not stupid
Ignorant
or QUIET.
I doth protest...
It is my right!

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5. What does woke do?

Woke burns book - e.g. Harry Potter, historic texts which are seen to no align with current ideals.
Woke disrespects rights - e.g. women's rights, gay and lesbian rights, transsexual rights, the rights of children to be protected.
Woke is hateful - e,g., Cancel Culture and public protest against various groups
Woke is violent e.g., against Women's Rights demonstrations, TERFS and those they identify as transphobic
Woke censors - e.g. Roald Dahl, Ian Fleming, J.K. Rowling, Homer, TV, film, social media
Woke rewrites the past - e.g. desecration of statues, censoring of history books, documentaries
Woke ignores science - e.g. management of Covid-19 pandemic, chemical and surgical transitioning
Woke is fascist / authoritarian - e.g. management of Covid-19 pandemic, censorship, Cancel Culture
Woke does not respect freedom of speech - e.g., increasing censorship as part of the misinformation / disinformation agenda, on social media sites such as Google, Facebook and Instagram
Woke cancels people - e.g. J.K. Rowling, various actors and actresses, children cancel parents and friends
Woke is phobic - e.g. extreme reactions to criticism or so-called micro-aggression, such as in regard to the transgender agenda
Woke is not Left - e.g. it has been weaponized in certain instances by the right and in an authoritarian, fascist manner
Woke is tribal - e.g. it is not open to criticism, it cancels people for their belief, and adheres to ideologies in a cultish manner
Woke rejects artistic freedom - e.g. it uses elements such as the DEI agenda to stifle creativity and freedom of speech in the arts
Woke is politically extreme (to the Left and Right and Middle) - e.g. many of its elements have derived from the extreme of widely held beliefs. For example, support for the gay and lesbian agenda gave rise to unreasonable elements of the transgender agenda, as in the refusal to accept biological gender as fact, overriding gender identity, which is merely individual belief.

The litany of crimes in the name of woke and associated ideologies is extensive.

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8. T25

Wokeness is evil..... (Marcus Dib 2023)

With woke entering its second decade as of writing (January 2025), it is worthwhile reflecting on how society got to this point, and the important role transgenderism and gender identity politics played in the evolution of woke as outlined above. The writer is not transphobic - never was, never will be. There is no innate strong dislike or prejudice against transgender people. However, the writer is definitely critical of aspects of the transgender movement as it has manifest since the early to mid' 2010s, just as there was legitimate criticisms of the woke agenda.

At the outset of this discussion, it is important to state that: Transgenderism in 2025 is based on a lie. That lie, which was first promulgated in the early 2010s, is that you can change your biological sex. You cannot. There is no way an individual can change their sex as present upon birth. In all practical reality 100% of human beings are born either male or female. Yes, there is a very small percentage where, due to abnormal genetic development, biological sex is indeterminate or confused at birth. Putting that small percentage to one side in this discussion, we are left with the male and female biological sex paradigm. That is the way it has been for humans on earth for literally millions of years, and it is likely to remain so.

The following recent comment by a transitioner is relevant, as is the interview thereafter. It provided the following preface: Marcus Dib, known by many as The Offensive Tranny on YouTube, is a biological woman. However, after being diagnosed with Gender Dysphoria Marcus decided to transition and is now living life as a male. Marcus will be the first to confirm that he is in fact not a he but a she living as a he. Marcus is not delusional at all and is quite aware of how gender ideology is destroying the lives of young kids.

Let's talk about Elliot Page, The Offensive Tranny, 8 January 2025, YouTube, duration: 7.08 minutes. A trans man (born a woman) talks about the issue as a mental illness related to gender dysphoria.

Marcus Dib: Why I am Transsexual, not Transgender, Melody Rachel, 4 September 2023, YouTube, duration: 39.18 minutes.

Transsexualism and transvestism have been around for centuries, and for all that time, at least prior to the the 2010s, they were based upon the fact of people presenting to the world in a sex which is opposite to their biological sex. For example, women would present as men, and men would present as women. It was all about presenting superficially to the world as a person of the opposite sex to their birth sex. The driver for this was often genuine feelings of misplaced gender identity. It was less so a fetish, though often seen as such by members of the public. Transsexuals or transvestites, when encountered, were usually accepted in many areas, perceived as harmless and, in many cases, entertaining, with their emphasis on cross-dressing or more substantially changing their outward appearance. They would not publically argue that they were actually of the opposite sex simply because of their change in physical appearance. By the early 2010s most people in Western and Asian societies had come to terms with that. It was no big issue and common in locales where gay homosexual men, lesbian women, transsexuals and bisexuals would frequent to create safe spaces. However, that was all to change during the 2010s. Why?

Well, the present writer's theory, and that of other commentators, is that by the mid 2010s, with the gay marriage debate settled and gay, lesbian and bisexual rights having been dealt with largely in the Western world following decades of hard fought activism, those people and groups who were activists and supporters (though not necessarily members) were now looking for another area to pursue and direct their energies. As a result, they moved their focus from the L (lesbian), G (gay) and B (bisexual) areas over to the T, which had traditionally referred to transsexualism and transvestism, but was expanded under the banner of transgenderism. These supporters did not stop there, for by the end of the decade the acronym LGBT had now become LGBTIQA+ and, as of 2025, continues to expand. Also, and most importantly, the activists changed the very definition of transgenderism. From merely "presenting" as a person of the opposite sex, one was told that an individual with gender dysphoria (i.e. the distress a person experiences due to a mismatch between their gender identity — their personal sense of their own gender — and their [biological] sex) could now actually change physically who they were. But that was a lie, as it is impossible to change your biological sex.

One of the first things that was done by the activists was to drop use of the term biological sex, and replace it with the concept of sex assigned at birth, as though it was now not a fact of science, but merely the opinion of a doctor or nurse. This insidious use and abuse of language would become common across the transgender agenda as it was rolled out.

The fact that it is impossible to change one's biological sex was ignored or denied, and all the experience and weight of those activist organisations and individuals that had pursued LGBT rights since the 1960s were now focussed on transgenderism. And whilst this was initially and primarily driven by the Left, the Right quickly jumped on board. As a result, political parties, big business, and governments, including medical an educational facilities, declared "transgender rights are not negotiable" and pursued a legalistic, bureaucratic, anti-scientific, anti-socially responsible agenda which saw the introduction of, for example, the ability to change one's birth certificate, to be forced to identify one's sexual orientation via pronouns, to automatically affirm a statement by a child in regard to their perceived (and evolving) sexual orientation, the administration of hormone and other drugs to enhance transitioning to the opposite sex, alongside radical and invasive medical and surgical treatments which could not, in most cases, be reversed, and punitive measures to support claims of transphobia or discrimination by any individual who should critically comment or take actions against any aspect of the agenda.

These are just some of the outcomes of the push of a radical transgender agenda. It was extreme, such that by the early 2020s laws stated that men who had transitioned to present as women, were now actually women in all senses of the word, including legal, and could participate in women's sport, have access to women's spaces such as prisons and refuges, and take legal action if they were not referred to as a woman by a member of the public. Biological sex had been replaced in law by gender identity and one's individual perception of that. This was a radical change in a societal norm.

Remember, you cannot change your biology. It is innate. Everyone is either male or female, with the very, very small percentage of the population born with indeterminate sex. Of course, this statement ignores the issue of gender identity. But that is the point. Gender identity is not biological sex. The two are distinct and should not, and should never have been, presented as a single connected entity. One is physical, the other is non-physical; one is universal, based on scientific and undeniable fact, whilst the other is merely a personal, individual feeling or perception. Both are significant in everyday life for every individual. For one to subvert the other is simply wrong, and unsustainable.

Imagine you go out and buy a Toyota Land Cruiser, and then you go, "Oh no! I really want to drive a Ford Bronco." So you just decide to believe that your Toyota is a Ford, and you want everybody else to believe that, including the dealer who services the car on a regular basis. Well, you can say that, and you can try to present it as that, but the Toyota is a Toyota, not Ford, and there is no way you can change that apart from trading one for the other, and physically replacing one with the other. You can't do that with your body. You can't swap your body, replace a male body with a female body for example. You can't take your consciousness out of your body and put it into another body, of the same or opposite sex. You can't do that, at least not at present, but maybe in the future you can .

So, for someone to say, "Oh yes, you can have a radical mastectomy, or have your penis and other male sex organs removed, and in association with sex hormone treatments this will change your sex", well that is simply a lie. Yet people believed that. Governments supported that claim, and any person who questioned or denied that would be accused of discrimination, transphobia and causing offence. Yet they were just being real and practical. And that is why this whole situation is crazy. It is not real, and it is totally impractical. There are plenty of de-transitioners who can attest to that.

This, of course, does not deny the reality of gender identity confusion. If, for example, one is born with the female body, such that a person's biological sex is female, yet from that very moment, they feel that they are a male, or have male propensities, then that is a real issue which needs to be addressed with compassion. It genuinely happens. What, then, should one do? Prior to post-2000 advancements in pharmaceuticals and medical procedures, one would either live with that and made no physical changes to one's body, or one would try to present to the world as the opposite sex, through cosmetic and attire changes. Men would dress as women, and women as men, and try to live their life accordingly. People would accept that, because they would accept the reality of a person such as a woman presenting as a man. That's all they had to deal with. But all of that changed during the 2010s. Everyone was now told that they had to believe that that person was now a member of the opposite sex in every way, and a total equivalent. Of course, they were not, and never would be. And if a member of the public did not do that, or agree with that, or believe that (which they couldn't anyway, as it was not real) then they would be called transphobic and castigated as such, to a degree in some instances that they could be then subject to punitive measures such as sackings, fines, public humiliation, disowning by family and friends and associates, and cancelling.

However, that is not transphobia. Such action is normal, for people who believe in reality. The reality is that you are a person merely presenting to the world as the opposite sex. That is all they are. If you were born a male, you are not now a woman. If you're born a female, you are not now a man. And therefore, you cannot change your birth certificate; you cannot, if you are a male, participate in female sports, or enter female safe spaces and refuges. You cannot be doing that because that is an unreality and society does not have to accept that unreality. We have seen recently the dire consequences and unfairness of men in women's sports, and how upsetting that has been for large numbers of the population, considering the unreality, unfairness and injustice of it. There is no way that that will ever be accepted, because it's not the truth. No matter what some politician or some group says. If you are born with a biological male or female body, that will be with you to the day you die. No matter what kind of physical, medical, or chemical changes one might try to make to it. That is the basis of the life that has been presented to each and every individual.

Traditionally a very, very, very small percentage (less than 1%) of the population had been faced with the transgender issue, not the 15% recently seen in cohorts of young American women, who have obviously gone down that path as a result of modern day peer group pressures, generated largely through social media influences. And that is what is so sad about this, especially when we remember that this whole modern, post 2010s transgender movement is based on a lie. A lot of young people have been sucked into that lie and they have suffered, and may eventually end up suffering both physically and psychologically for the rest of their lives. If you are a young girl and you know you're shy and you don't like your body and you have issues and you want to present as a male, then that might be fine. But in the majority of instances it is dealing with a physical non-reality, a perception. And if all of a sudden after you turn 18 or 21 and you don't feel that anymore, then that is fine and is quite normal. But if you've undertaken radical transitioning using chemical and medical treatments, based on advice from professionals, family and friends, and social media, then you are now faced with the uncertainties of detransitioning to normalize yourself again. And often you cannot do that because those drugs and medical treatments have long-term effects.

So no, people like J.K. Rowling are not transphobic; those people who oppose transitioning of children are not transphobic; people who reject statements that individuals who have transitioned are now the opposite sex, are not transphobic. If one were born a male or you have a male body, no matter what you do during your life, you cannot become a woman. You will always be a male presenting as the opposite sex. No more no less. You need to live with that and accept that nobody can be forced to accept that lie. If an individual wants to present as the opposite sex, that's their right, and they can do that. But no other person needs to be forced to accept that. Because it is not a reality that one is presenting. The reality isn't that your body is now the opposite sex.

We would be having a completely different conversation if say, for example, we were able to transfer consciousnesses from one physical body to another. Say you are born a woman, but you feel that you have a male consciousness, and you go to some sort of place where you can transfer that consciousness into an equivalent male body, then that may one day happen. Then everything's fine. It is like trading the Toyota for a Ford and driving out of the showroom satisfied. But apart from that fantastic scenario, the harsh reality is that no matter what you say and do, if you were born male, you will be male till the day you die. If you were born female, you'll be female to the day you die. And there's nothing you can say or do that can force other people to accept anything other than that. If you are calling other people transphobic for refusing to believe a lie, then it is you who is the phobe, because you have a phobia about this whole issue which expresses itself in such a highly emotional and often violent manner. It is evidence of an unrealistic belief about this whole issue. The fact is, that outside of the extreme transgender activism realm there are thousands of individual transgender and transsexual people leading relatively normal lives. It can be done.

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9. Snow White - a hero of the Left?

Fuck Donald Trump! (Snow White, 2024)

On 5 November 2024 Donald Trump was elected president of the United States (POTUS). The Left was shocked and upset at the loss of Democratic candidate Camilla Harris. Or were they? Well, frankly, no. Why? Because many in the Left had seen the drift of the Democrats to the Right - to become a party of the rich and neglect what was generally perceived to be its natural base, i.e., so-called ordinary Americans and those suffering from an extreme cost-of-living crisis. Whist many Democrats were mute following the loss, some of Hollywood's finest who had been vocal during the campaign - actors who displayed their political colours freely or for a fee - remained vocal in their opposition to the very thought of a new President Trump. To be frank, the present writer - an Australian Leftist - deplores Trump, his personal and political beliefs and many of the elements of his first presidency. However, like Adolf Hitler who gave us the Volkswagen and a burgeoning German economy, supporters and others find much to applaud and even more to bury, to forget. There was no Holocaust for Trump, but plenty of social and political horrors along the way during his first term.

So it was that due to the respect supposedly due a past and incoming POTUS - one who was a convicted criminal - the response from the Left to his win was generally mute ... but not totally. One of the loudest to decry Trump's phoenix-like resurrection was a young Hollywood actress and singer by the name of Rachel Zeglar. Her mother was of Colombian descent (this would subsequently become an issue of frequent comment) and after the election she wore her political heart on her sleeve. As a young adult she was, like many other Americans, unrestrained in her comments, despite the best efforts of Disney studio and management minders who had, up to then, proven largely unsuccessful in the task of moulding her public comments, even when they were related to projects she was working on. In a country where free speech is touted, censorship of individuals and content is, in the 2020s, rife. Zeglar had actually criticised a project she had been working on for a number of years previous, namely a live action remake of the Disney classic animated film of 1937 - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Snow White racist towards white people? Rachel Zeglar & Disney's new woke story changes, Daily Freddo with Kasia, 9 January 2025, YouTube, duration: 14.04 minutes.

Zeglar's railing against Trump was not only greeted with mute silence from the Left - embarrassed? - but also howls of protest from the Right and those who had, for a number of years, championed the woke mind virus attacks. She was a lamb to their slaughter, and they gobbled her up. By early 2025 an early trailer to her Snow White film was ratioed (i.e., disliked) one million times on YouTube, such was the flood of antagonism generated towards her, the film, and the impact of woke on the Hollywood film industry. She and it were in many ways the flagship of those attacks against woke, providing a constant source of quotable quotes and actionable actions. Her post-election Instagram posts, for example, included the following glorious fodder:

[#1] I find myself speechless in the midst of this. Another four years of hatred, leaning us towards a world I do not want to live in; leaning us towards a world that will be hard to raise my daughter in; leaning us towards a world that will force her to have a baby she doesn't want; leaning us towards a world that is fearful. I shouldn't be this shocked but I am. I am heartbroken for my friends who awoke in fear this morning and I am here with you to cry, to yell, to hug, to talk poetic and how the Left continues to fail us in forging a new path forward. This loss should not have been, and it certainly should not have been by so many votes. I echo Ethel Kan's statement: More than anything may Trump supporters and Trump voters and Trump himself never know peace.

[#2] There is also a deep deep sickness in this country that is shown in the sheer amount of people who showed up for this man who threatens our democracy. It is terrifying the number of people who stand behind what this man preaches. It is a foolish subscription to a false sense of security, of masculinity, of intelligence, of patriotism and of humanity. There is no help, no counsel in any of them. I could go on. I won't. I feel sad. You probably do too. Fuck this.

[#3] Get off Elon's app [Twitter / X] by the way. [What] the fuck are you doing? "They're eating you up on Twitter." I don't use that app for a reason - he helped get that man elected and you're giving him business. I was talking about finding catharsis in art. I don't care if you're going to pick a fight with me. It's been done before. Find something real to be mad at today - there's plenty to go around.

[#4] Okay, that's all, we'll see. Going on stage for act two [Romeo & Juliet] now and need to get off my soap box before I get too heated. Sending love to everyone who needs it today. May we all carry each other through the worst and hold these politicians accountable. Your Democrat governors just got very important. They already were. but hey, follow your governors. Hold them accountable. Local government is where we will make real change. This is not the end, ever. I will love through these four years as best as I can. Fuck Donald Trump.

The reaction was loud and virulent, such that by 15 November 2024 an apology was issued. Useless of course, as it was forced, and everybody knew that. Zeglar had had her say and, despite the criticisms, many felt the same, perhaps at least half of US voters. Trump's election may have been a win:win for some, but it was a lose:lose for many others, including those traditionally on the Left who actually voted for the man in protest against the Democrats. The Zeglar affair highlights the confused state of Western politics in the 2020s. Whose side are you on - Left, Right, woke, or other, or none? Are you a supporter of a specific political ideology? No longer can such questions be answered with a simple Yes or No, for the snake is eating its tail. Therefore, on one hand Zeglar is an unrestrained hero of the Left for her tirade against Trump; but she is also an outspoken critic of the Left for its failures, leading to his re-election. Additionally she represents the worst of woke.....

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9. References

7 Captivating Documentaries on the Free Energy Suppression - Revealing Hidden Truths, Factual America, 4 July 2024.

Ahmed, Sabeena et al., A five-day course of Ivermectin for the treatment of COVID-19 may reduce the duration of illness, International Journal of Infectious Diseases, 103, February 2021, 214-216.