My Woke Definition: Awareness of systemic injustices in America.
I’ve been publishing Darhlene.com since 2017 and have written about every subject from cuteness overloads of adorable ducklings down my street to government policy in general and political criticisms in specific, naming names of less-than-savory politicians in Florida. I knew nothing about “woke culture” before my governor, Ron DeSantis, began pushing it as a four-letter word to Trump’s trusty and ill-informed constituents. I didn’t know that I was part of that “culture,” but here I am, woke, having the long-arm of the governor’s office reach into my living room and accuse me of something that isn’t even bad.
My blog is woke for two different reasons: one, because it has covered the subject of systemic injustices since its inception year; and two, because the author, yours truly, is a progressive who recognizes systemic injustices. What are they?
They are injustices caused by people within government and corporations that lead to persons of color suffering from the effects, most generally of racism and discrimination. When we talk about “systemic” injustices, we are talking about the systems (and people within those systems) that are unjust. (Of course, not all folks within these system are unjust. With the exception of MAGA politicians in power, government for the most part treats people justly. Corporations on the other hand?) Governments and corporations are systems.
On the other side of the aisle, in DeSantis’ extremist Republican chair is his definition. It is that woke is “a form of cultural Marxism. It’s about putting merit and achievement behind identity politics, and it’s basically a war on the truth.” (Time.). I’m not sure that counts as a “definition” but that’s what he put out there.
Its a lot to unpack.
Marxism theorizes that the struggle between social classes in a capitalist system — specifically the struggle between the rich and workers — will lead inevitably to a communist revolution. “Cultural Marxism” is about folks identifying as Marxists. I’d venture to say, a pretty remote theory given that most folks don’t even know what Marxism is.
It can’t be “cultural” either since, once again, most folks don’t practice Marxism, not even most leftists. I’ve yet to meet a Marxist or a communist in the good ole USA, although I’m sure there are some, which unfortunately tends to be far-right-leaning young, white men. Maybe our governor ran into one of them and had the the common sense yanked out of him.
Is it bad to be aware of injustices in our systems of government, law, and, yes, our politics? No, it isn’t, but woke is more than just a word to DeSantis. It’s a dog whistle.
What DeSantis really wants to do is “destroy leftists” without a care in the world for the collateral damage that it could inflict on any numbers of systems, e.g., economic stability, homeland safety, and general government administration. As Meagan Winter’s wrote in her book, All Politics is Local, at the state level our representatives don’t “give a shit” about Floridians. That includes DeSantis, who made abundantly clear in the legislative session that he couldn’t give a rat’s ass about Floridians’ problems.
He’s so bad he wants to have our roads paved with radioactive material. I’d rather have the Marxists.
The Florida Feudal Class
Woke is a dog whistle that DeSantis is using as a tool in his fight against the middle class. He wants to cause fear in people who don’t support him, and he has done so with the recent exodus of many in the LGBTQ+ community. The dog whistle is his calling to Trump supporters that he has their back and not to fear, as DeSantis was created on the eighth day, as his wife said and, like Jesus, DeSantis has come to save us. Well, not us leftists but certainly a whole bunch of us/them.
Just as Paris Hilton called Americans “rental people,” DeSantis called us “the chattering class” in his State of the State Address. (The Ledger, 3/3/23, p. 1.) (The Rolling Stones called that Shattered, but I won’t get into the details of the accusation.) The important thing to know about his comment is that it includes: Democrats, leftists, and men and women who are, for the most part, not wealthy. In the end, he’s targeting the middle class to heel to his anti-woke ideology. If not, he will destroy us, each and every one of us.
Why I’m a Leftist
It appears to me that left-wing/right-wing traits are not chosen; they are inherent. In other words, what makes me a leftist is part of my persona, personality, and character. Something impenetrable; something that can’t be changed, much like how one identifies sexually or the color of one’s skin.
While it’s not a 100% impenetrable, changing someone’s left-wing/right-wing stance is very difficult to do. A whole bunch of core beliefs must be challenged to change oneself.
Just look at America today with right-wingers at each others political throats, name-calling, cruel jokes, and what appears to be a never-ending cacophony of voices all in fierce disagreement with anything “the other side” puts forth. Leftists simply don’t do that. I think we have a tendency to listen better. Woke does that to you.
Generally, the left-wing is characterized by an emphasis on “‘ideas such as freedom, equality, fraternity, rights, progress, reform and internationalism’ while the right-wing is characterized by an emphasis on ‘notions such as authority, hierarchy, order, duty, tradition, reaction and nationalism.'” None of these traits are bad; they’re just different. Really! They are.
Law-abiding left-wingers believe themselves to be patriots just much as right-wingers, Republicans, and MAGA Republicans. Left-wingers want the same things as right-wingers. One is not a taker, while the other side is a giver. We want peace just as much as any right-winger does, but we seem to see the means to this end differently.
Just one note, leftists, any leftist, sees the how-to to peace more fluidly and certainly more diplomatically than MAGA Republicans. Is it because we’re woke? I’d say unequivocally yes.
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