Long time readers may recall a debate I had with Elie Mystal in the early days of what Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez now calls “Woke 1.” This was before the murder of the George Floyd, before the riots in the street, before #MeToo, cancel culture and Defund Police. I shared many of the end goals of those who called themselves “social justice warriors,” until the name became a pejorative. as did “woke” which followed.
Throughout that period of time, I held firm to the liberal principles of free speech, due process and the presumption of innocence. That made me the enemy of the woke. Others went all in. Some no doubt believed it and embraced left wing fascism in their zeal for Utopia, while others played along, mouthing the mantra and joining the mob condemning the heretic du jour.
What to do about the overreach, the damage, the mobs, the outrageous statements, positions, and, yes, violence done in the name of Woke 1?
AOC appears to be disclaiming the days of woke as crazy, something that happened to her as she was swept up in the passions of the day as opposed to something she zealously embraced and promoted as a leader of the cause. Should she be so easily forgiven? Should the rest of the woke mob that truly believed that riots were justified as the voice of the voiceless, that looting was merely the redistribution of wealth from the haves to the have nots?
This arises when candidates like Wisconsin’s Democratic/Socialist gubernatorial candidate Francesca Wong is being saddled with her twits and statements from the heady days when crying defund police was all the rage. Then again, she also sought to cancel Thanksgiving as a colonialist superspreader event that caused genocide to indigenous people.
Those who persist in pushing what is now being recognized as the “crazy” views of Woke 1 obviously deserve whatever reaction they get. For some, it means winning a Democratic primary or the mayoralty of the Big Apple. For others, it means being castigated for having gone along with the crowd, whether because they got caught up in the passion of the moment or because they were too weak, too cowardly, to stand up to the mob and refuse to disavow their principles.
What happens to them now? What should happen to them now? Is there a difference between the true believers and those who just wanted to hang out with the cool kids, or not get canceled themselves for espousing such heresy as one found at SJ?
Worse yet, if there was a Woke 1, as AOC claims, does that mean there will be a Woke 2 or more? Will the pendulum keep swinging from one extreme back to the other? Will the next woke be the Democratic Socialist takeover of the Democratic Party, pushing every left wing childish fantasy that would never be remotely palatable but for the incompetence and corruption of Trump’s regime?
And before anyone rejects the notion that the unduly passionate should be forgiven their nonsensical trespasses, consider whether there is an alternative cohort of moderate, rational and charismatic leaders rising up to fill in the gaps. If not the doctrinaire SJWs or the venal MAGA faithful, then who?
*Tuesday Talk rules apply.