Anti-wokeism is just a long way of saying one is a bigot.
“Anti-wokeism is infinitely more threatening than wokeism, which it claims to combat. Faced with an extreme right-led campaign against ‘wokeism,’ gender studies, and postcolonial studies, a group of French academics argue that these attacks are deeply anti-democratic.” ref
The Anti-LGBTQ Hysteria Is Showing America’s True Identity
“Racism has found its equal. This isn’t to say that racism and LBGTQ-phobia are equally made. Racism is the bedrock of inequality in America, the institution of slavery provided the stem cells for all other forms of systemic and legalized oppression that came after. By the time slavery was abolished, an American tradition was set — the practice of separate-and-unequal picked right up where slavery had left off. The justice movements that emerged fully during the ’60s — a hundred years after slavery — gay rights, women’s rights, environmental justice — all used the Black civil rights struggle as a template, with good reason. No group had been as deliberately disenfranchised as Black folk had been, and no group had been fighting as intensely against that disenfranchisement for as long.” ref
“Generally, whenever I hear people trying to equate racism with other kinds of oppression, I interject. It’s not that immigrant-bashing or sexism aren’t deplorable or don’t share traits with racism. But the significance of anti-Blackness as a force in shaping our history and culture is enormous, and it needs to be made clear. And yet, the swiftly escalating campaign against LGBTQ people, notably trans people, feels like racism in that a whole group of people is being openly degraded simply for being who they are. For those who are both Black and LGBTQ, this is hardly a new crisis. But for white LGBTQ people, it must come as an unpleasant shock.” ref
“While the gay rights movement was inspired by the civil rights movement, it comprised a whole lot of white, otherwise privileged people, who for a long time had little in common with average Black people and their freedom fight. A fight that wasn’t just economic or political or even cultural, but spiritual; it was total. Accepting Black folks as equals involved nothing less than looking into the depths of America’s soul and fearlessly confronting what was there, and then making a change.” ref
“That multilayered, frankly demanding process is why attitudes about race are always a reliable Rorschach test of who we really are as a people, and especially of who white people are as a people. Attitudes about the LBGTQ community are now posing a similar kind of existential test, as the longstanding antipathy toward gay and queer people morphs before our eyes into new laws and restrictions, mainly in but not limited to the South — well over 500 bills this year introduced in statehouses across the country ― that perfectly mirror the energy of Jim Crow.” ref
I have been around people, and yet culturally, I, in several ways, stayed a relative loner in several cultures or subcultures and yet always in a way on the outside. I am not hip on lots of lingo from several communities. I am an atheist not well versed in the atheist community. I am an Anarchist and not that well versed in the Anarchist community. I am a Socialist and not that well versed in the Socialist community. I am a big supporter of Kindness and not that well versed in the Kindness community. I am a lion just striving to live a value-driven life.
My political history:
(Republican Rightist Conservative Christian)
“until 2006”
*Then*
(Anarchist, Socialist, Mutualist, Collectivist, and Anarcho-Humanist as well as Axiological-Atheist)
People often think, before knowing me, that I must have an average mind, but my friends, now know, my true kind of crazy.
To me, in a big picture way, anarchist as a political-thinking is a way of becoming equal as a universal concept, rather than power-seeking, and self-mastery, rather than servitude thinking. I don’t judge you by your politics as a label but as a claim not yet established by your thoughts and behaviors. I always judge others by their actions and thinking expressed. I only have one short life, may I live it in honor and kindness.
I don’t continue bad behavior simply because it’s traditional. I see all good humans as my friend. I see socialists calling each other names, I don’t like people choosing to add hate when what is needed is solidarity. I am a truth-teller. I see it as my calling, to speak truth into people.
I seek quality, not quantity in my friends, and can see quality shining brightly. I am good at spotting value in people. I appreciate that people of value have a responsibility to help all we can as we are so needed. I don’t see people politically, I see their goodness or lack of it as an axiologist.
Axiological thinking is “value-judgment” thinking where we see the world in its value not its words. I hear all kinds of people claiming all kinds of things but I see little value being involved. I only have one short life, may I live it in honor and kindness.
I am very good with words. It can give me great potential power. With my power over others, it is always a responsibility how I behave. Thus, I have to endure goodness in my thoughts and actions. As I have the ability to destroy others or help them build themselves better.
The first time I realized I was a natural leader was 17 in high school. I had a few skinhead racists, change, simply due to my example of a person of value. I realized my great responsibility, my life would never be my own. I have to help others all I can as a life path.
My foolishness was thinking the atheist movement was like a self-help type of arrangement but it is more a place to hear atheism overlayed by capitalism, inspiring behaviors related to profit many times, rather than some atheist shared wellbeing of solidarity or education.
Would we not often do better lighting a candle, than cursing at the darkness?
We need people with the height of bravery, to be openly as kind as others openly hate.
I may never know just how beautiful you are, until you are kind.
In the end, all we have is each other and life is just too damn short to not be kind. It is not my moment of the greatest selfishness that holds good memories in my heart. No, it is my moment of the greatest selflessness that holds good memories in my heart.
I don’t use the word WOKE, though I have been called the most woke person by some. I don’t like the term, I see it as arrogant (most have unrealized privileges, there are a world of issues), or it is a ridiculous put down.
Roman Piso @romanpiso· Replying to @AthopeMarie “Well, the thing about that is that it is already in use and has a meaning. And, being against the ‘term’ or word may cause some to think that you are anti-woke (which some associate with being Progressive). So, I just see that as an unfortunate stance given all of that.”
My response, Replying to @romanpiso, I see it as not a helping term. No one is woke, to me. All are in need of a better humanity, including me.
Roman Piso @romanpiso· Replying to @AthopeMarie “I know. There are a lot of words that I don’t like for various reasons. You and I didn’t coin that word/term. A lot of well-meaning terms have been misrepresented. One of those is “defund the police.” It was in response to the militarization of the police making a police state.”
My response, Replying to @romanpiso, I agree and so it was important for me to explain what I think. The problem is that people like to claim they are better than others instead of seeing the need to better one’s self as not a destination but a needed life journey.
@DSShakespeare @dsshake Replying to @AthopeMarie “…”????????????????,” to some folk is a damned slur; to the rest of us it’s: being an ally in the generational struggle to defend democracy against racial prejudice and discrimination.”
Adam Vanz @Advanz909· Replying to @dsshake and @AthopeMarie, No, it can be used as a slur (by the far right for example) but to me it means alienating a large group of allies (center/left politically) who are 99% with you because they are not 100% with you.
My response, Replying to @Advanz909 and @dsshake, Just think of all the support I don’t get as an “Intersex person” from most people claiming to be woke, commonly it is no support at all.
Adam Vanz @Advanz909· Replying to @AthopeMarie, I’m sorry to hear that. I think intention is key. E.g. criticizing the doctrines of Islam out of concern of the well being of Muslims and being labeled an ‘islamophobia’ because of it. Setting the bar of offence so low that constructive dialogue becomes an issue to me is woke.
My response, Replying to @Advanz909, To me, a Woke claim is likely just a few types of bigotry that one addresses but often not acknowledging all the types of privileges they still have. I see it as I am good, I am not like others that don’t see oppression and bigotry. Wrong, we all have blinders of privileges.
Meaningless Absurdity @VoxAbsurdum· Replying to @AthopeMarie “Woke is a term coined — as many others — by Blacks. It refers to a state of awareness of inequality & how current systems render the inequality insuperable. It’s the opposite of being unconscious (i.e. asleep) to injustices that don’t affect you (or don’t affect you enough). Sure, the term’s been overused and bastardized to some degree. But it’s a positive term. Being ‘woke’ about certain issues doesn’t mean u claim to know everything about it or that you no longer have blindspots. It simply means you’re actively trying to be conscious of things”
My response, Replying to @VoxAbsurdum, I am not woke, I am humbled to realize, I am like everyone, trying to decolonize my mind from bigotry and unrealized support of oppression.
Meaningless Absurdity @VoxAbsurdum· Replying to @AthopeMarie “But you’re not like everyone. Most people are not trying to better themselves or trying to see+rectify injustice. A hell of a lot of people are blissfully unaware/asleep, and are incensed by the very idea that they need to change at all. Hence all the pushback against CRT, etc.”
My response, Replying to @VoxAbsurdum, I appreciate your thoughtful responses and I do not claim others are like me. I am not against the woke people, most are good friends, I am against the anti-woke people almost always so you see where I stand. I guess to others I am woke but my goal is unchanged I desire humanity.
Meaningless Absurdity @VoxAbsurdum· Replying to @AthopeMarie “Being woke is not a claim to enlightenment or moral superiority. It’s simply the awareness/recognition that the status quo is not OK. I understand that you hate the term, but I think you epitomize ‘woke’. You are not asleep, & you are actively trying to be more conscious & kind.”
Adam Vanz @Advanz909· Replying to @VoxAbsurdum, “In your definition, the meaning of woke is similar to affective empathy, I disagree. I think it is used mostly to describe the state where the rational aspect gets trumped by the emotional aspect.”
Woke?
“Woke is an adjective derived from African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) meaning “alert to racial prejudice and discrimination“. Beginning in the 2010s, it came to encompass a broader awareness of social inequalities, such as sexism, and has also been used as shorthand for some ideas of the American Left involving identity politics and social justice, such as white privilege and slavery reparations for African Americans. The phrase stay woke has history in AAVE as far back as the 1930s, in some contexts referring to an awareness of the social and political issues affecting African Americans. The phrase was uttered in lyrics of recordings by Lead Belly in mid 20th century and post-millennium by Erykah Badu.” ref
“The term emerged in the 2010s, and, increasingly, it meant not only racial consciousness but also that of gender, as well as other discriminated identities, originally in the American context. During the 2014 Ferguson protests, the phrase was popularized by Black Lives Matter (BLM) activists seeking to raise awareness about police shootings of African Americans. After seeing use on Black Twitter, the term woke was increasingly used by white people, often to signal their support for BLM, which some commentators have criticized as cultural appropriation. Initially, this wider adoption spread primarily among the young or the millennial generation. As it spread internationally, the term was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2017.” ref
“By 2020, however, members of the political center and right wing in several Western countries were using the term woke in an ironic way, as an insult for various progressive or leftist movements and ideologies perceived as overzealous, performative, or insincere. In turn, some commentators came to consider it an offensive term with negative associations with those who promote political ideas involving identity and race. Since then, derivative terms such as woke-washing and woke capitalism were coined to describe, for example, companies who signal support for progressive causes as a substitute for genuine change.” ref
“In some varieties of African-American English, woke is used in place of woken, the usual past participle form of wake. This has led to the use of woke as an adjective equivalent to awake, which has become mainstream in the United States. While it is not known when being awake was first used as a metaphor for political engagement and activism, one early example in the United States was the paramilitary youth organization the Wide Awakes, which formed in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1860 to support the Republican candidate in the 1860 presidential election, Abraham Lincoln. Local chapters of the group spread rapidly across northern cities in the ensuing months and “triggered massive popular enthusiasm” around the election.” ref
“The political militancy of the group also alarmed many southerners, who saw in the Wide Awakes confirmation of their fears of northern, Republican political aggression. The support among the Wide Awakes for abolition, as well as the participation of a number of Black men in a Wide Awakes parade in Massachusetts, likely contributed to such anxiety. “Among the earliest uses of the idea of wokeness as a concept for Black political consciousness came from Jamaican philosopher and social activist Marcus Garvey, who wrote in 1923, “Wake up Ethiopia! Wake up Africa!” A 1923 collection of aphorisms, ideas, and other writing by Garvey also adopts this metaphor in the following epigram: “Wake up Ethiopia! Wake up Africa! Let us work towards the one glorious end of a free, redeemed and mighty nation. Let Africa be a bright star among the constellation of nations.” ref
“Black American folk singer-songwriter Huddie Ledbetter, a.k.a. Lead Belly, used the phrase “stay woke” as part of a spoken afterword to a 1938 recording of his song “Scottsboro Boys”, which tells the story of nine black teenagers and young men falsely accused of raping two white women in Alabama in 1931. In the recording, Lead Belly says he met with the defendant’s lawyer and the young men themselves, and “I advise everybody, be a little careful when they go along through there (Scottsboro) – best stay woke, keep their eyes open.” Aja Romano writes at Vox that this usage reflects “Black Americans’ need to be aware of racially motivated threats and the potential dangers of white America.” ref
“By the mid-20th century, woke had come to mean ‘well-informed’ or ‘aware’, especially in a political or cultural sense. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the earliest such usage to a 1962 New York Times Magazine article titled “If You’re Woke You Dig It” by African-American novelist William Melvin Kelley, describing the appropriation of Black slang by white beatniks. Woke had gained more political connotations by 1971 when the play Garvey Lives! by Barry Beckham included the line: “I been sleeping all my life. And now that Mr. Garvey done woke me up, I’m gon’ stay woke. And I’m gon help him wake up other black folk.” ref
“Through the 2000s and early 2010s, woke was used either as a term for literal wakefulness, or as slang for suspicions of infidelity. The latter meaning was used in singer Childish Gambino‘s 2016 song “Redbone“. In the 21st century’s first decade, the use of woke encompassed the earlier meaning with an added sense of being “alert to social and/or racial discrimination and injustice”. This usage was popularized by soul singer Erykah Badu‘s 2008 song “Master Teacher“, via the song’s refrain, “I stay woke”. Merriam-Webster defines the expression stay woke in Badu’s song as meaning, “self-aware, questioning the dominant paradigm and striving for something better”; and, although within the context of the song, it did not yet have a specific connection to justice issues, Merriam-Webster credits the phrase’s use in the song with its later connection to these issues.” ref
“Songwriter Georgia Anne Muldrow, who composed “Master Teacher” in 2005, told Okayplayer news and culture editor Elijah Watson that while she was studying jazz at New York University, she learned the invocation Stay woke from Harlem alto saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin, who used the expression in the meaning of trying to “stay woke” because of tiredness or boredom, “talking about how she was trying to stay up – like literally not pass out”. In homage, Muldrow wrote stay woke in marker on a T-shirt, which over time became suggestive of engaging in the process of the search for herself (as distinct from, for example, merely personal productivity).” ref
“According to The Economist, as the term woke and the #Staywoke hashtag began to spread online, the term “began to signify a progressive outlook on a host of issues as well as on race”. In a tweet mentioning the Russian feminist rock group Pussy Riot, whose members had been imprisoned in 2012, Badu wrote: “Truth requires no belief. Stay woke. Watch closely. #FreePussyRiot”. This has been cited by Know Your Meme as one of the first examples of the #Staywoke hashtag. Following the shooting of Michael Brown in 2014, The phrase stay woke was used by activists of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement to urge awareness of police abuses. The BET documentary Stay Woke, which covered the movement, aired in May 2016. Within the decade of the 2010s, the word woke (the colloquial, passively voiced past participle of wake) obtained the meaning ‘politically and socially aware’ among BLM activists.” ref
“While the term woke initially pertained to issues of racial prejudice and discrimination impacting African Americans, it was appropriated by other activist groups with different causes. While there is no single agreed-upon definition of the term, it came to be primarily associated with ideas that involve identity and race and which are promoted by progressives, such as the notion of white privilege or slavery reparations for African Americans. Vox‘s Aja Romano writes that woke evolved into a “single-word summation of leftist political ideology, centered on social justice politics and critical race theory“. Columnist David Brooks wrote in 2017 that “to be woke is to be radically aware and justifiably paranoid. It is to be cognizant of the rot pervading the power structures.” ref
“Sociologist Marcyliena Morgan contrasts woke with cool in the context of maintaining dignity in the face of social injustice: “While coolness is empty of meaning and interpretation and displays no particular consciousness, woke is explicit and direct regarding injustice, racism, sexism, etc.” The term woke became increasingly common on Black Twitter, the community of African American users of the social media platform Twitter. André Brock, a professor of black digital studies at the Georgia Institute of Technology, suggested that the term proved popular on Twitter because its brevity suited the platform’s 140-character limit. According to Charles Pulliam-Moore, the term began crossing over into general internet usage as early as 2015. The phrase stay woke became an Internet meme, with searches for woke on Google surging in 2015.” ref
“The term has gained popularity amid an increasing leftward turn on various issues among the American Left; this has partly been a reaction to the right-wing politics of U.S. President Donald Trump, who was elected in 2016, but also to a growing awareness regarding the extent of historical discrimination faced by African Americans. According to Perry Bacon Jr., ideas that have come to be associated with “wokeness” include a rejection of American exceptionalism; a belief that the United States has never been a true democracy; that people of color suffer from systemic and institutional racism; that white Americans experience white privilege; that African Americans deserve reparations for slavery and post-enslavement discrimination; that disparities among racial groups, for instance in certain professions or industries, are automatic evidence of discrimination; that U.S. law enforcement agencies are designed to discriminate against people of color and so should be defunded, disbanded, or heavily reformed; that women suffer from systemic sexism; that individuals should be able to identify with any gender or none; that U.S. capitalism is deeply flawed; and that Trump’s election to the presidency was not an aberration but a reflection of the prejudices about people of color held by large parts of the U.S. population.” ref
“Although increasingly accepted across much of the American Left, many of these ideas were nevertheless unpopular among the U.S. population as a whole and among other, especially more centrist, parts of the Democratic Party. The term increasingly came to be identified with members of the millennial generation. In May 2016, MTV News identified woke as being among ten words teenagers “should know in 2016”. The American Dialect Society voted woke the slang word of the year in 2017. In the same year, the term was included as an entry in Oxford English Dictionary. By 2019, the term woke was increasingly being used in an ironic sense, as reflected in the books Woke by comedian Andrew Doyle (using the pen name Titania McGrath) and Anti-Woke by columnist Brendan O’Neill. By 2022, usage of the term had spread beyond the United States, attracting criticism by right-wing political figures in Europe.” ref
“Wokeness” as a Pejorative?
“By 2019, opponents of progressive social movements were often using the term mockingly or sarcastically, implying that “wokeness” was an insincere form of performative activism. British journalist Steven Poole comments that the term is used to mock “overrighteous liberalism”. In this pejorative sense, woke means “following an intolerant and moralizing ideology”. Among American conservatives, woke has come to be used primarily as an insult. Members of the Republican Party have been increasingly using the term to criticize members of the Democratic Party, while more centrist Democrats use it against more left-leaning members of their own party; such critics accuse those on their left of using cancel culture to damage the employment prospects of those who are not considered sufficiently woke.” ref
“Perry Bacon Jr. suggests that this “anti-woke posture” is connected to a long-standing promotion of backlash politics by the Republican Party, wherein it promotes white and conservative fear in response to activism by African Americans as well as changing cultural norms. Such critics often believe that movements such as Black Lives Matter exaggerate the extent of social problems. Among the uses by Republicans is the Stop WOKE Act, a law that limits the discussion of racism in Florida schools. A program of eliminating books by LGBT and Black authors from schools was conducted by the Florida government and by vigilantes calling themselves “woke busters.” ref
“Linguist and social critic John McWhorter argues that the history of woke is similar to that of politically correct, another term once used self-descriptively by the left which was appropriated by the right as an insult, in a process similar to the euphemism treadmill. Romano compares woke to canceled as a term for “‘political correctness’ gone awry” among the American right wing. Attacking the idea of wokeness, along with other ideas such as cancel culture and critical race theory, became a large part of Republican Party electoral strategy. Former President Donald Trump stated in 2021 that the Biden administration was “destroying” the country “with woke”, and Republican Missouri senator Josh Hawley used the term to promote his upcoming book by saying the “woke mob” was trying to suppress it.” ref
“The term is widely used in Canada as in the United States to describe progressive politics. During a debate in 2023 on the Law Society of Alberta‘s 2020 adoption of a rule which made certain Continuing Professional Development (CPD) training courses on Indigenous Canadian history obligatory, a lawyer from the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms wrote an op-ed arguing that the course was a form of “wokeness”. In a survey by YouGov, 73% of Britons said they used the term in a disapproving way and 11% in an approving way. In the United Kingdom, the term has also been used as a pejorative by conservative figures.” ref
“The phenomenon le wokisme has also seen use in French politics, particularly since the 2022 French presidential election. Much of the opposition to le wokisme sees it as an American import, incompatible with French values. Education minister Jean-Michel Blanquer established an “anti-woke think tank” in opposition to what is perceived as an export from the English-speaking world. In Hungary, Hungarian politician Balázs Orbán stated that “we [Hungary] will not give up fighting against woke ideology”. In Sweden, singer Zara Larsson‘s commitment to expressions of “gender power”, amongst other things, has been described as “very woke”. In Switzerland, politicians from and supporters of the right-wing Swiss People’s Party criticized Swiss bank UBS for “woke culture.” ref
“In Japan, the term has been used to describe Western progressive politics. It has most commonly been translated into Japanese as “お目覚め文化” (lit. ‘awakening culture’), but also as “ウォーク” (which is a Katakana form of the word “woke”). During the 2022 Australian federal election campaign, both Scott Morrison, then-Prime Minister and leader of the centre-right Liberal-National Coalition, and Anthony Albanese, the current Prime Minister and leader of the centre-left Labor Party, insisted they were not “woke”. Peter Dutton, current Opposition Leader and leader of the Coalition, has also used the term several times before. Members of minor right-wing parties, especially Pauline Hanson’s One Nation and the United Australia Party, also frequently use the term. In New Zealand, former Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the New Zealand First Party Winston Peters referred to the government led by Jacinda Ardern and the Labour Party as a “woke guilt industry”. Then-Opposition Leader Judith Collins also referred to Ardern as “woke.” ref
Woke-washing and Woke capitalism?
“By the mid-2010s, language associated with wokeness had entered the mainstream media and was being used for marketing. Abas Mirzaei, a senior lecturer in branding at Macquarie University says that the term “has been cynically applied to everything from soft drink to razors”. In 2018, African-American journalist Sam Sanders argued that the authentic meaning of woke was being lost to overuse by white liberals and co-option by businesses trying to appear progressive (woke-washing), which would ultimately create a backlash. The term woke capitalism was coined by writer Ross Douthat for brands that used politically progressive messaging as a substitute for genuine reform. According to The Economist, examples of “woke capitalism” include advertising campaigns designed to appeal to millennials, who often hold more socially liberal views than earlier generations. These campaigns were often perceived by customers as insincere and inauthentic and provoked a backlash summarized by the phrase “get woke, go broke.” ref
“Cultural scientists Akane Kanai and Rosalind Gill describe “woke capitalism” as the “dramatically intensifying” trend to include historically marginalized groups (currently primarily in terms of race, gender and religion) as mascots in advertisement with a message of empowerment to signal progressive values. On the one hand, Kanai and Gill argue that this creates an individualized and depoliticized idea of social justice, reducing it to an increase in self-confidence; on the other hand, the omnipresent visibility in advertising can also amplify a backlash against the equality of precisely these minorities. These would become mascots not only of the companies using them, but of the unchallenged neoliberal economic system with its socially unjust order itself. For the economically weak, the equality of these minorities would thus become indispensable to the maintenance of this economic system; the minorities would be seen responsible for the losses of this system.” ref
“Scholars Michael B. McCormack and Althea Legal-Miller argue that the phrase stay woke echoes Martin Luther King Jr.‘s exhortation “to stay awake, to adjust to new ideas, to remain vigilant and to face the challenge of change”. Linguist Ben Zimmer writes that with mainstream currency, the term’s “original grounding in African-American political consciousness has been obscured”. The Economist states that as the term came to be used more to describe white people active on social media, black activists “criticized the performatively woke for being more concerned with internet point-scoring than systemic change”. Journalist Amanda Hess says social media accelerated the word’s cultural appropriation, writing, “The conundrum is built in. When white people aspire to get points for consciousness, they walk right into the cross hairs between allyship and appropriation.” Hess describes woke as “the inverse of ‘politically correct’ […] It means wanting to be considered correct, and wanting everyone to know just how correct you are.” ref
“Writer and activist Chloé Valdary has stated that the concept of being woke is a “double-edged sword” that can “alert people to systemic injustice” while also being “an aggressive, performative take on progressive politics that only makes things worse”. Social-justice scholars Tehama Lopez Bunyasi and Candis Watts Smith, in their 2019 book Stay Woke: A People’s Guide to Making All Black Lives Matter, argue against what they term as “Woker-than-Thou-itis: Striving to be educated around issues of social justice is laudable and moral, but striving to be recognized by others as a woke individual is self-serving and misguided.” Essayist Maya Binyam, writing in The Awl, ironized about a seeming contest among players who “name racism when it appears” or who disparage “folk who are lagging behind.” ref
“In March 2021, Les Echos listed woke among eight words adopted by Generation Z that indicate “un tournant sociétal ” [“a societal turning point”] in France. The impact of “woke” sentiment on society has been criticised from various perspectives. In 2018, the British political commentator Andrew Sullivan described the “Great Awokening”, describing it as a “cult of social justice on the left, a religion whose followers show the same zeal as any born-again Evangelical [Christian]” and who “punish heresy by banishing sinners from society or coercing them to public demonstrations of shame”. In 2021, the British filmmaker and DJ Don Letts suggested that “in a world so woke you can’t make a joke”, it was difficult for young artists to make protest music without being accused of cultural appropriation.” ref
I not only do I not use the term “woke” with others (I am not anti-woke), but I also don’t use the terms with others, like “family,” “brother,” “sister,” or “comrade” (even though I am a socialist anarchist).
I never will forget how crushing the realization of my privilege, when a Mexican friend of mine told me after I asked what he wished to be when he grows up, he said, “a white guy, just like you.”
Semandino (he/him) @emandin0· Replying to @AthopeMarie, “It’s called Stockholm Syndrome & as sad as it might b, it’s part of our new cultural heritage. 1 wants 2 become d winner that conquered 1s ppl, become d oppressor that enslaved 1s ancestors, embracing their culture, and despising our origins. That’s what colonization does to u.
Damien, what are you politically???
I am a liberal and progressive thinking, anarchist socialist revolutionary.
Damien, what kind of socialist ate you?
Soy, soft boy, shit lib, etc. I think… lol
A “mind” never willing to see the possibility of its error, is already currently, exhibiting such an error.
I guess I have it bad. I am Woke…
While hallucinogens are associated with shamanism, it is alcohol that is associated with paganism.
The Atheist-Humanist-Leftist Revolutionaries Shows in the prehistory series:
Show two: Pre-animism 300,000 years old and animism 100,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism”
Show tree: Totemism 50,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism”
Show four: Shamanism 30,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism”
Show five: Paganism 12,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism”
Show six: Emergence of hierarchy, sexism, slavery, and the new male god dominance: Paganism 7,000-5,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” (Capitalism) (World War 0) Elite and their slaves!
Prehistory: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” the division of labor, power, rights, and recourses: VIDEO
Pre-animism 300,000 years old and animism 100,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism”: VIDEO
Totemism 50,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism”: VIDEO
Shamanism 30,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism”: VIDEO
Paganism 12,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” (Pre-Capitalism): VIDEO
Paganism 7,000-5,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” (Capitalism) (World War 0) Elite and their slaves: VIEDO
Paganism 5,000 years old: progressed organized religion and the state: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” (Kings and the Rise of the State): VIEDO
Paganism 4,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” (First Moralistic gods, then the Origin time of Monotheism): VIEDO
I do not hate simply because I challenge and expose myths or lies any more than others being thought of as loving simply because of the protection and hiding from challenge their favored myths or lies.
The truth is best championed in the sunlight of challenge.
An archaeologist once said to me “Damien religion and culture are very different”
My response, So are you saying that was always that way, such as would you say Native Americans’ cultures are separate from their religions? And do you think it always was the way you believe?
I had said that religion was a cultural product. That is still how I see it and there are other archaeologists that think close to me as well. Gods too are the myths of cultures that did not understand science or the world around them, seeing magic/supernatural everywhere.
I personally think there is a goddess and not enough evidence to support a male god at Çatalhöyük but if there was both a male and female god and goddess then I know the kind of gods they were like Proto-Indo-European mythology.
This series idea was addressed in, Anarchist Teaching as Free Public Education or Free Education in the Public: VIDEO
Our 12 video series: Organized Oppression: Mesopotamian State Force and the Politics of power (9,000-4,000 years ago), is adapted from: The Complete and Concise History of the Sumerians and Early Bronze Age Mesopotamia (7000-2000 BC): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szFjxmY7jQA by “History with Cy“
Show #1: Mesopotamian State Force and the Politics of Power (Samarra, Halaf, Ubaid)
Show #2: Mesopotamian State Force and the Politics of Power
Show #3: Mesopotamian State Force and the Politics of Power (Uruk and the First Cities)
Show #4: Mesopotamian State Force and the Politics of Power (First Kings)
Show #5: Mesopotamian State Force and the Politics of Power (Early Dynastic Period)
Show #6: Mesopotamian State Force and the Politics of Power
Show #7: Mesopotamian State Force and the Politics of Power (Sargon and Akkadian Rule)
Show #9: Mesopotamian State Force and the Politics of Power (Gudea of Lagash and Utu-hegal)
Show #12: Mesopotamian State Force and the Politics of Power (Aftermath and Legacy of Sumer)
The “Atheist-Humanist-Leftist Revolutionaries”
Cory Johnston ☭ Ⓐ Atheist Leftist @Skepticallefty & I (Damien Marie AtHope) @AthopeMarie (my YouTube & related blog) are working jointly in atheist, antitheist, antireligionist, antifascist, anarchist, socialist, and humanist endeavors in our videos together, generally, every other Saturday.
Why Does Power Bring Responsibility?
Think, how often is it the powerless that start wars, oppress others, or commit genocide? So, I guess the question is to us all, to ask, how can power not carry responsibility in a humanity concept? I know I see the deep ethical responsibility that if there is power their must be a humanistic responsibility of ethical and empathic stewardship of that power. Will I be brave enough to be kind? Will I possess enough courage to be compassionate? Will my valor reach its height of empathy? I as everyone, earns our justified respect by our actions, that are good, ethical, just, protecting, and kind. Do I have enough self-respect to put my love for humanity’s flushing, over being brought down by some of its bad actors? May we all be the ones doing good actions in the world, to help human flourishing.
I create the world I want to live in, striving for flourishing. Which is not a place but a positive potential involvement and promotion; a life of humanist goal precision. To master oneself, also means mastering positive prosocial behaviors needed for human flourishing. I may have lost a god myth as an atheist, but I am happy to tell you, my friend, it is exactly because of that, leaving the mental terrorizer, god belief, that I truly regained my connected ethical as well as kind humanity.
Cory and I will talk about prehistory and theism, addressing the relevance to atheism, anarchism, and socialism.
At the same time as the rise of the male god, 7,000 years ago, there was also the very time there was the rise of violence, war, and clans to kingdoms, then empires, then states. It is all connected back to 7,000 years ago, and it moved across the world.
Cory Johnston: https://damienmarieathope.com/2021/04/cory-johnston-mind-of-a-skeptical-leftist/?v=32aec8db952d
The Mind of a Skeptical Leftist (YouTube)
Cory Johnston: Mind of a Skeptical Leftist @Skepticallefty
The Mind of a Skeptical Leftist By Cory Johnston: “Promoting critical thinking, social justice, and left-wing politics by covering current events and talking to a variety of people. Cory Johnston has been thoughtfully talking to people and attempting to promote critical thinking, social justice, and left-wing politics.” http://anchor.fm/skepticalleft
Cory needs our support. We rise by helping each other.
Cory Johnston ☭ Ⓐ @Skepticallefty Evidence-based atheist leftist (he/him) Producer, host, and co-host of 4 podcasts @skeptarchy @skpoliticspod and @AthopeMarie
Damien Marie AtHope (“At Hope”) Axiological Atheist, Anti-theist, Anti-religionist, Secular Humanist. Rationalist, Writer, Artist, Poet, Philosopher, Advocate, Activist, Psychology, and Armchair Archaeology/Anthropology/Historian.
Damien is interested in: Freedom, Liberty, Justice, Equality, Ethics, Humanism, Science, Atheism, Antiteism, Antireligionism, Ignosticism, Left-Libertarianism, Anarchism, Socialism, Mutualism, Axiology, Metaphysics, LGBTQI, Philosophy, Advocacy, Activism, Mental Health, Psychology, Archaeology, Social Work, Sexual Rights, Marriage Rights, Woman’s Rights, Gender Rights, Child Rights, Secular Rights, Race Equality, Ageism/Disability Equality, Etc. And a far-leftist, “Anarcho-Humanist.”
I am not a good fit in the atheist movement that is mostly pro-capitalist, I am anti-capitalist. Mostly pro-skeptic, I am a rationalist not valuing skepticism. Mostly pro-agnostic, I am anti-agnostic. Mostly limited to anti-Abrahamic religions, I am an anti-religionist.
To me, the “male god” seems to have either emerged or become prominent around 7,000 years ago, whereas the now favored monotheism “male god” is more like 4,000 years ago or so. To me, the “female goddess” seems to have either emerged or become prominent around 11,000-10,000 years ago or so, losing the majority of its once prominence around 2,000 years ago due largely to the now favored monotheism “male god” that grow in prominence after 4,000 years ago or so.
My Thought on the Evolution of Gods?
Animal protector deities from old totems/spirit animal beliefs come first to me, 13,000/12,000 years ago, then women as deities 11,000/10,000 years ago, then male gods around 7,000/8,000 years ago. Moralistic gods around 5,000/4,000 years ago, and monotheistic gods around 4,000/3,000 years ago.
Damien Marie AtHope (Said as “At” “Hope”)/(Autodidact Polymath but not good at math):
Axiological Atheist, Anti-theist, Anti-religionist, Secular Humanist, Rationalist, Writer, Artist, Jeweler, Poet, “autodidact” Philosopher, schooled in Psychology, and “autodidact” Armchair Archaeology/Anthropology/Pre-Historian (Knowledgeable in the range of: 1 million to 5,000/4,000 years ago). I am an anarchist socialist politically. Reasons for or Types of Atheism
My Website, My Blog, & Short-writing or Quotes, My YouTube, Twitter: @AthopeMarie, and My Email: damien.marie.athope@gmail.com