Woke? Yeah, I’m Wide Awake
And I Don’t Like What I’m Seeing
So, here’s the deal.
Contrary to Republican sentiments, inclusiveness is a worthy goal. Societal progress comes with expanding the social network to include everyone.
Now, I freely admit that the history of humanity is tribal and often violent. We’ve had centuries and centuries of humans treating anyone different from the tribe as an outcast, even killing them.
The king and his close friends lived inside the castle wall.
The serfs lived outside the castle walls because usually there was a division within the tribe as well. Cast systems, class systems, and total exclusions were business as usual. Humans claim they were created in the image of a god, but if so, their god is pretty stingy, devious, and violent.
If you ask me, I think we could do better than all the gods put together. But then, I’m a humanist (if I must be labeled). No god has ever fed a hungry child. I thoroughly believe that it’s humans standing up to care for others that make a difference.
I’m also interested in progress. Not just technological progress, but social progress. I happen to think that’s a noble cause. Yeah, making life better for the children we insist on bringing into the world seems like the right thing to do.
Color me silly if you want, but even though I don’t believe in a god, I still believe that being kind to others matters.
Currently, the most popular word in the Republican vocabulary is the word WOKE. Okay … Apparently, there’s a fair number of people in the world who struggle to be kind and caring. They respond better to a tribal call to aggressive behaviors and rhetoric.
I’ll give the Republican party credit for one thing. They know how to make up a slogan and then tie everything they hope to accomplish to that word or phrase. In this instance, their entire mission is to combat WOKE-NESS.
So, whether it’s gender, public education, universities, teachers, professors, books, women, you name it, everything they’re currently fighting for centers around their woke agenda. I’m not sure why but this is often the road societies eventually choose to travel.
They scapegoat groups of people in order to create propaganda designed to make their followers think that they’re getting things done — for the people. For the right people, that is.
Hating a group of people isn’t a plan for fixing problems, however. That’s why I’m always surprised that so many are easily fooled by the hateful messages politicians sometimes deliver. In this particular case, no important problems are being solved.
It’s easy to be the bully on the playground.
I’ll freely admit, bullies tend to get followers. Some are bully wannabes and others are intimidated by the bully into supporting him but bullies have a long history of getting their way.
There’s nothing constructive about a platform based on hating a group of people. Oh, I forgot the Republicans don’t have a platform. Do you see what I mean? They’re not interested in rebuilding roads, alternative energies, fixing the economy, creating new jobs, supporting education, or helping families survive a complex world.
Yet oddly enough, they’ve convinced their followers that they’re getting things done.
I realize there’s a goodly number of people whose brains are wired to follow a tough leader and can be easily convinced that all of our problems are being caused by a small minority of powerless people. Despite the myriad of bills being passed by Republicans, however, nobody’s life will be improved. Instead, some people’s lives will be in danger.
My life isn’t better if transgenders aren’t allowed in a bathroom, even treated as a felon if they’re caught. My granddaughter’s future isn’t looking more promising if they pass a bill restricting a few choice words and books from her school. Also, my income doesn’t increase or the roads in my neighborhood get rebuilt because women can’t leave their state to get health care in another state.
Want to improve my life?
Make healthcare affordable. Invest more money in education. Improve upon the electrical grids across America that keep crashing during severe weather. Use technology to move us into the 21st century rather than trying to push us back into the 20th century. Allow us to have an open conversation about climate change and then employ the best and brightest from our universities to develop better ways of combatting it. Support working mothers by providing a system of child care. Invest in our young people who will be our problem solvers in the future. Help create better-paying jobs and if AI is going to steal our jobs, then start thinking about some kind of universal basic income.
These are only a few REAL problems that not just Americans face but the entire world faces. The LGBTQ community isn’t causing these existential problems. They’re a minority and have zero power. They’re minding their own business and just trying to get by like anybody else. They’re not after anyone’s kids nor are our kids worried about them.
Teens are worried about their futures. They don’t see a clear path to attaining the same life their middle-class parents enjoy.
They’re worried about climate change and jobs. Many are trying to hold their parents’ lives together, too. Mom and Dad aren’t doing so well. You see the traditional family no longer exists. So these politicians can quit using that as an emotionally charged political talking point.
The traditional family ended many years ago but not because of a minority group like the LGBTQ community. Lord, no.
When almost 50% of parents have been divorced at least once, how do we even describe the traditional family? Is it two moms and two dads along with three sisters and two half brothers as well as a few step brothers and sisters? And what do kids do about Mom’s boyfriends and Dad’s girlfriends? How about having to grow up living between two houses with different expectations? Yeah, pack your bag, honey, this is your week with Dad and his new girlfriend.
Do you see what I mean?
I agree that the traditional family is dying, but minorities aren’t destroying it. The majority group, you know, the group with all the privilege, destroyed the traditional family. Heterosexuals changed the family rules.
If Republicans want to protect their kids, do something about your bad track record. Heterosexuals ruined the classic example of an American family. That game is over. The mixed family (yours, mine, and ours) is the new American family. It’s unlikely that y’all will want to stay together for the sake of the kids though, so accept the new heterosexual family and move on.
Stop blaming everyone else for your inconsistencies.
Seriously guys, do you think a child is more traumatized by the gay couple down the street or the fact that dad and mom, after years of fighting, are splitting up? I’d love to ask the Republican politicians claiming that the woke agenda is a threat to the traditional family about their so-called traditional family values. Some of the loudest mouths seem oblivious to their OWN family issues.
You know all the stories floating around out there.
Affairs, multiple marriages, children with mental health issues, out-of-wedlock babies. We’ve even had stories swirling for years about a particular dad’s unhealthy relationship with his daughter. Incest is a huge problem in the US. Look up the statistics. You might be shocked. Not that it seems to bother the right. They’re too busy punishing a transgender woman who has never harmed anyone’s child. We even have one pious politician whose husband served jail time for indecent exposure.
I mean what the heck people? Leave the rest of us alone. Leave us the hell alone.
They’re not on a holy crusade to expose transgenders, hurt women, or destroy books because they care about children. If they were so concerned, they’d have cleaned up their own lives long ago. No, they’re using this age-old tactic to distract everyone’s attention away from things that need fixing and to stay on the front page news. They choose highly emotional topics and then proceed to turn the country upside down with decree after decree and bill after bill that does nothing to make our lives better but attracts a large audience.
Why does this work so well? Because humans don’t make decisions by using logic. We tend to make emotional decisions. Get us fired up, horrified with someone else’s behavior, angry at the witches, demonizing a small powerless group as the fall guy and …
BOOM!
You’ve increased your chances of getting and keeping a following. Then keep feeding them daily what they’ve become emotionally addicted to hearing and they won’t even ask questions about the real problems.
The icing on the cake is that a lot of what’s happening today is done under the guise of religion.
Religion sells because it appeals strongly to our emotions. They’re deliberately attempting to mix government and religion, the very thing that supposedly our founding fathers wanted to avoid. Of course, not all religions but strictly Christianity. As to which Christian church they’re referring to I have no idea. Nor do they, I suspect. I’m sure there would be plenty of conflict between the different denominations if indeed the religious politicans attempted to attend each other’s churches. But as long as it is THEM against the citizens for inclusion and a secular government, they will join forces.
I’ll freely admit that I’m emotional.
They have my attention. There’s not a day goes by that they haven’t passed another unfair bill that has a chance of affecting my diverse family and friends. I’m not a follower but I’m held captive by their antics. I’m scared. I’m horrified. They are louder than the other side. They are meaner than the other side.
They are bullies.
They are white Christian nationalists hellbent on turning this country into a theocratic fascist state. Not unlike the Taliban. They are dangerous to me and my family.
In the meantime, each day they must come up with something to say or do that’s even more outlandish and shocking than the day before. They’ll keep pushing the envelope and as long as the market will bear their evil nonsense, they’ll attack and exclude and terrorize minorities who are powerless.
It’s time we called them what they are — TERRORISTS!
It will take me a while to recover from writing this piece. I’m sitting in front of my computer, exhausted from the effort. It’s an emotional piece. Once again, they’ve succeeded in taking up space in my head. That’s their talent. Good or bad attention makes no difference. They need everyone to be thinking about them at all times.
Historically, this method has worked before. Will it succeed again?
Teresa is an author, world traveler, and professional myth buster. You can find her books on Amazon.
