3 ms·

> unfamiliar with this meme that "woke" is a made-up term. Weird. It's all over the place. For example: "Now, he was preparing his constituents for the exis

> unfamiliar with this meme that "woke" is a made-up term. Weird. It's all over the place. For example: "Now, he was preparing his constituents for the existential battle posed by their newest imaginary adversary: wokeness." https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/dec/20/anti-woke-race-america-history https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/dec/20/anti-woke-ra... > Your follow up examples, I think, corroborate this point. Nope. It (it's a single quote) makes it clear that those on the woke far left are playing silly word games. > It's obviously ridiculous True, the word games are ridiculous and pretty transparent once you see how they work (usually a simple variant of the Motte-and-Bailey fallacy). Anyway, good chat.

the_gastropod 4y ago
> Now, he was preparing his constituents for the existential battle posed by their newest imaginary adversary: wokeness This in no way suggests "wokeness" is a made-up term. It's no different than the right's use of "Socialism" as a imaginary adversary. Socialism exists. But it's been applied as a boogeyman for the better part of a century by conservatives. Harry Truman made this very argument in the '50s. [1] In that same spirit, "Woke" is a term often hurled at any idea that criticizes the status-quo. That these are similar scare words is not an original idea [2] [1] https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/truman-socialism-scare-word/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/truman-socialism-scare-wor... [2] https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/03/wokeness-socialism-liberal-threat-public-discourse/673430/ https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/03/wokeness-s...
- mpweiher 4y ago
  Hmm..what does the word "imaginary" suggest to you, then?
  - the_gastropod 4y ago
    That those who complain about it—much like those who complain about socialism or fluoride—tend to see it everywhere. It’s not that these things don’t exist. It’s that their perceived threat vectors are unrelated to reality.

the_gastropod 4y ago

> Now, he was preparing his constituents for the existential battle posed by their newest imaginary adversary: wokeness This in no way suggests "wokeness" is a made-up term. It's no different than the right's use of "Socialism" as a imaginary adversary. Socialism exists. But it's been applied as a boogeyman for the better part of a century by conservatives. Harry Truman made this very argument in the '50s. [1] In that same spirit, "Woke" is a term often hurled at any idea that criticizes the status-quo. That these are similar scare words is not an original idea [2] [1] https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/truman-socialism-scare-word/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/truman-socialism-scare-wor... [2] https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/03/wokeness-socialism-liberal-threat-public-discourse/673430/ https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/03/wokeness-s...

mpweiher 4y ago
Hmm..what does the word "imaginary" suggest to you, then?
- the_gastropod 4y ago
  That those who complain about it—much like those who complain about socialism or fluoride—tend to see it everywhere. It’s not that these things don’t exist. It’s that their perceived threat vectors are unrelated to reality.