OPINION: Get ready, get set, get Woke?
Submitted by W. Jule Windham
On most college campuses and now the board rooms of many major corporations there are individuals who have a different view of society and America from the majority of citizens. They see harm, inequity, oppression, and racism in almost every aspect of life. And they are right.
All these things exist in some measure and have at one time or another effected absolutely every one of us period. No gender, race, religion, or political persuasion has been excluded from bad or bigoted behavior placed upon them by others. Every one of us has been mistreated in our lives and if we dwell only on the negative, well it will make us woke.
Life is unfair. In the thousands of years of civilization, a utopian or perfect society where everyone is equal in ability, intelligence, personality, appearance, and work ethic has never existed. One would think some group, some civilization would have obtained this goal in the history of mankind, but it hasnt happened. Life is just funny that way. People are so different in thought, ability, and goals. A place where everyone is treated equally under the law can occur, and America strives to obtain that goal, but America is not perfect, just as people are not perfect. But even in a perfect world where there are absolutely no inequities, individual outcomes will never be the same. This is in contrast to the woke philosophy that everyone would reach the same level of success if it was not for the wrongs placed upon them.
We all know people who grew up in the same household, had the same parents, had the same opportunities, and went to the same school. Perhaps one child in this family was a notable athlete, the other child could not catch a ball in a fishing net, but was an excellent student, and the third child well he is trying to figure out who or what he is. Same genetic make-up, very different abilities, and not the same. To the woke they must have someone to blame for this inequity among this group. Perhaps these children are not the same due to their teachers, no it was their neighbors, or perhaps it was law enforcement who gave one of the children a citation and warped his mind. No in reality it is life.
Life simply is different for different people and folks calling themselves woke is the most ironic word for someone who in reality is very closed minded. The woke person are the folks that are absolutely sure they are correct in all their opinions. An example is the woke thought Georgias voting laws were so bad they had the major league baseball playoff moved from Atlanta costing the city and local businesses hundreds of millions of dollars. Oops they were wrong. No apology, not even a word.
The reason they dont apologize is first they will never concede they are wrong, but more importantly they are not significantly affected by their actions. Their bad decisions only hurt others not themselves. Woke folks generally see the world from the position that they are smarter than everyone else and have special knowledge an anyone who has a different opinion from them is clearly unenlightened and is part of the systemic oppression that is in everyone except them. Poor people who have difficulty feeding their family arent woke. They dont have time to worry about matters that dont put food on their table. The middle-class arent woke, because they see the benefit of their labors, and understand the world is not perfect, but they dont feel like a victim. The woke mostly are the wealthy, the academics, the politicians, what some folks would call the privileged. The woke dont work 40+ hours a week, they dont understand struggling to pay bills, they have never produced anything, but hot air.
America is not a utopia or perfect society, but in the history of the world it is one of the best examples of a nation that strives to be equal under the law. That is about as good as it gets.
So, to all you woke folks, get ready, get set, and wake up from being woke.