The left wing version of Trump

Woke people are like unicorns. I often read about them, but can’t say I’ve ever spoken with one. Nonetheless, their impact is now so great that a backlash is setting in.

From the far left you have Freddie deBoer:

Tom Scocca is going for the “it’s just a ginned-up controversy that no liberals have been pushing for.” Scocca obviously knows that thousands of liberals have in fact gone to war for CRT in that span, arguing that CRT is good actually and every student should be taught it. . . .

The bigger question for the entirety of American progressivism is this: who is Scocca talking to? To whom is he making this appeal? This is something liberals do relentlessly, appealing to some shadowy and vague arbiter of what’s fair. Hey, Republicans are pulling dirty tricks!, they complain again and again. But who is listening? What tribunal of wise judges does Scocca think is reading his tweets? What arbiter is ready to dispense justice? Too many in the left-of-center intelligentsia in this country grew up in contexts where fairness matters, where you could always count on mom or the teacher or the HR department to mete out justice. But life doesn’t work that way. There are no refs. “Republicans only won because of racism.” Yes, it’s impossible to imagine voters rejecting the party of Andrew Cuomo and Kyrsten Sinema and Gavin Newsome for any reason other than racism, agreed. So what? Who do you think is going to come and correct that injustice for you? The only opinion that matters is that of the voters, and they think your whining about unfairness makes you look weak.

From the right, you have Razib Khan:

Politically speaking, deBoer and Khan have little in common, except a strong distaste for bullshit. In this case, that’s enough. You want someone center-left who doesn’t like bullshit?

James Carville

You ever get the sense that people in faculty lounges in fancy colleges use a different language than ordinary people? They come up with a word like “Latinx” that no one else uses. Or they use a phrase like “communities of color.” I don’t know anyone who speaks like that. I don’t know anyone who lives in a “community of color.” I know lots of white and Black and brown people and they all live in … neighborhoods. . . .

Sean Illing

Sounds like you got a problem with “wokeness,” James.

James Carville

Wokeness is a problem and everyone knows it. It’s hard to talk to anybody today — and I talk to lots of people in the Democratic Party — who doesn’t say this. But they don’t want to say it out loud.

Sean Illing

Why not?

James Carville

Because they’ll get clobbered or canceled. 

Wokeness is the left wing version of Trump. Every thinking person knows it’s mostly nonsense (beyond the obvious “don’t be racist and sexist”). But the world is full of cowards who are afraid to say so. Just as GOP politicians are afraid to criticize Trump, left-wingers are afraid to criticize wokeness. So they deny that it exists.

American politics is actually quit simple. It contains three elements:

  1. Donald Trump
  2. The Donald Trump Personality Cult.
  3. The Committee Ensuring the Election of Donald Trump in 2024.

The second group is sometimes called the “Republican Party”, while the third group is sometimes called the “Democratic Party.”

Years ago, you guys laughed when I said America was becoming a banana republic. Still laughing?

PS. What’s wrong with the woke? They claim that all racial and gender differences in achievement are proof of racism and sexism. They make anti-racism into a religion, while making crude generalizations about people based on nothing more than their race. They are opposed to free speech, preferring shaming over honest debate. They indirectly help white nationalists by promoting identity politics. They are too tolerant of crime. They obsess about unimportant symbolic issues and completely ignore important issues that affect people’s lives. They promote destructive (statist) economic policies. They oppose cultural appropriation.


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49 Responses to “The left wing version of Trump”

  1. Gravatar of John Hall John Hall
    8. November 2021 at 12:24

    “But the world is full of cowards who are afraid to say so.” – That’s a little unfair…

  2. Gravatar of henry henry
    8. November 2021 at 12:35

    It’s good to see you attacking the losers on the far left, and the academics who support their thuggery.

    But I still don’t see how you can possibly connect Trump to the “hard right”. Reagan was the further to the right then Trump. Cruz is further to the right then Trump. Jefferson was further to the right than all three.

    And I admit to loving Cruz, so if Trump is far right – What am I?

    And what is Cruz? And what is jefferson?

    People simply want states and local communities to have the power. They are tired of the central government and supranational organizations trying to impose their will upon the community.

    Trump symbolizes the disgust towards MNC’s that are larger than nation states – and who, quite frankly, are attempting to take control of global legislation and the centralization of federal governments.

    Trump isn’t Hitler. Xi is Hitler. The “Woke” are Hitler, or mao or stalin, or any other historical thug who prefers totalitarian control.

    I think you are wrong – dead wrong – about DJT.

    I’m much more concerned about Antifa, then a braggart businessman from NYC.

  3. Gravatar of rinat rinat
    8. November 2021 at 12:43

    “that’s a little unfair”….

    It’s definitely not unfair to point that out. German and Russian academics also remained silent as their countries descended into extremism.

    Facts don’t care about your feelings.

  4. Gravatar of Dzhaughn Dzhaughn
    8. November 2021 at 13:41

    What, in your model, is the future of American politics when (1) disappears?

    And are the banana plantation subsidies in the infrastructure bill, or the reconciliation bill?

  5. Gravatar of Ankh Ankh
    8. November 2021 at 13:56

    American politics is a lot more complicated than what you list above. I do hope you are being facetious.

    Did it occur to you that the once moderate wing, overtaken by the uneducated and entitled babyboomer generation (yes yours), is now so far to the left that anyone who questions any policy that leads to centralization is labeled “hard right”?

    Trump is actually a moderate; he simply proposes policies you don’t like, so you think he’s “hard right”.

    Look at the state of the world right now. You have a nineteen year old mega loser – sorry but there is no other good way to describe her – who steps up to the podium and screams blah blah blah, and who yells about nonsense. People on the left, who predominately side with Sumner’s left of center (way left of center, although not quite radical left) actually clap to this crap.

    What happened to sensible discussions that involved “solutions”. This moron, a product and darling of the supranational left, says the best thing one can be in the world is an “activist”. There is nothing that could be furthest from the truth.

    Activists cry, complain, yell, scream, all under some self righteous obsession where they virtue signal their moral superiority. At no time, do activists every provide “solutions” to the problems we face. And the solutions they do propose, if any, are usually so insane that the only reasonable response is to vote for Donald Trump.

    Trump’s common sense policies do not include eating worms, or telling people the world will end in ten years (no rational scientist actually believes that).

    Trump looks at the state of the WEF, see’s collusion, as most of us do, and then says WTF are we funding this shit for? Why do our tax dollars go to supranationals that try to control our policy. They don’t represent us. They represent pseudo science, bill gates, rockefellers, rothschilds, and other mega rich who want to pull strings through their so called “NGO”s.

    I’m not a conspiracy theorist. But let’s face the truth. The truth is that pharmaceuticals earn about a 20/1 return on investment. Bill Gates has a lot of shares, so of course his NGO’s are pushing politicians to legislate in favor of mandates. Of course they are pushing for the UN to regionalize, then centralize govt. That ensures their survival! It’s collusion, but also common sense.

    And of course, this is the great danger.

    Trump opposes all of that. He upholds cultural institutions, such as the family, the community, and the church. The left is attempting to destroy all of this. And when you destroy the social cohesion, you end up with nothing in return. History is replete with examples.

    Trump is not the bad guy. He’s the guy trying, although perhaps not effectually, to bring America back from the brink of terrible policy.

    Europe is not the role model. It’s the disaster. And so is China. America needs to follow its framers, not those two countries. And yes, Europe has become a sort of country now where the actual countries have turned into states. Brussels has WAAAAAAY too much power.

  6. Gravatar of dtoh dtoh
    8. November 2021 at 14:56

    Scott,
    Wokeness and its cousins are the progenitors of Trump. Without it we would not have had Trump, or more likely we would still have had Trump, but he would have run and gotten elected as a Democrat.

  7. Gravatar of msgkings msgkings
    8. November 2021 at 15:00

    @dtoh: and he would have been just as much a disaster as a Democrat. The awfulness of Trump isn’t in his ideology or party. It’s that he’s a terrible human being who should not be the leader of anything let alone the country.

  8. Gravatar of jayne jayne
    8. November 2021 at 15:18

    Sumner says he’s never seen these “woke” people.

    He must not be looking very hard.

    State Street now refuses to hire “white men” because, well, their white and have a penis.

    Netflix “woke” workers demand the removal of Dave Chappelle, because he “hurt their feelings”. Dave needs to hurt more people’s feelings.

    But yeah, okay, let’s pretend these academic lunatics don’t exist.

  9. Gravatar of stoneybatter stoneybatter
    8. November 2021 at 15:39

    I love the framing. But it should be the “Committee Ensuring the Election of Donald Trump in 2024.” Ensure, not insure.

  10. Gravatar of dtoh dtoh
    8. November 2021 at 16:37

    @msgkings

    You can always judge the paucity of argument, by its reliance on ad hominem arguments.

  11. Gravatar of msgkings msgkings
    8. November 2021 at 18:03

    @dtoh: It’s simply a fact that Donald Trump is awful. The sky is blue, the sun is yellow, Donald Trump is a terrible person. He possesses no good qualities at all. He’s not honest, curious, intelligent, caring, loyal, brave, charming, strong, capable, compassionate…there’s nothing. This isn’t an ‘argument’ it’s a statement of fact.

  12. Gravatar of nick nick
    8. November 2021 at 18:15

    Democrat bigotry has existed for a long time.

    Its the worst kind of disease, and unforetold it just won’t go away.

    Slaver holders in the south = demothugs
    Jim Crow = demothugs
    CRT = demothugs
    Woke = demothugs
    Politicians claiming public schools own their children = demothugs
    BLM = communist demothugs
    UN busybody’s = demothugs
    radical activists that want to destroy your community = demothugs
    CDC mandating vaccines for 5-11 year olds = demo thugs

    Remove the demothug disease and the world has a far fewer problems.

  13. Gravatar of anon anon
    8. November 2021 at 18:55

    And “the paper of record” (what the heck is that?) contributes heavily too to this dysfunction? https://twitter.com/reporterdriver/status/1456215138097418243

    lot of folks, including ssumner take nytimes way seriously then it deserves and provide it an exalted status as a reporter of truth whereas it is as biased as any.

  14. Gravatar of steve steve
    8. November 2021 at 20:40

    I dont know or work with any of the woke either. Sure they exist but not really sure how common they really are outside of a couple of coastal areas or a fe liberal colleges.

    Steve

  15. Gravatar of dtoh dtoh
    8. November 2021 at 21:41

    msgkings,

    Very persuasive argument. Haven’t heard that one since third grade. 🙂

  16. Gravatar of Student Student
    9. November 2021 at 05:46

    In my local school district, there is no longer a homecoming king and queen because it’s gendered. I could care less about that but it puts off more people than it attracts and so gives the impression that wokeness is pilfering the school systems. This kind of counterproductive wokeness only alienates centrists and moderates and throws nationalists into fits where they vote in droves. Good post. Will the centrists among us on both sides please speak up.

  17. Gravatar of Michael Sandifer Michael Sandifer
    9. November 2021 at 06:15

    These are very good comments. What some of the woke don’t seem to notice, is that they wouldn’t feel the need to cancel so many people if more people agreed with them. And canceling people doesn’t create consensus, but instead just pushes some resistance underground, and in some cases, pushes people further toward fascism.

    Cancel culture needs to be replaced with a culture of persuasion. We need to go back to the way liberals used to win the culture wars.

    Today, many in the middle feel caught in the crossfire between left cultural extremists and fascists. Most want a less politicized environment and more cooperation.

    The cancel culture in America, as far as I can tell, began on the right, with the “pro-family” religious extremists in the late 70s. They organized boycotts of entertainment, for example that reflected changing family structures; opposed reproductive freedom; and in some cases, supported outright terrorism in the form of bombing clinics where abortions were performed.

    As recently as the 90s, liberals were still mostly in the persuasion game in terms of pushing issues like gay rights. Sadly, cancel culture has grown in power since, as extremists on the left lost patience with working class voters.

  18. Gravatar of Student Student
    9. November 2021 at 06:18

    It seems the problem is that the extremes of the parties have taken over (is it the primaries? maybe smoke filled rooms were better nominating procedures? Hard to believe that). And they just scape goat. On the right it’s Muslims and Chinese and immigrants, on the left it’s white people and people with dicks, or people that think gender is scientifically real that oppress everyone else. We need more people like sumner that refuse to choose a team and do this crazy thing called thinking about things.

  19. Gravatar of Michael Sandifer Michael Sandifer
    9. November 2021 at 06:28

    Scott and msgkings are correct that Trump has no positive qualities. That is a fact.

  20. Gravatar of bb bb
    9. November 2021 at 07:58

    Scott,
    I agree that wokeness has gone too far and it is turning a lot of Americans off. It’s important to remedy one distinction between the left and right. The right chose to put their craziest people in positions of power, with Trump being the most glaring example. The Democrat nominated the most moderate major candidate in the primaries, and the leadership is run by moderates. The woke crowd is loud, but they don’t have a lot of power. On the other hand, Trump has complete control over the Republican Party.
    The woke cloud has a lot of things right, but the righteousness is exhausting, even for someone like me who agrees with much of what they think. Also, we are still a democracy. Someone needs to explain to them that unpopular ideas are hard to implement in a democracy, and most people view that as a feature rather than a bug. Good post.

  21. Gravatar of Michael Rulle Michael Rulle
    9. November 2021 at 08:02

    In the middle of what is a rather common sense but accurate description of one element of our political environment——-you then say politics is simple—-and all about Trump. You are caught in a time warp. Trump still matters, but his impact ——whatever it’s size—-is within our midst with or without him. The “cult” aspect is just a lazy meme—-like the right speaking of the cult of Obama. Move on. You almost have——and the banana republic thing—-also a meme—lazy. We have developed this tendency to ignore traditions and even our constitution——so it IS toward BR—-but is not BR.

  22. Gravatar of msgkings msgkings
    9. November 2021 at 08:09

    @dtoh:

    You haven’t heard any facts since third grade? 🙂

  23. Gravatar of Philo Philo
    9. November 2021 at 10:36

    Aside: “Don’t be racist and sexist” is *obvious* only on some definitions of the terms ‘racism’ and ‘sexism’; on some other definitions the admonition is not obvious at all. These terms are actually quite slippery.

  24. Gravatar of sean sean
    9. November 2021 at 10:50

    Trump doesn’t have control of the GOP for actual policy and I prefer their policy to Biden’s policies. Trump will yell and give mean treats but he didn’t do a lot of policy.

    Trump means Mitch Mcconnel is in control and I support tax cuts, less spending, and conservative judges (less spending is obviously relative). And then I don’t have to hope that the progressive wing of the left dominates policy.

    Agree Trump isn’t actually hard right at all. He’s his own entity. Like the Mule in Foundation.

  25. Gravatar of ssumner ssumner
    9. November 2021 at 11:04

    Henry, You said:

    “Trump isn’t Hitler. Xi is Hitler.”

    You mean because Xi put a million Muslims into concentration camps? The policy that Trump encouraged him to do?

    And Trump is a moderate? Trying to abolish America’s democratic system of government is moderate? He lost a democratic election and tried to pressure state and federal officials to illegally overturn the election. That’s how authoritarian leaders behave, not democratic leaders.

    Dzhaughn, We will remain a banana republic for at least a generation. The cause isn’t Trump, it’s his supporters. And the idiots in the woke movement on the left. Recall that Latin American countries have obnoxious elements on both the far left and the far right. That’s now true in the USA.

    It will take at least a generation before Americans once again trust elections. Were there mass protests when Gerald Ford lost a close election to Jimmy Carter? I don’t recall any.

    Thanks stoneybatter, I fixed it.

    bb, You said:

    “The right chose to put their craziest people in positions of power, with Trump being the most glaring example.”

    Yup, I’ve made the distinction many times. It’s why even a bad president like Biden is the lesser of evils.

  26. Gravatar of Carl Carl
    9. November 2021 at 11:06

    I’m not sure what to take from this post. It sounds like you’re saying that Woke-ness and Trumpism are just two naked emperors waiting for a child to call them out. But then it seems you’re saying that we’re doomed to being ruled by naked emperors because we have become a banana republic.

  27. Gravatar of ssumner ssumner
    9. November 2021 at 11:14

    Sean, Some people say Trump isn’t hard right because he has the government spend a lot of money. But throughout history most hard right authoritarians spent a lot of money. Off the top of my head, Pinochet is the only hard right leader I recall who actually did what American conservatives would view as “right wing” economic policies.

    Carl, Recall that Carville said:

    “Wokeness is a problem and everyone knows it.”

    Obviously when he says “everyone” he doesn’t mean to include woke people. Similarly, when I say everyone knows Trump is bad, I’m excluding the portion of his voters who are in the cult. Some smarter people like Sean probably voted for him as the lesser of evils. That’s different.

  28. Gravatar of Larry Larry
    9. November 2021 at 11:54

    I do not know what “wokeness” is. And if it is just the belief that racism and sexism exist in our culture, then the woke are correct.

    Here are some anti-“wokeness” Republican efforts:

    1. Racist interference in the VA governors race:

    https://www.thedailybeast.com/right-wing-aristocrats-fund-critical-race-theory-backlash

    2. Attempts to shut down free speech:

    https://www.motherjones.com/media/2021/11/the-legal-war-against-mother-jones-keeps-getting-more-intense/

    So you can argue against the boogie man “the woke.” Or you can look at what is really going on.

    Your choice.

    My opinion: Being “woke” (whatever that means) is better than being … (you can fill in the blank)

  29. Gravatar of Tom M Tom M
    9. November 2021 at 13:40

    @Larry-

    Glad the twin links you provided for Republic anti-wokeness were The Daily Beast and Mother Jones… lol

    The reason you don’t know how to define “wokeness” is because people on the left and right typically do not know how to define their terms.

    If “wokeness” simply meant “aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice)”- Webster’s Dictionary, I don’t know that anyone would have a problem with wokeness.

    The problem is the term suffers from a similar term to “BLM” in that it quickly encompasses a catch-all for a bunch of random crap.

    Is being “woke” better than being “rich”? I would disagree 😀

    The real issue is not being woke, it is Wokeism…

    “Isms in my opinion are not good. A person should not believe in an ism, he should believe in himself. I quote John Lennon, “I don’t believe in Beatles, I just believ in me.” Not bad, but then again he was the walrus. “

  30. Gravatar of larry larry
    9. November 2021 at 14:10

    @Tom M

    Yes, the links were to left leaning websites but that doesn’t mean that what they report is wrong. Maybe it is. Maybe it isn’t.

    Can you prove that they are wrong????

    Probably not.

    I suspect they are mostly correct.

  31. Gravatar of Mark Z Mark Z
    9. November 2021 at 14:23

    One’s milieu apparently matters a lot. For me, Republicans are like unicorns; it’s been probably five years or so I think since I met one in real life (at least one who was open about it). If you socialize with people in their 20s and 30s in big cities the world is completely different from if you socialize with people in their 50s and 60s in the suburbs.

    Maybe that’s why people were less ‘polarized’ in the past: since they didn’t have the internet, they were rarely confronted with the reality that people so different from them in every way (including beliefs and values) even existed. Now each of us realizes there are countless millions of outlanders living among us.

  32. Gravatar of sarah sarah
    9. November 2021 at 17:23

    https://elamerican.com/idiot-of-the-week-greta-thunberg/

    Could not agree more. And just look at how ugly she is. Is she really 19? She looks 50.

    I swear to god that ugly people have a strong aversion to freedom. They have some twisted perversion to humanity, probably from being ridiculed and bullied in high school, so they spend their days propagating collectivist nonsense as some crazy plot to destroy the rugged – and aesthetically pleasing – individualists.

    Socialists really do have a psychological disorder.

  33. Gravatar of nick nick
    9. November 2021 at 18:13

    https://nypost.com/2021/07/05/michigan-boy-dies-in-his-sleep-three-days-after-getting-vaccine/

    https://www.ronjohnson.senate.gov/services/files/A4A76F9A-9B29-4CF9-B987-F9097A3F4CB7

    Kid dies from vaccine.

    And 21000 hospitalizations from Vaccine (June latest data).

    But his woke family, no doubt mega losers like Sumner, bought into the CNN propaganda machine that chants death, death, covid, death, covid, 24/7. Talk about a “cult”.

    Sumner is no better than the woke. He wants to inject you against your will. I says an “eye for an eye”. You mandate something in my arm against my will, I go to your house, hold you down, and put a few syringes in your arm.

  34. Gravatar of K K
    9. November 2021 at 18:13

    Wokeness will forever remind me of this amazing skit

    https://youtu.be/Ev373c7wSRg

    Thanks for the sanity, Scott.

  35. Gravatar of Michael Sandifer Michael Sandifer
    9. November 2021 at 20:43

    nick,

    Civilization requires some sacrifices. Each citizen must pay taxes, be subject to the draft(those eligible), and get vaccinated during pandemics. Mandatory vaccination is nothing new in the US.

    In fact, good citizens should not have to be asked to get vaccinated during a pandemic. They should do it for their fellow citizens, if nothing else.

    All of the crybabies, across the political spectrum today, want to scream about the rights and freedoms they demand, but very few want to accept the responsibilities that come with citizenship in a republic.

  36. Gravatar of Todd Kreider Todd Kreider
    9. November 2021 at 22:39

    Great to see that Scott’s brain transplant has been a success.

  37. Gravatar of rinat rinat
    10. November 2021 at 12:59

    The gangsterism of the left is on full display here:

    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-59215769

    It’s quite interesting how “woke” Brussels (the central planner of the EU and a modern day Soviet Union) blames Russia and Belarus for sending them immigrants, when they claim to love immigrants. Don’t they want more “multiculturalism”? What happened?

    What Brussels really wants to say, but doesn’t, is that their supranational, unelected thugs, made a grave mistake by permitting millions upon millions of immigrants to enter their countries at a historical rate that far exceeds anything that humanity has ever seen; AND, they are unwilling to admit that this speed of immigration has destroyed social cohesion.

    America and Eastern Europe need to avoid this disaster. The moderates warned Europe and America many years ago, and still today, that some immigrants assimilate and some don’t. But the radical left refused to believe it. Academics, in particular, dreamed of their utopia where everyone could assimilate at will. In America, Europeans, Cubans, Mexicans, Colombians and Ghanaians, all assimilate – mostly – without problems. As do the Japanese, Vietnamese, and SOME Chinese. But most middle eastern’ s and Chinese DO NOT assimilate. Their culture and customs are simply in contradiction to the framers philosophical views.

    The Irish are the best example of assimilation. When they arrived, they were dirty, drunk, disgusting, pathetic, mega losers!

    Nobody wanted them around, and for damn good reason.

    But the Irish looked at themselves in the mirror, realized they were mega losers and, low and behold, decided to change!

    But some immigrants will NEVER change. And too many at one time, before they have a chance to assimilate, will destroy communities.

    Europe, particularly eastern Europe, is now on the brink of war. A war that could have been avoided if thug academics, and their loser apparatchiks, stopped pushing “abstraction” as “sensible policy”.

  38. Gravatar of Ro2b Ro2b
    10. November 2021 at 14:19

    “Woke people are like unicorns. I often read about them, but can’t say I’ve ever spoken with one”

    Scott, can you hear yourself think? Maybe you haven’t met them cause they are mostly a right wing strawman. Just cause Tucker Carlson thinks it’s a problem doesn’t make it a problem.

  39. Gravatar of henry henry
    10. November 2021 at 17:31

    https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/10/republican-billionaire-ken-langone-says-he-will-hold-fundraiser-for-joe-manchin.html

    Joe Manchin is what the democrat party used to look like, before it was overtaken by weirdos.

    Once he’s gone, you’ve got Sumner’s more radical crowd of socialists.

    I hope Manchin lives forever. The country needs him.

  40. Gravatar of sean sean
    11. November 2021 at 13:06

    Manchin’s ok. But he’s also not the guy I want deciding what the Senate does. He protects coal too much and he is way to into means testing on social programs. That basically means people have no incentive to rise up because you end up with very high implicit marginal rates on the working poor.

  41. Gravatar of Brian Donohue Brian Donohue
    11. November 2021 at 13:53

    The military, administrative state, national security state, universities, Democratic Party establishment, media, entertainment industry, and corporate America are all 100% woke. All the institutions.

    The symmetry you allege with Trumpism is… off somehow.

  42. Gravatar of ssumner ssumner
    11. November 2021 at 17:30

    Larry, You said:

    “I do not know what “wokeness” is. And if it is just the belief that racism and sexism exist in our culture, then the woke are correct.”

    Yes, your second sentence certainly proves your first sentence.

    Sarah Hate to tell you this, but you aren’t helping your case.

    Ro2b, You said:

    “Scott, can you hear yourself think? Maybe you haven’t met them cause they are mostly a right wing strawman.”

    I’ll let extremists like you and Brian Donohue fight it out. I’m in the sensible middle that understands what’s going on with cancel culture, has seen many examples, but tries not to exaggerate the problem.

    Brian, You said:

    “The military, administrative state, national security state, universities, Democratic Party establishment, media, entertainment industry, and corporate America are all 100% woke. All the institutions.”

    So Navy Seals are 100% woke? Fox News is 100% woke? Professional wrestling and the NFL and NASCAR are 100% woke? Elon Musk is 100% woke? Joe Biden is 100% woke? Okaaay. . . .

  43. Gravatar of janice janice
    11. November 2021 at 20:12

    Woke CBS deleted an article today titled “Kyle Rittenhouse kills two people”.

    After the latest video showed Kyle being chased by a masked Antifa thug, and the thug pointing a weapon at him, the prosecutor knows he lost the case.

    The left wing media cabal has destroyed this kids reputation and his future. Everyone of those propaganda machines should be sued for libel.

    Innocent until proven guilty doesn’t matter to left wing thugs.

    CNN has now decided to shift gears, attacking the judge for using the term “asian food”. Only libtards engage in that type of micro totalitarianism. For example, you will never in your life here a latino or latina calling themselves “latinx”. It’s just another bigoted term used by leftward thugs because they want to destroy the Spanish language, which has both feminine and masculine words.

    As we like to say: vete a la mierda

  44. Gravatar of Brian Donohue Brian Donohue
    12. November 2021 at 08:35

    OK, not 100%, but universities vs. Nascar about sums up the symmetry lol.

  45. Gravatar of ankh ankh
    12. November 2021 at 09:41

    the commenter that said abstraction is bad policy is right. And I think he or she is borrowing that from Burke.

    This is the problem with economics. The premises are all wrong. The starting point and the axioms, are all fictitious and impossible to achieve.

    Economists on the left are so concerned with abstract goals that are not obtainable: perfect equality (which requires equal distribution), free trade (requires no regulation of any kind),and “human rights” (no thought for a people’s culture, religion and family and the creation of their own universals) that they grossly endanger their countries security.

    Take this example: China has recently restricted coal output, raising energy prices globally. If the U.S. had placed tariffs on Chinese coal, and still had the infrastructure to produce the majority of its own coal, this would not cause a problem. But economists wanted to import from the cheapest producers, shutting down coal plants. Btw, the same can be said to U.S. partners who import their oil. Biden is restricting output, banning pipelines, which would make energy a lot cheaper domestically, but also internationally.

    The point is that the world is not a utopia. And supra nationals are not the answer. The answer is never more centralization, and the dogged pursuit of some crazy abstract idea, the answer is always decentralization and practical policy.

    Economists have already laid the foundation for WW3. And the blood of many nations posterity will be on their hands.

    Speaking of war:

    This is disgusting. More “woke” I suppose? Or is it just the left in general?

    https://www.infowars.com/posts/war-memorial-defaced-with-the-words-the-real-heroes-are-the-vaccinated/

    So getting vaxxed is now equivalent to storming a hill with thousands of bullets raining down upon you. INSANITY!

  46. Gravatar of ssumner ssumner
    12. November 2021 at 10:09

    Brian, I taught from 1981 to 2016, and never had any problem speaking freely. Of course the woke movement is recent, so maybe things have changed.

  47. Gravatar of Floccina Floccina
    12. November 2021 at 11:04

    Trump is actually a moderate; he simply proposes policies you don’t like, so you think he’s “hard right”.

    Trump is moderate policy wise, but when he says he won the election and pushes Pence to not swear in Biden, he is an anti-democratic radical wacko, similar to many dictators. For people to support him in that is really bad.

  48. Gravatar of steve steve
    13. November 2021 at 08:14

    I think woke is pretty poorly defined so people us sit however they want. That said, it really has not been an issue where I live and work. As I read about it I think it seems like another world. I do have to live with daly examples of the nuttiness of the far right with some of my staff believing that vaccines will magnetize you and that Bill Gates is behind them so they cant be trusted.

    Regardless, it sure seems real other places. I think I am prepared for when and if it becomes an issue where I work. With the blessing of our COO I am going to ask the woke if they show up to provide evidence for any proposed changes they want to make that it will result in any positive changes. AFAICT, we are dealing with a some people getting hurt feelings but only a small percentage of it has any merit. Big changes that wont accomplish anything may make things worse so unless they have good evidence we arent changing, maybe not even then.

    Steve

  49. Gravatar of ssumner ssumner
    13. November 2021 at 09:32

    Floccina, Yes, it’s funny how so many people don’t understand what “far right wing” means. They think it means favoring small government, even though throughout history almost all extreme rightists favored big government. (Interwar Europe, Asia, Latin America, etc.) Pinochet was an exception.

    Steve, You said:

    “As I read about it I think it seems like another world.”

    That’s my view too. I have no doubt this other world exists, and is important (and harmful) for many people, but not for me.

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