Should we retire the word 'woke' and come up with something better?

A useful term, but 'woke' has its drawbacks no matter how you use it these days. Maybe it's time to come up with something less divisive and more accurate.

I consider myself someone broadly on the “left” when it comes to politics, though I fear I have become “socially conservative” in recent years, not because of any of my own views changing but because the pendulum has swung and left me behind. Socially progressive types, at least within the circle we loosely call “woke”, have embraced concepts such as:

• Guilty until proven innocent

• Free speech is not as important as preventing “harm”

• As such, censorship is not a bad thing if the right people do it for the right reasons

• “Cancelling” people (and dogpiling them on social media) is useful and just

• Shutting down conversation from people you disagree with is also just, including on social media or in real life (such as when conservative speakers are shouted down at universities)

• Anti-racism is preferable to simply not being racist, and the proper way to confront racism is to attack “whiteness”

• Race and gender issues are far more important than class and economic issues, and enforcing progressive language—however incomprehensible—is paramount (hence terms like cishetero rising to the fore)

• If you disagree with any of these relatively new ways of thinking, you are de facto problematic and worthy of scorn and potentially cancellation in one form or another

• Utilizing the power of the state and/or big corporations to silence opponents is not only okay, it’s to be devoutly wished for

• News reporting does not need to be true so long as it takes an opponent down a peg or furthers the cause

I could go on, but this seems to cover enough bases for the time being. When I was younger, socially liberal politics (to me, at least) included:

• Not judging people based on their sexual orientation, gender, the color of their skin, etc.

• Being anti-war and anti-violence

• Being pro free-speech even when horrible people were having their speech restricted (I miss you, vintage ACLU)

• Fighting for economic reforms like universal healthcare for everyone, more equitable redistribution of wealth, etc.

• Fighting for environmental protections

• Fighting for an end to unjust laws like those that comprise the War on Drugs

• Being pro-freedom, but not in the “rah rah rah we’re number one!” sense

• Distrust of corporations and governments

• Expectations of truth, fact and scientific rigor

None of these beliefs have changed, and yet I find myself described often as a right-winger, a “GamerGater” or some kind of terrible person who supports harassment and other evils.

The type of lefty whose beliefs fit the first set of bullet points I often refer to as “woke” and others call “social justice warriors.” I suppose if you hew closer to the second you’re a dirt-bag lefty or a liberal-tarian or something. And it’s not that we can’t have differing views. That’s fine by me. The problem is that the “woke” brigade tends to disagree. If you have different views you’re a bad person and deserve whatever’s coming to you. I paint in broad strokes, obviously, and the net I cast isn’t meant to catch everyone—just the types who behave this way.

And there are many. These voices are loud and they’ve overwhelmed universities and taken over the media—in games journalism but also . . . almost everywhere that isn’t explicitly rightwing, basically. And some of us woke-critical types like Glenn Greenwald, Matt Taibbi, Andrew Sullivan, Freddie deBoer, et alia. many of whom have ended up here at Substack because we like the clean format and independence (and if you want to support that independence, please do consider subscribing to diabolical as a premium subscriber).

I have other beliefs that have changed or shifted over the years, or have reverted back to older beliefs. As I noted in my latest video/bonus podcast I am finding myself more and more critical of modernity in general, at least in its most glaringly destructive modes. I am skeptical of big government, big tech, big financial institutions, social media and faith in these things to make the world a better place. Industrialism has come at a great cost to our natural world, and our social interactions seem increasingly fraught. I am more and more convinced that we are rushing headlong toward our collective annhialiation, both spiritually and perhaps literally. Climate change will no doubt bring about great upheaval and devastating global events that are impossible to predict, and that are equally impossible to prevent.

Our social politics—identity driven and divisive—will no doubt continue to fester and devour us as more and more human beings are dehumanized by the expectations of social media and an unforgiving political landscape. Things look grim, and a part of me wants to retreat somewhere far away, deep in the forest by a lake, dig a moat, build a high wall and stock up on food and bullets. If climate change or deadly viruses don’t get us and we manage to avoid a third world war, surely zombies and aliens will arrive and do us in. Be prepared, O my brothers and sisters.

I’m getting ahead of myself here. My apologies. Let me return to the headline and the matter at hand.

What about woke?

The word “woke” is useful shorthand for what I’m talking about but many people don’t use it pejoratively, and I’ve had some pushback from readers I respect and admire. So maybe it’s time to retire it and use something else that has fewer meanings, less contextual baggage. After all, for some people woke simply means that you’re awake to the world’s problems—of which there is no shortage—and willing to do something about them. (Though these people may also need to retire the word, sullied as it is). There’s nothing wrong with this attitude, by the way. Social justice, when not wielded like a battering ram, is a noble concept. We do want to end hatred even if that goal—ending hatred—is largely impossible and attempts to do so largely backfire or have unintended (or perhaps intended) consequences that do little to further social justice causes. We want to make the world better, in any case. Somehow.

So not woke, not SJW, then what? What to call scolds and bullies who hide behind noble causes in order to elevate their own social status while constantly shaming and condemning others in order to appear virtuous? The “authoritarian left” works, and usefully can be applied to the “authoritarian right” as well which, if you haven’t been paying attention, has traditionally enforced moral codes that the left is only now adopting as “social justice” causes—like the notion that video games result in real world racism and should be censored, a topic we’ve discussed here at length.

What do you think, dearest droogs? What diabolical term should we coin, or has been coined already, to replace “woke” and “SJW” that better serves our rhetoric? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!

Further Reading: Check out my article over at Forbes on video game writer Chris Avellone who just now broke his silence on sexual misconduct allegations leveled against him in 2020. Avellone has filed libel suits against his accusers and is seeking to set the matter straight. It’s a fascinating look at the #MeToo movement, cancel culture and the pitfalls of social media.

Listen To: The bonus episode of my diabolical podcast which is all about the thorny issues surrounding diversity in Tolkien’s Lord Of The Rings. I think I will need to follow this one up with some clarifications, as I have had some savvy pushback on some of the things I said and I’d like to plumb those depths further.

You can find me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube. Read my Forbes blog here. I have a second fun-and-games Substack called fantastical as well which you should absolutely subscribe to.