The Origins of Wokeness: A Deep Dive into Performative Morality
Definition of "Prig" (Early in Article): A "prig" is defined as a self-righteously moralistic person who behaves as if superior to others. This term, originating in the 18th century, highlights that wokeness, while recent, is an instance of a much older phenomenon.
Definition of Wokeness and Political Correctness (Early in Article): Both are defined as an aggressively performative focus on social justice. The core issue is the performative aspect rather than the pursuit of social justice itself.
Mid-1980s: The definition of sexual harassment was expanded to include creating a "hostile environment".
1980s The Rise of Political Correctness: The author identifies the 1980s as the origin of wokeness, tracing it back to the rise of political correctness in universities. The lack of focus on the working class is a sign of wokeness.
1960s Radical Professors: Student protestors from the 1960s became professors in the 1970s, gradually gaining power and influence. They were able to inject politics into humanities and social sciences.
Late 1980s: The shift from protest to punishment occurred as 1960s radicals gained tenure and could enforce their ideas. They encouraged students to attack other faculty members.
Moral Etiquette: The larping of morality by college students resulted in a superficial but complicated moral etiquette, creating land mines and substituting for actual virtue. There were no underlying principles to these rules.
Contributing Factors: A lack of other things to be morally pure about (religion, sex) and the fall of the Soviet empire contributed to the rise of political correctness.
Late 1980s: The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 took the shine off of Marxism.
Women as Enforcers: Women were more attracted to the idea of being moral enforcers, and the backlash against sexual harassment provided a platform for expanding the radius of forbidden behavior.
Mid-1990s: Political correctness seemed to burn out due to becoming a joke and being satirized by comedians.
Early 2010s: The embers of political correctness reignited, fueled by the rise of social media (particularly Tumblr and Twitter) and the cancel mob mentality. The second wave was known as "cancel culture" and was called "wokeness" in the 2020s.
Social Media and Outrage: Social media's inherent tilt toward outrage, where users are more likely to engage with content that outrages them, amplified wokeness.
Polarization of the Press: The shift from print to online publishing led to newspapers catering to ideologically defined markets, increasing polarization. The New York Times embraced a narrative-driven approach instead of neutrality.
2013: The Black Lives Matter movement started but didn't launch wokeness, as it was already underway.
2017: The Me Too Movement accelerated wokeness.
2016: Donald Trump's election accelerated wokeness, particularly in the press, where outrage generated traffic and revenue.
2020: Peak Woke: The asphyxiation of a black suspect by a white police officer led to widespread protests, marking the peak of wokeness.
Post-2020 Retreat: Wokeness has been in gradual retreat, with corporate CEOs and universities rejecting it and confirming their commitment to free speech.
Wokeness as a Religion: The author suggests treating wokeness like a religion, applying existing customs for dealing with religion within organizations.
Future Outbreaks: To prevent future outbreaks of aggressively performative moralism, we need to develop powerful antibodies against the concept of heresy and have a conscious bias against defining new forms of heresy.
Burden of Proof: The burden of proof should be on those trying to ban something, requiring them to prove harm rather than merely claiming it.