It is often argued by some that the United States as a nation is evil, controlled by evil people and consequently on the road to ruin. The political divide seems to be the clearest indicator that the US is irrevocably broken. The two sides of the political debate seem to be incapable of agreeing on a common set of facts not only related to the 2020 Presidential election (for example) or what sources are accepted as credible or authoritative.
Of course, by “two sides” I mean the woke and the moderate liberals. We all know the woke as they have been getting a lot of press. Certainly the “Left woke” are getting most of this press, but the “Right woke” are there as well. Although the left and right woke argue they are on opposite sides of the political divide they are actually very similar in their beliefs. For example, both the left woke and the right woke agree that identity politics is the most important item on their political agendas. Both the left woke and the right woke see the apocalypse as their guiding star. Both the left and the right woke use guilt and shame to keep themselves and their ilk line and to win converts to their causes. Both the left and the right woke are authoritarian, anti-democratic and suspicious of rights, freedom and the rule of law. Both the left and the right woke are suspicious of a free press and truth in general (although they may argue the point). Both the left and the right woke believe that power (not law) is the ultimate source of legitimate authority. Despite this last point, both the left woke and the right woke are motivated primarily by resentment against what they perceive to be the dominant and oppressive forces (i.e., illegitimated powers) in society.
By contrast, moderate liberal are orthogonal to this woke dichotomy. Moderate liberals reject identity politics. Moderate liberals do not see an impending apocalypse (either environmental or biblical) on the immediate horizon. Moderate liberals believe that a functional society is made of people who want to be a part of it, and not of people who are shamed into acting according to another person’s proclivities. Moderate liberals believe in our democratic institutions and do not gravitate towards leaders who seek to undermine them. Moderate liberals do not believe everything written in a news paper is a lie simply because it was written in a news paper. Moderate liberals believe in the rule of law and are primarily motivated to contribute to the functioning of the society in which they live rather than tearing it down or otherwise undermining it out of resentment.
The word “woke” is an interesting one because it suggests its adherents are awake and therefore aware of something that the non woke (i.e., asleep) people are not aware of. This is a characteristic of Gnosticism (although I suspect most woke people would not admit to being aware that they are Gnostic). Another aspect the woke movement shares with Gnosticism is that the world is a prison that they do not ultimately belong to. The Left woke believe the world to be dominated by a straight, white, male patriarchy. The Right woke believes the world to be “fallen” and dominated by sinners. Fortunately (I believe), the woke movement to be ultimately unsustainable. Not only is it too negative in outlook (and therefore repellant to most of its adherents over the long term) but it is also too extreme politically. Most people naturally fall somewhere in the middle politically speaking and will naturally revert to this position given sufficient time.
Winston Scrooge 