In terms of reaching out to Woke-defending liberals, who may or may not be here, the subsequent episode ("We Out Here") is the most important. Woke defenders often think that Woke opponents don't understand the impetus behind Wokeism. Listening to that episode, it is impossible to make such a claim about you. Hard as it may be to believe, there are a lot of liberals for whom "critic of Wokeness" merely means "reactionary."
Woke defenders also have an extremely hard time saying "no" to whatever comes in the name of liberation. For many of these people, their whole purpose in life is to liberate humankind from the pernicious grasp of antiquated cultural norms and traditions; they will, they must, fight that fight. Centripetal forces have given way to centrifugal ones, for a variety of reasons. I still think the best book written thus far about the Internet's impact on politics is Martin Gurri's "Revolt of the Public." And at some point I'd like to see you in conversation with Gurri, because I think there is something more to be learned by a syncretism of his analysis with your own. Social media is here - and it isn't going away. Without it, Wokeness would not have arisen as it has. And if it is to be defeated, social media dissipating into the ether will not be the mechanism by which that happens.
As has ever been the case (Gurri writes of the printing press), this revolution in the means of communication has changed humanity. The "tsunami" of information, as he calls it, created a new world. And we should not be surprised by how disruptive, even crazy, it has been. And it's putting tremendous strain on our institutions, which are buckling under the same. Criticism of Wokeness, understanding its genealogy and its intent and the outcomes it's likely to effectuate, whatever its aims, all of that is critical. But there will need to be reforms both to political institutions and social media at some point in the future. Can we restructure things such that we incentivize our way to sanity once again? This is a conversation to be had, and I'd like to see you and Gurri have it.
In terms of reaching out to Woke-defending liberals, who may or may not be here, the subsequent episode ("We Out Here") is the most important. Woke defenders often think that Woke opponents don't understand the impetus behind Wokeism. Listening to that episode, it is impossible to make such a claim about you. Hard as it may be to believe, there are a lot of liberals for whom "critic of Wokeness" merely means "reactionary."
Woke defenders also have an extremely hard time saying "no" to whatever comes in the name of liberation. For many of these people, their whole purpose in life is to liberate humankind from the pernicious grasp of antiquated cultural norms and traditions; they will, they must, fight that fight. Centripetal forces have given way to centrifugal ones, for a variety of reasons. I still think the best book written thus far about the Internet's impact on politics is Martin Gurri's "Revolt of the Public." And at some point I'd like to see you in conversation with Gurri, because I think there is something more to be learned by a syncretism of his analysis with your own. Social media is here - and it isn't going away. Without it, Wokeness would not have arisen as it has. And if it is to be defeated, social media dissipating into the ether will not be the mechanism by which that happens.
As has ever been the case (Gurri writes of the printing press), this revolution in the means of communication has changed humanity. The "tsunami" of information, as he calls it, created a new world. And we should not be surprised by how disruptive, even crazy, it has been. And it's putting tremendous strain on our institutions, which are buckling under the same. Criticism of Wokeness, understanding its genealogy and its intent and the outcomes it's likely to effectuate, whatever its aims, all of that is critical. But there will need to be reforms both to political institutions and social media at some point in the future. Can we restructure things such that we incentivize our way to sanity once again? This is a conversation to be had, and I'd like to see you and Gurri have it.