The Woke Movement

500channelsurfer

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Hi!

FYI:
Woke (/woʊk/ wohk) is a term, originating in the United States, that originally referred to awareness about racial prejudice and discrimination. It subsequently came to encompass an awareness of other issues of social inequality, for instance, regarding gender and sexual orientation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woke#:~:text=Woke (/woʊk/,regarding gender and sexual orientation.

Woke - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woke#:~:text=Woke (/woʊk/,regarding gender and sexual orientation.


So, is the woke movement taking resources that might otherwise be used to further environmental and vegan causes?

I feel it is. I happen to watch Bill Maher and I tend to agree with him 95% of the time.

I hope this post is not too political. o_O

But really, priority needs to be placed on actual law, policy, policy implementation and enforcement that will save us from climate change disaster. Literally, lives depend on this. Woke causes are also very important causes but laws have already been written, ratified and implemented that address them. Environmental issues continue to take a back seat to corporate welfare and perceived economic interest, which are detrimental long-term and only positive in the short-term/election cycles.

I am going to be too frank now: I am a vegan, and I know that some people in society will not accept me for that. If I was minority race or sexual orientation I should also accept that and concentrate a higher percentage of my energy on more important things such as not destroying our planet.
 
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Nope, disagree with you there. I believe in the core idea of being woke, which is being aware of injustices in society, supporting rectification of those injustices and even actively working towards that rectification. Woke means telling people why you’re against, for example, a statue of Robert E. Lee in the public square and why you think it should come down. It’s basic education, education that Americans typically don’t get either in school or at home. And, one can be woke about some things but not about others. You can be woke about climate change but not about veganism. I feel all progressive movements are interconnected, so suggesting that being woke about one thing “takes away” from something else is false thinking.
 
Hi!

FYI:
Woke (/woʊk/ wohk) is a term, originating in the United States, that originally referred to awareness about racial prejudice and discrimination. It subsequently came to encompass an awareness of other issues of social inequality, for instance, regarding gender and sexual orientation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woke#:~:text=Woke (/woʊk/,regarding gender and sexual orientation.

Woke - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woke#:~:text=Woke (/woʊk/,regarding gender and sexual orientation.


So, is the woke movement taking resources that might otherwise be used to further environmental and vegan causes?

I feel it is. I happen to watch Bill Maher and I tend to agree with him 95% of the time.

I hope this post is not too political. o_O

But really, priority needs to be placed on actual law, policy, policy implementation and enforcement that will save us from climate change disaster. Literally, lives depend on this. Woke causes are also very important causes but laws have already been written, ratified and implemented that address them. Environmental issues continue to take a back seat to corporate welfare and perceived economic interest, which are detrimental long-term and only positive in the short-term/election cycles.

I am going to be too frank now: I am a vegan, and I know that some people in society will not accept me for that. If I was minority race or sexual orientation I should also accept that and concentrate a higher percentage of my energy on more important things such as not destroying our planet.
You seem to be conflating racial inequity with climate change, for no good reason!
There is no reason to think human rights should take a back seat to any other issues!
No, it's not ok to accept being treated as second class, whether for race, culture, religion, sexual orientation, or ethical stance. If anything, that line of thought will only bring down all the other means of progress.
Progressive change isn't a one way street
 
So, is the woke movement taking resources that might otherwise be used to further environmental and vegan causes?
Good question. Could be a good thesis for a philosophy or Pol Sci class.

I agree with Bill a lot of times too but sometimes I think he says some stuff just to be controversial. but I don't mind it. I think it's good to get a discussion going.

I've actually struggled with this question myself. One thing that I have come to believe is that
Compassion is not a finite resource. So you can care about racial inequality AND Climate Change and animal rights.
What is finite is the things that feed activism: Time; energy; money.

However, Caring about climate change does not come into conflict with racial equality. What is good for one is (or can be) good for the other.

Maybe the one time that being Woke and being vegan came into conflict is back when some Vegan YouTube influencer tried to promote "Animal Lives Matter" back when BLM was just getting started. But she got a lot of flak from the vegan community. And even Peta got involved with a long statement.

There were other statements from PETA but this was a good one.


As far as climate change and animal rights go - they are complementary. I've seen so many reports that say that the best thing you can personally do to reduce your carbon footprint is to go vegan.

As I and many others have said, there is only so much we can do on a personal level. Real change needs new laws, new policies, etc.

And again there is little conflict. If you want to support climate change, animal rights, equality, jobs, social justice, etc. - you just have to vote and support the Democrats (although this is just true in the US. Not sure what Canadians need to do.)
 
Yes Lou, the main point I want to make is that there is a limited amount of time and energy to draw from, while our planet is running out of time.
 
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Yes Lou, the main point I want to make is that there is a limited amount of time and energy to draw from, while our planet is running out of time.
yes. but your Point of View reminds me of what we would hear in the 60s.

Q. How can you spend money going to the moon when there are children starving. and there is a GD war going on.
A. we can do both or all three.

JFK: “We choose to go to the Moon. We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”

I know its not the same thing but it doesn't have to be an either/or thing.

By standing up for animal rights we can reduce global warming. By creating a new green deal we can reduce global warming, create jobs, and improve social justice. I know it seems really difficult. but we can do the really difficult. and the impossible just takes a bit longer.

But yes, but as far as global warming - the clock is ticking.
 
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The stuff the woke movement deal with is nothing new. I remember fighting for this stuff in the early eighties and it wasn't new then. The difference is, we had an eye on reality whereas the woke movement is so blinded by idealism and pseudo-intellectualism that it can't stop seeing demons everywhere. I think it is human nature. Feminism was a good idea but started hating on men. The same with the anti-racists and other groups that start out with a good idea but become so focused on it, that they can't see what is really happening. My opinion, however, doesn't count because I am a privileged white male.
 
Awful lot of similarity here with people demonizing vegans for being so extreme and policying
Everything has factions that get out of hand, but the reality is that when you are born with the qualifiers that give you unearned passes through life you do not naturally understand how it is for those who don't
In so many ways, being a privileged white male formulates you opinion. Whatever your experience has been formulates your opinion. It should not give you the right to make yours the qualifier for others
 
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Awful lot of similarity here with people demonizing vegans for being so extreme and policying
Everything has factions that get out of hand, but the reality is that when you are born with the qualifiers that give you unearned passes through life you do not naturally understand how it is for those who don't
In so many ways, being a privileged white male formulates you opinion. Whatever your experience has been formulates your opinion. It should not give you the right to make yours the qualifier for others
I disagree entirely. I am a human being and I can think abstractly without seeing woman/man, black/white etc. I think it is those who use expressions like "privileged" in this context that are seeing divisions that don't exist. I am not privileged. I was born in a relatively poor working class family and I am now a 57 year old dishwasher living in rented accommodation. How is that privileged? Of course I don't know what it is like to be a black person living in Louisiana for example, but I can see clearly the issues that they have to face. I don't have to be black to know that racism is wrong, but "privileged white male" is both a sexist and a racist comment itself.
 
I disagree entirely. I am a human being and I can think abstractly without seeing woman/man, black/white etc. I think it is those who use expressions like "privileged" in this context that are seeing divisions that don't exist. I am not privileged. I was born in a relatively poor working class family and I am now a 57 year old dishwasher living in rented accommodation. How is that privileged? Of course I don't know what it is like to be a black person living in Louisiana for example, but I can see clearly the issues that they have to face. I don't have to be black to know that racism is wrong, but "privileged white male" is both a sexist and a racist comment itself.
Well I'm not about to dispute this with someone in another country anymore than I would argue cats should stay indoors!
I'm kinda sensitive about this having grown up where neighborhood where I was the only white kid by 3rd grade. You really can't understand unless you've involved, and know what to look for. That was a long time ago, but not all that much has changed, and it isn't just regional.
This isn't about what you have or don't have, nor just racism
 
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True, if the planet becomes inhabitable, that will do away with even the possibility of social justice. But, as others have said, that doesn't mean that people can't strive for both.

Also, I'm not sure how one would prove the thesis that some causes take energy away from other causes. That seems hopelessly speculative. How does one calculate "this % of humanity is dedicated to X, while this % of humanity is dedicated to Y. X is taking away from Y." As usual, one would take a sample survey and extrapolate to the population as a whole, with the usual reservations. I wouldn't look for answers in the media or on the many "infotainment" shows that have taken the place of news these days. Those shows need advertising dollars, which means they need people to watch them, which means they need to give people an incentive to watch them. So they tend to say controversial, and often polarizing, things to get people to dial or click in. This isn't a good platform, at least not a good sole one, for information about the world. Watch them, but make sure to balance them with other sources of information.

An additional problem, possibly the core one, with getting people to support environmental causes is that so many people just don't want to believe them, or they think that they're someone else's problems to solve (i.e., "I'm not worried, they'll think of something"). Or even thinking about the topic overwhelms them in the context of their already insanely distracted and chaotic lives. Disinformation campaigns also haven't helped. Environmental problems, including veganism, don't come in easily explained packages. They have layers of complexity that take studying, personal insight and time to even comprehend. Only worsening conditions, or an enormous tragedy, will probably tip the scales. Opinions on woke-ism aside, I don't think you can claim, with any certainty, that "if only people were less woke, we would get more dedication and energy to environmental and vegan issues." It might be true, but it's very difficult to prove and the energy needed to prove it would best be spent elsewhere.
 
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