Why Wokeism Won’t Just Fade Away

I’m not a big Bob Dylan fan, but his 1979 song, “Gotta Serve Somebody” hit the nail on the head regarding a basic need for humanity to fill that God-sized hole in our souls with either the real God, or one of our own makings.

In watching the run-up to last Thursday night’s NFL game between the Detroit Lions and Buffalo Bills, I was struck by the almost religious experience the pre-game hype provides these days, let alone the game itself. Can you imagine church services (with a few megachurch exceptions) packing the house every Sunday the way a typical NFL game does? As a fan these days, it can be easy for your fandom to become a daily obsession, given the plentiful opportunities to wager on the outcomes, and follow online every nuance regarding team performance, player injuries, or controversies, etc. 

During the Super Bowl era of the last 60 years, pro football has experienced an exponential rise in popularity, to the extent that we’re now sharing the experience with the world by scheduling several games every year in foreign countries. Clearly, the NFL is not going anywhere in the foreseeable future. Too many people would be lost without it, not to mention the billions of dollars it pumps into the economy.

This thing called “wokeism” has some parallels with the NFL in my opinion, if not in its popularity, then with its staying power. Why? Because to be “woke” is, for its adherents, a type of religious experience. How else to explain the crusading nature of the typical “social justice warrior?” For young people whose lives lack direction, and for aging, retired liberals and hippies (but I repeat myself) who are searching for renewed meaning, becoming an “SJW” can provide the direction and meaning that they seek. Then, all that’s needed is the issue du jour to attach oneself to, whether it be climate change or “Free Palestine.” 

When SJWs need a cause to believe in, it’s very easy to become a “useful idiot” and provide full-throated support for it. Genocide in Gaza? Well, if influencers like Hasan Piker and Rep. Rashida Tlaib claim it, then to the SJW believer it must be true. The inconvenient truth of Hamas militants using innocent civilians as human shields is ignored.

The very fact that Democrats (and some Republicans) are talking about Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) as a serious presidential candidate for 2028 is evidence of woke’s continuing hold on our culture and politics. She’s come an incredibly long way in just a few short years, from tending bar in the Bronx borough of New York City to being one of the most visible and quotable members of Congress, as well as a key player in leftist politics.

Even as AOC seemed to laugh off what she called “Woke 1.0” as an admittedly extreme movement, this implies that she expects and hopes to lead “Woke 2.0,” presumably a kinder, gentler version (a nod to George H.W. Bush and the failure of that strategy). Note that her laughing off the terrible consequences of Woke 1.0 is hardly an apology; rather, only an acknowledgement that the movement may have gone a tad bit too far, and just needs some fine tuning to work better in the future.

While those on our side celebrate specific victories such as the recent Supreme Court decision stating that only women should be playing women’s sports, these momentary triumphs only slow down the train of wokeism. Stamping out wokeism in all of its forms is another matter entirely.

For instance, how many times have you thought, when AOC or Reps. Omar or Talib made another outrageous, anti-Western statement, that “they’ve gone too far this time,” and therefore, McCarthy-like, they would drown politically in the disgracefulness of it all? Yet, like a phoenix, they keep rising back up, and although at times they might moderate their language a bit when the occasion calls for it, they never really back off of their core belief that America as constituted is a corrupt, evil place that needs a major overhaul.

Never underestimate the power of the “perp as victim” mentality that is a core value of wokeism. By threatening Rep. Omar with deportation, the Trump administration risks making a martyr out of her instead of actually succeeding in the deportation effort.

As another example of woke’s staying power heading into the 2028 campaign season, look at the continuing viability of Kamala Harris. Despite being a two-time loser in the presidential sweepstakes, she seems to be staying afloat due, at least in part, to her support for wokeism in all of its wackiness. Why else would she be running to Michigan to campaign for the woke, DSA-supported Democrat candidate for the U.S. Senate? Why else would she still be leading most 2028 presidential candidate polls? At this point, a Harris/AOC ticket in 2028 isn’t out of the question.

Returning to the example of the NFL, note how much wokeism remains there in the wake of the 2020 riots and George Floyd incident. Helmets still carry slogans on them, as do many end zones (“Choose love,” “End racism,” etc.).

Rather than the Dylan tune cited above, perhaps a more fitting theme for wokeism is a Buddy Holly classic that became a hit for the Rolling Stones, “Not Fade Away.”