For the Right, Being an Enraged, Mindless Zombie is Far Better Than Being ‘Woke’
Confronting the right’s dangerous, obsessive hatred of ‘wokeness’
I just read a fine article on Medium by Walter Rhein (“Being Called Racist Is More Offensive to White People Than Actual Racism”) — kudos to him for his honesty and directness. It starts with the following statement: “I’m sick of people who are more offended about the way you talk about a serious issue than the issue itself.”
I immediately thought, “Yup, that sums it up pretty well!” And it got me thinking about the myriad of idiotic, deceitful ways many Republicans and right-wingers deal with social issues these days.
Their habitual response usually boils down to one (or more) of four bad options: 1) deny the issue (i.e. systemic racism) even exists, 2) argue that, though it exists, it’s being totally overblown by “liberals,” 3) insist that the left is just trying to discredit or humiliate people on the right, regardless of the issue, or 4) insist that “leftists” are disseminating dangerous cultural propaganda designed to corrupt conservatives’ impressionable children (aka “grooming”).
The one thing they usually won’t do, at all, is listen to actual facts or information and then grapple with the issues involved. No — actual listening, processing of information, and direct examination of real societal issues have all become verboten for the right now. What’s required instead is full-on immersion in slander, innuendo, paranoia, and outright lies.
To fully grasp just how dangerous and harmful this right-wing attitude has become, let’s flip things and look at what is missing from their partisan “position.” And what’s missing are most of the qualities or beliefs that allow civilization to exist and flourish.
· Gone are intellectual curiosity, honesty … and even rationality.
· Gone are empathy and compassion.
· Gone is openness to real, meaningful dialogue.
· Gone are social awareness and desire to help our fellow citizens.
· Gone is willingness to engage in deep self-examination.
· Gone is the desire to be a constructive, cooperative member of society.
That’s quite a list of “gone” items — ALL of which are needed if civilization is to continue in any viable form. Of course, this list itself would be subject to the same smug denial and resistance that I mentioned earlier, and would generate similar intense anger:
“How dare you say the right is in denial and has no empathy? How can you say that we’re not rational? How dare you?! As usual, you goddamn lefties exaggerate everything and try to make the right look bad! You’re going to get what you richly deserve, you f*cking socialist!” [Note: their chosen “position” and beliefs ultimately DO end up supporting or condoning public violence.]
All of which, of course, totally proves my point. And dare I say it: The right is quite successfully making itself look really, really bad all by itself, without any added help from “lefties”!
Who’s Grooming Who? (apologies to Aretha Franklin)
But let’s dig a little deeper. How and why are these horrid, antisocial attitudes inculcated in conservatives? What is their purpose?
I’d say that these attitudes are produced in people — and I mean, literally produced — by intensive “grooming” and propaganda that emanates from the far right and is spread by right-wing “news” outlets like Fox News and Newsmax, as well as far-right talk radio and podcasts. There is a huge nationwide network of right-wing media outlets and programs, all of which seem to be dedicated to spreading intense, angry right-wing propaganda and “news” (that is, their own highly popular versions of fake news, aka disinformation).
While the right constantly accuses the left and “left-leaning media” of spreading erroneous “fake news,” all these right-wing “news” stations and programs actually do it, over and over again, and constantly spread liberal-bashing fake news.
For decades now these right-wing media outlets/programs have been intensively “grooming” Americans to be paranoid, distrustful, and deeply enraged about our society and our overall culture.
They’ve been “groomed” to believe that “their” America, the “real” America, is being stolen from them by liberals, Democrats, immigrants, and “socialists.” And scarily, they are being “groomed” 24–7 to act on these beliefs (though the right ludicrously denies any incitement of violence).
Apparently, according to most right-wing media, being a “real” American doesn’t include working for equality, fairness, and equal justice. No, what is required to be a “real American,” a true patriot, is intentional blindness, a distinct lack of empathy, unapologetic subtle (or overt!) racism, lots and lots of hate and anger, and a growing willingness to use force and violence to overthrow our current society.
These are admirable qualities for any U.S. citizen to aspire to, all right.
Uh — NOT!
A clear and present danger
I get the strong impression that most Americans still don’t grasp the tremendous trouble we’re in as a society and as a nation. When this much anger, resentment, racism, and both subtle and direct incitement to violence is always “in the air” surrounding us, and this much continual disinformation and far-right “grooming” is occurring, society and civilization itself are in grave and mounting danger.
The right tries to minimize what it’s doing, and to pass all this off as “harmless” or as some kind of cute, insignificant joke, but the intent behind it all is anything but cute or harmless. Rather, it’s intensely manipulative, undermining, and seditious, and seems to have the objective of destroying and remaking society as we know it, to create a lily-white, heavily “Christian” fascist dictatorship.
Put differently, our society is being undermined and destroyed right before our eyes — NOT by the left or “socialists,” but by an ascendant and hateful far-right.
Rage, racism, and hate vs. “wokeness”
So what do I mean when I say (sarcastically) in the title of this article, “Being an Enraged, Mindless Zombie is Far Better Than Being “Woke”?
The right seems to be intensely committed to two things: gaining absolute power, and re-establishing white supremacy. It’s also committed to doing away with most of the rights and freedoms guaranteed by our Constitution — for nonwhites, at least.
The hate and racism embodied in the American right are palpable, and increasingly are not even subtle anymore, but are openly approved and publicly expressed.
Then, if these hateful and/or racist Americans are confronted about their hate/racism, they simply deny it, deflect, or attack those doing the confronting and angrily accuse them of hate, prejudice, and racism — against whites! And usually, the deflection or attacks work quite well to stifle honest dialogue and prevent communication — as well as stifling any opportunity for reconciliation and societal healing.
These folks are badly, horribly misguided. They truly have become like rageful, pre-programmed zombies, with rigid one-track minds lusting after the blood of their “enemies” and for their desired pure, white future. They’ve been turned into vicious “hate and judgment machines” that feel NO love, compassion, or empathy (except for their white, conservative brethren), and long for violent retribution against all the “lesser” humans and immigrants who’ve been staining our great country.
They have been very well trained and “groomed,” over several decades, and are now cold-bloodedly capable of … almost anything (witness the Jan. 6 riot/insurrection, the utter election nonsense spouted by Trump’s wacko lawyers, the mass murders of LGBTQ+ folks and people of color, etc.).
Sure, some progressives go overboard with “wokeness” — but let’s not throw out the baby with the bathwater
Now, in fairness, I have to say that some progressives and liberals go overboard with “wokeness,” and get caught up in fierce wrangling over which words or pronouns to use for which people. In this one area, I agree with the conservatives: This is idiotic, absurd nonsense. Clearly, just being liberal or progressive is no guarantee of wisdom or sanity.
However — I still think that the basic idea of “wokeness” is a good and useful one, since it encourages both self-examination and social awareness. In fact, being “woke” is a very good and necessary thing when you’re dealing with a society that’s oppressive and in major denial about it.
Then there’s this: Being “woke” or “awake” is comparable to being spiritually awake and aware, in contrast to being unconscious, asleep, or “shut down.” To me, it seems far, far preferable to be awake or “woke” rather than asleep, deadened, and unaware.
Yet the right has turned being “woke” into a nasty, ugly epithet, a catch-all negative descriptor for all the supposed folly and idiocy of “liberals.”
If you want to get a bunch of right-wingers riled up fast — all you have to do is start talking about the offensive “woke” policies or horrible “woke” ideas of “the libtards,” and then Presto, their “inner haters” instantly shift into high gear… and out spews massive amounts of paranoia, judgment, rage, and violence-promoting rhetoric.
Sadly, I’m not exaggerating here. All you have to do is listen briefly to far-right radio, podcasts, or Fox “News” and you will hear … exactly what I’ve described: Commentators loudly excoriating “wokeness” and inciting intense fear, rage, and resentment in their audience.
Yes, for the far-right, and increasingly the right in general, it’s WAY better to be an enraged, mindless, rigidly “patriotic” Zombie than to be “woke.” But for the rest of us — we ignore or downplay what is happening at our great peril.
For all the rest of us — the compassionate and truly patriotic majority — we need to be “woke” and aware of all the atrocities the far-right is committing or is actively planning to commit. We all need to wake up to the imminent danger posed by these far-right fanatics, and need to work to wake others up as well.
Otherwise, the rigid mindlessness, fear, and Zombie hate of the far-right will keep spreading and growing, basically unopposed. So I ask you: Which sounds and feels better, in reality — being aware and “woke,” or being an enraged, brain-dead Zombie filled with paranoia, hate, and blood-lust?
Maybe being “woke” isn’t so bad after all.
