Tag: kulturkampf

One Nation, Under Woke

Wokeism aims to remake American constitutionalism root and branch, to transform economics, politics, education, and other institutions and practices. The free and equal individual under the rule of law will be replaced with monolithic voices, united by perceived oppression, who demand a mutating law and politics that reward their grievances with punishments against alleged oppressors and redistributed resources for supposed “victims.”

The first thesis of wokeism is that persons are reducible to their affiliated identity: above all, race or gender. In this view, we understand ourselves solely through these prisms and we apply that understanding to others and to institutions.

The second thesis is that no person, no idea, and no historical account can be understood by independent human reason unfiltered by race, gender, and stories of interlocking oppression, or, as the case may be, by the acts of oppression one has shared in as a member of the dominant group. Everything comes to us and is either understood or projected by us through our racial or gender identity.

The third thesis is that those who have identities that can be grouped under “persons of color” or LGBTQ possess greater authority to speak — owing to the various oppressions they have experienced and the cosmic redress required for justice and liberation —  than oppressor groups in almost every sphere.

America’s national DNA, according to the New York Times’ 1619 Project — wokeism’s anti-American document par excellence — has been encoded with slavery and anti-black racism. Indeed, America left the British Empire for the purposes of retaining the slavery regime, the project’s lead author Nikole Hannah-Jones proclaims (against historical evidence). White males stand as the grand artificer of this oppression, which has been transmitted throughout American history, informing our constitutional documents, politics, and social structures.

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Spotify Employees Threaten to Strike If Joe Rogan Podcasts Aren’t Edited or Removed

Late last week, we first reported that Spotify employees were demanding direct editorial oversight over the recently-acquired Joe Rogan Experience podcast.  That would include the ability to directly edit or remove sections of upcoming interviews, or block the uploading of episodes deemed problematic. The employees also demanded the ability to add trigger warnings, corrections, and references to fact-checked articles on topics discussed by Rogan in the course of his multi-hour discussions.

Some of the group’s demands have already been met by Spotify management, though a refusal to allow further changes is stirring talk of a high-profile walkout or strike.  According to preliminary plans shared with Digital Music News, the strike would principally involve New York-based Spotify employees, and would be accompanied by protests outside Spotify’s Manhattan headquarters.  Other aspects would involve media appearances and coordination with other activist organizations.

For Spotify, the decision to offer some concessions may have only emboldened demands for wide-scale editorial oversight.

During the transition of Rogan’s podcast episodes onto the Spotify platform, multiple past episodes were omitted.  Those included interviews with Milo Yiannopoulos, Gavin McInnes, and Alex Jones.  Additionally, Rogan issued a rare public apology and correction over his claim that left-wing anarchists had set fires in Oregon, a point that was made during a recent interview with Douglas Murray.  The apology is now believed to be the result of pressure from Spotify staffers.

But those measures apparently don’t go far enough. Rogan’s claim during the Murray podcast is still part of the podcast recording, despite demands that the offending section be removed or directly corrected within the audio itself.  It now appears that Spotify is unwilling to directly edit or otherwise alter any existing episodes, with content alteration considered a bright line that shouldn’t be crossed.

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Self-Censorship Soars In The US

A recent survey of 2,000 Americans by Cato Institute/YouGov found that 62% of Americans say “the political climate these days prevents them from saying things they believe because others might find them offensive”.

This is up from 2017, when 58% agreed with this statement.

“Majorities of Democrats (52%), independents (59%) and Republicans (77%) all agree they have political opinions they are afraid to share”.

People who defined themselves as staunch liberals self-censored considerably less:

“Strong liberals stand out, however, as the only political group who feel they can express themselves. Nearly 6 in 10 (58%) of staunch liberals feel they can say what they believe”.

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Scottish University Will Rename David Hume Tower After George Floyd

The University of Edinburgh in Scotland announced that it would rename a university building after George Floyd on Thursday. The Hume Tower was previously named after Scottish Enlightenment philosopher David Hume, who is thought of as a notable classical liberal political philosopher.

The Hume Tower will now be known as 40 George Floyd. The prestigious university, located in Scotland’s capital city, explained in a statement that the renaming was taking place because “of the sensitivities around asking students to use a building named after the 18th century philosopher whose comments on matters of race, though not uncommon at the time, rightly cause distress today.”

Many of Hume’s ideas and publications had influenced the American Revolution and later European movements against absolute monarchy.

The University of Edinburgh claims that the strange renaming is only temporary, but give no timeframe as to when the tower will be reverted to its original name, or changed back at all. They’re probably setting up some clueless, feckless university administrator to back down in the face of militant liberal activists who demand that the Floyd name be honored in perpetuity.

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Slate calls people being offended by pedophilia “creepy”!

Wow. Just look at that headline. The lack of self-awareness is absolutely incredible.

The projection and defensiveness from the left as conservatives are finally drawing a line in the sand and saying, “No. You do not get to exploit children” is shocking.

…Not shocking that a magazine like Slate is helping to lead the charge. I mean, it’s Slate. But still shocking.

It’s shocking that the film was made. It’s shocking to see Netflix promote it and then stand by it. It’s shocking to see the progressive media jump to defend it. But it’s most shocking to see how many people have been so quick to not only downplay the blatant pedophilia, but to attempt to convince those of us with two ounces of morality left in our bones that there’s something wrong with us for standing up for children.

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