“Wokeness” in Canada and elsewhere…

Ron in Regina

"Voice of the West" Party
Apr 9, 2008
25,993
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Regina, Saskatchewan
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Canada is apparently revelling in its status as the world’s most politically correct country.

There are undoubtedly many Canadians who are embarrassed, as I am, by the amusement that the American and British media enjoy in referring to us as a people who are obsessively preoccupied with pre-emptively and aggressively making every conceivable concession to previously unheard of sensibilities, supposedly in the interests of being inoffensive. The Trudeau government over the last eight years has been almost entirely preoccupied with three issues, each of which is an inexhaustible reservoir of potential politically correct policy blunders. It has been tireless in exploiting that rich potential for misguided policy.

1) The emphasis has been on climate change, what is misleadingly called “reconciliation” with Canada’s Indigenous people and gender issues. The official pursuit of the government’s goals in these areas has been extremely costly and has produced practically no benefit to the country.

The known facts about climate change must now be familiar even to its catastrophically fixated champions. The hackneyed cliche “settled science,” which along with several others we owe to former U.S. vice-president Al Gore (who at least became a centimillionaire by peddling climate hysteria), is nothing of the kind. There is extensive dissent, especially when it comes to the inaccuracy of climate models and the correct public policy responses to climate change.

There is a consensus that the world has become approximately 1.1 C warmer since 1880, though this varies widely geographically. The climate does appear to be changing in many places but not always in the same way or to the same extent and is extremely difficult to measure.

In the six years of the Second World War, there was, every single day, appalling desecration of land and sea, terrible conflagrations of intensive aerial bombing, massed artillery use, the sinking, ultimately, of millions of tons of shipping with hundreds of millions of barrels of oil released into the oceans, and the entire cataclysm concluded with the only two atomic bombs ever detonated on populated areas.

All of this had no discernible impact on the world’s climate. Much of the alarmist rhetoric on the subject has been thoroughly debunked. Canada’s carbon footprint is substantially less than two per cent of the world’s total, and no changes effected in this country would have the slightest impact on the world’s temperature. The great majority of fossil fuel use is in developing countries, led by China and India, which have made it clear that they will not make any effort to reduce fossil fuel consumption. And the few economically advanced countries, such as Canada, that take this subject seriously have set targets for the reduction of fossil fuel use that they have no chance of achieving and are squandering stupefying amounts of money trying unsuccessfully to accomplish, for no discernible reason.

Several countries have effectively abandoned their targets in response to public outrage at energy cost increases.

2) The officially sponsored agitation about gender is an unutterable waste of the public’s attention: there are only two sexes, and every person must be free to work out their own sexuality without affronting reasonable standards of public decency or engaging in coercive activity, and especially not with minors. This includes the right of adults, but not children, to seek physical surgical changes.

All the rest of this controversy, including the harassment of those who cling to the quaint (constitutionally guaranteed) bourgeois notion of freedom of expression and resist demands that they address interlocutors in improvised gender-altered terms, should never have been legitimized or tolerated.

3) The subject of Canadian policy toward Aboriginal peoples. Neither I nor anyone else that I know of disputes that the Natives have been shabbily treated. I believe the great majority of informed Canadians objects, as I do, to the routine claim by the prime minister and a like-minded claque of supporters and professional advocates of victimhood that any form of genocide was ever attempted against Indigenous people in the history of this country.

It is obvious to almost everyone that those responsible for federal and provincial Indigenous policy should seek out the most representative and competent Indigenous spokespeople and hammer out with them, with generosity and goodwill, an entirely new regime that reflects faithfully the wishes and the interests of those whom it serves.

We have already committed $4.7 billion in reparations for residential schools and what is needed now is not more histrionic lamentation, but remedial action. Those who delight in calling themselves “progressive” must finally take a stab at generating some progress.

These issues are all components of the environmental, social and governance (ESG) agenda that’s now almost universally applied to commercial matters. In this area, too, Canada is unfortunately a leader.

Canada’s corporate sector has capitulated more abjectly than that of any other advanced country to the insane notion that those responsible for the lawful and prosperous direction of the private sector must also busy themselves with the moral imperative to inflict upon their companies the prevailing and frequently fatuous requirement for environmental posturing, tangible lip-service to jejune concepts of egalitarianism and prostrations of participatory corporate administration.

Other than in some companies that have controlling shareholders, the executive function has been so heavily collegialized that no one is really responsible for anything, because our executive class has accepted responsibility for being an environmental busybody for “sustainability” and a militant crusader for faddish social causes, while causing the executive function itself to devolve into a consultative process in pursuit of a public relations objective.

We normally follow the Americans eventually, and many U.S. states have acted to remove ESG pressures on corporations so management may focus again on its raison d’être: maximum profitability along with responsible behaviour and complete compliance with all relevant laws and regulations. Those money management and private equity operations that gather in money from investors and deploy it in pursuit of higher returns have suffered heavy withdrawals where, as in BlackRock and several other large funds, the managers used the funds of their investors to pressure corporations into supporting left-wing causes and political candidates.

The United States is already pulling back from the impulses of what the late British public intellectual and humorist Malcolm Muggeridge called “the great liberal death wish.” This is one area where sensible Canadians will wish to follow the Americans.
 

Ron in Regina

"Voice of the West" Party
Apr 9, 2008
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Regina, Saskatchewan
Thirteen Climate Criminals Who Should be in Jail, as the headline in a radical magazine put it a few years ago. The list included everyone from Donald Trump to Big Oil CEOs to broadcasters like Jeremy Clarkson. Clarkson’s crime was a speech crime — to suggest climate change is a “fiction.” For that, he and the other “real climate offenders” should be imprisoned, we were told.

The Internet is Finally Turning on Celebrity ‘Climate Criminals,’ ” chirped a headline in a fashion magazine in July 2022. That piece had a distinctly witch-hunting vibe, arguing that “it is right to be outraged” about these people “who are most responsible for the climate crisis.” We must “stop the climate criminals who are causing the worst emissions,” says a writer for the Guardian. One left-wing outlet calls for the jailing of “climate criminals” on the basis that they played a part in conjuring “floods … fires, heatwaves and other extreme weather events.”
 
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Ron in Regina

"Voice of the West" Party
Apr 9, 2008
25,993
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Regina, Saskatchewan
My emotions were stirred in reading about the extremely sad death of Richard Bilkszto, the school principal who was bullied and humiliated by the leaders of a DEI training session and by the Toronto District School Board.

It’s appalling that a dedicated educator who worked hard to assist adults in particular to move forward in life should be treated cruelly, to the point where his mental health deteriorated so sharply that he took his own life. And all because he dared to question the narrative that Canada is riddled with racism. Our education system needs a major overhaul.

I hope Canada is not becoming a country where critical thinking (in the non-woke sense) comes to die. The Western political system emerged from intense debate over the centuries, giving us the freedoms we have today.
 
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Taxslave2

House Member
Aug 13, 2022
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My emotions were stirred in reading about the extremely sad death of Richard Bilkszto, the school principal who was bullied and humiliated by the leaders of a DEI training session and by the Toronto District School Board.

It’s appalling that a dedicated educator who worked hard to assist adults in particular to move forward in life should be treated cruelly, to the point where his mental health deteriorated so sharply that he took his own life. And all because he dared to question the narrative that Canada is riddled with racism. Our education system needs a major overhaul.

I hope Canada is not becoming a country where critical thinking (in the non-woke sense) comes to die. The Western political system emerged from intense debate over the centuries, giving us the freedoms we have today.
Unfortunately, Canada is riddled with racism. All perpetrated by the woke anti racism activists.
 

Ron in Regina

"Voice of the West" Party
Apr 9, 2008
25,993
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Regina, Saskatchewan
Need a tissue?
No, had some generic allergy pills this morning so I’m good. Keeping the weeds down in the vacant lots around our place seems to help a lot.

Just finished mowing our lawn, & the neighbours lawn to the north of that, & the neighbours lawn to the north of that, and 3/4 of the vacant commercial property to the North of that, and the lawn across the street to the west of those….then went around the backside of our block and mowed behind the last three properties from the corner including our own, then the 1/4 block long strip along the Autobody Shop behind our house in the alley, then looped around and did the front 1/2 block in front of the Autobody Shop…& around the corner on the next block for the next 1/4 cleaning up the fence line for the same Autobody Shop….& decided it was time for a break. I’ll pop a couple more generic allergy pills and see how I feel in about 20 minutes….But I’m not needing a tissue just yet. Thank you though, that was very thoughtful and intuitive on your part.
 

Tecumsehsbones

Hall of Fame Member
Mar 18, 2013
57,947
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Washington DC
No, had some generic allergy pills this morning so I’m good. Keeping the weeds down in the vacant lots around our place seems to help a lot.

Just finished mowing our lawn, & the neighbours lawn to the north of that, & the neighbours lawn to the north of that, and 3/4 of the vacant commercial property to the North of that, and the lawn across the street to the west of those….then went around the backside of our block and mowed behind the last three properties from the corner including our own, then the 1/4 block long strip along the Autobody Shop behind our house in the alley, then looped around and did the front 1/2 block in front of the Autobody Shop…& around the corner on the next block for the next 1/4 cleaning up the fence line for the same Autobody Shop….& decided it was time for a break. I’ll pop a couple more generic allergy pills and see how I feel in about 20 minutes….But I’m not needing a tissue just yet. Thank you though, that was very thoughtful and intuitive on your part.
How 'bout a beer? Sounds like you could use a beer or twelve.
 

Serryah

Executive Branch Member
Dec 3, 2008
9,968
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New Brunswick
My emotions were stirred in reading about the extremely sad death of Richard Bilkszto, the school principal who was bullied and humiliated by the leaders of a DEI training session and by the Toronto District School Board.

It’s appalling that a dedicated educator who worked hard to assist adults in particular to move forward in life should be treated cruelly, to the point where his mental health deteriorated so sharply that he took his own life. And all because he dared to question the narrative that Canada is riddled with racism. Our education system needs a major overhaul.

I hope Canada is not becoming a country where critical thinking (in the non-woke sense) comes to die. The Western political system emerged from intense debate over the centuries, giving us the freedoms we have today.

It's one thing to bemoan critical thinking, Ron; it's another to bemoan it in one instance, but then bitch about it being "woke" in another.

But if certain people want to believe in the idea of woke - and please, define woke for us - as being somehow bad, then whatever.

What happened to this man was disgusting, vile and the woman in charge of this so called program needs to STFU and be held accountable for her ignorance and bullying. Fuck her and the high horse she rode in on.
 

Ron in Regina

"Voice of the West" Party
Apr 9, 2008
25,993
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Regina, Saskatchewan
Well, ok, I’ll give it a shot at a definition.

The term “woke” started out meaning the state after waking up. About a 100 years ago it also was also being used at a term to becoming aware of the injustices around you. This definition of its use became more widespread into the 60’s…so more than 1/2 a century ago.

Then in the 2010’s Activists & the Media picked up on the term again in an expanded form for the 1930’s (‘stay woke’ etc…) meaning creating an awareness of various perceived social injustices like racism, sexism, etc…still a good thing. Become aware and rethink old paradigms.

The last decade+ the term seems to have become weaponized beyond creating an awareness to….an expanded social engineering over the top push backed by bizarre tangents of politics, enforcement agencies, fringe elements, banks and corporations, past anything it was even a decade or two back into rewriting history & recreating society into a parody clown show with forced mandatory training for many professions in some many diverse and crisscrossing (and conflicting) directions that nobody really seems to understand it’s definition or consequences at this point even though we’re all swimming in it to some extent or another.

Whatever you chose to use for a definition of “Woke” or “Wokeness” now MUST be right…& you Must conform to evolving and conflicting directions of its definition that’s defined differently by so many different agendas…or you can run afoul of something or someone (singular, or plural for both) and end up in career ending positions or persecuted by your government or financial institution or worse….& nobody can give it clear, concise modern, current definition of Woke or Wokeness at this point it seems.

It went from being something positive, to a runaway train of bizarreness fueled by political and social agendas and it’s so far down its own rabbit hole that those at its core either can’t see that it’s happening or don’t care that it’s happening or just have a really bizarre sense of humour (???) and I’m not sure which is which, or which combination of which, but it seems like it’s going to come to a head… and the consequences of that are anybody’s guess.

Now, admittedly, I do love a good meme and a laugh, & when conflicting tracks of this goat rodeo put two different ironic trains onto a collision course, I do see the humour in it, and I do have the urge to go make microwave popcorn, and watch.

Like Dylan What’s-His-Pickle and that American Beer, or the whole 72 (or however many there are this week) genders vs generally two washrooms to chose from thing….those I can find humour in.

Other examples are beyond belief and just beyond beyond entering into the tragically absurd….like the complete abuse of the human rights tribunal system in Canada for example.

Anyway, that’s MY definition of the current form of Woke & Wokeness that’s currently beyond a unified definition. What’s yours? What’s the definition from each person here?
 

Dixie Cup

Senate Member
Sep 16, 2006
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Edmonton
Well, ok, I’ll give it a shot at a definition.

The term “woke” started out meaning the state after waking up. About a 100 years ago it also was also being used at a term to becoming aware of the injustices around you. This definition of its use became more widespread into the 60’s…so more than 1/2 a century ago.

Then in the 2010’s Activists & the Media picked up on the term again in an expanded form for the 1930’s (‘stay woke’ etc…) meaning creating an awareness of various perceived social injustices like racism, sexism, etc…still a good thing. Become aware and rethink old paradigms.

The last decade+ the term seems to have become weaponized beyond creating an awareness to….an expanded social engineering over the top push backed by bizarre tangents of politics, enforcement agencies, fringe elements, banks and corporations, past anything it was even a decade or two back into rewriting history & recreating society into a parody clown show with forced mandatory training for many professions in some many diverse and crisscrossing (and conflicting) directions that nobody really seems to understand it’s definition or consequences at this point even though we’re all swimming in it to some extent or another.

Whatever you chose to use for a definition of “Woke” or “Wokeness” now MUST be right…& you M conform to evolving and conflicting directions of its definition that’s defined differently by so many different agendas…or you can run afoul of something or someone (singular, or plural for both) and end up in career ending positions or persecuted by your government or financial institution or worse….& nobody can give it clear, concise modern, current definition of Woke or Wokeness at this point it seems.

It went from being something positive, to a runaway train of bizarreness fueled by political and social agendas and it’s so far down its own rabbit hole that those at its core either can’t see that it’s happening or done care that it’s happening or just have a really bizarre sense of humour (???) and I’m not sure which is which, or which combination of which, but it seems like it’s going to come to a head… and the consequences of that our anybody’s guess.

Now, admittedly, I do love a good meme and a laugh, & when conflicting tracks of this goat rodeo put two different ironic trains onto a collision course, I do see the humour in it, and I do have the urge to go make microwave popcorn, and watch.

Like Dylan What’s-His-Pickle and that American Beer, or the whole 72 (or however many there are this week) genders vs generally two washrooms to chose from thing….those I can find humour in.

Other examples are beyond belief and just beyond beyond entering into the tragically absurd….like the complete abuse of the human rights tribunal system in Canada for example.

Anyway, that’s MY definition of the current form of Woke & Wokeness that’s currently beyond a unified definition. What’s yours? What’s the definition from each person here?
Pretty much
 

Ron in Regina

"Voice of the West" Party
Apr 9, 2008
25,993
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Regina, Saskatchewan
Yeah but…pretty much means you’d also have your own definition that differs somewhat than mine. That’s not a bad thing, but it’s still a thing.

Others are going to have definitions that vary greatly from mine, & that’s also not a bad thing, but it’s still a thing, and should be discussed to find common ground, as long as one side isn’t persecuted for having a different opinion or definition.
 
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Dexter Sinister

Unspecified Specialist
Oct 1, 2004
10,168
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Regina, SK
What’s the definition from each person here?
It’s the past participle of wake, as in, I woke at six this morning, and that’s the only context in which I’ll use it anymore. What it means in other contexts seems to depend very much on who’s saying it. Used to be a perfectly good word meaning being alert to instances of racial prejudice or discrimination, but lately it’s also been co-opted into a sarcastic pejorative used to dismiss certain expressions of concern about assorted marginalized people and groups. And of course it’s gone way overboard in some usages, to the point of being meaningless, as Conrad Black implicitly points out in the OP without actually using the term. He was smart to avoid it, calling it instead an unutterable waste of the public’s attention.

Which it is.
 

Ron in Regina

"Voice of the West" Party
Apr 9, 2008
25,993
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Regina, Saskatchewan
Sure. I invented a drink that's a shot of espresso and a shot of whatever rotgut you prefer. I call it the Devil's Asshole.

But if tequila's your poison, you probably wanna call it a "Culo del Diablo."
I’m generally a 6 or 8 to 1 ratio guy with booze, but now I’m curious. I enjoy a drink or two, but not being at a stage of not being rational or in control if something happens…so I dilute and pace…but the above sounds really good!

What about substituting Kahlúa for the Espresso (?) because that sounds fun and palatable yet potent at the same time?