The thing I resent most about Wokeness are the things it's taken from us that most people will never even realize were stolen
The ways we connect with one another across cultures and identities for no reason other than to simply CONNECT
And in ways that are meaningful; ways beyond surface-level, immutable, largely-irrelevant identity characteristics like skin color or sexual orientation
Growing up, I was surrounded by people of all types of backgrounds
Rich, poor, black, white, fat, skinny, tall, short, talented, dumb, genius, kind, mean....
People
All people
All with significantly more in common than not
Most of us never really cared what each other looked like, how we sounded, where we came from, etc.
Sure, we'd poke fun at each other for all of these things, but it was incredibly rare that they ever got in the way of our friendships and connections
At the end of the day, we'd still all find ourselves together, probably getting up to no good and having the time of our lives
Even as kids we understood that these meaningless identity characteristics only carry weight when those who stand to benefit from this lie successfully convince others that it does, in fact, matter
The more you talk about them and insist that they matter, the more people mistakenly begin to believe this lie, and create a culture in which they DO matter, but only to those who seek to take advantage of them in some way
Many people, especially kids today, will never have an experience like this because of the social capital and opportunities we've ascribed to selecting specific, collective, and socially isolated identities that necessarily oppose each other in some way
And compete for attention/clout (value), oppression (opportunistic value), or some other meaningless, narcissistic, and soul-destroying venture
What we've lost is the effortless connection across the isle that used to define our culture
We've lost the excitement in getting to know people who are different as a matter of mutual benefit and fulfillment
Instead, this is now largely seen as some kind of effort in righting past wrongs, validating some ideology, or capitalizing on some wholly personal opportunity
Of course, those who haven't experienced this are likely readint his post thinking, "What the Hell is he talking about?"
Those who have experienced it know exactly what I mean
And I guarantee they mourn the loss of it just as I do