Half the joke is how “Wake Up Sheeple” used to be a line liberals casually tossed at conspiracy minded conservatives and libertarians. XKCD made this joke back in 2009 with a zinger about “six Ayn Rand fans on the same subway car” in the mouse-over text.
As the derogatory nature of the term moved from the liberal sphere to the conservative one, it changed from casual mockery to a conspiracy theory in its own right. Being “Woke” wasn’t about being a gullible Alex Jones dork, convinced of a thousand invisible monsters only they could see. It became a monster of its own, a vast government conspiracy to brainwash young people into doubting Alex Jones and his ilk.
The term has always been a kind-of double-speak when used in opposition. It is intended to imply a delusion imposed on you by some outside source. Being “Woke” actually means being ignorant by way of self-conviction. If we weren’t forced to use baby words in public discourse, a better term might be “Hubristic”. And the border implication of the accusation actually is that the group of people who have rallied around “Wokeness” or who are pounding the table shouting “Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!” at a disaffected audience, are gaining strength by way of this shared false conviction.
Half the joke is how “Wake Up Sheeple” used to be a line liberals casually tossed at conspiracy minded conservatives and libertarians. XKCD made this joke back in 2009 with a zinger about “six Ayn Rand fans on the same subway car” in the mouse-over text.
As the derogatory nature of the term moved from the liberal sphere to the conservative one, it changed from casual mockery to a conspiracy theory in its own right. Being “Woke” wasn’t about being a gullible Alex Jones dork, convinced of a thousand invisible monsters only they could see. It became a monster of its own, a vast government conspiracy to brainwash young people into doubting Alex Jones and his ilk.
The term has always been a kind-of double-speak when used in opposition. It is intended to imply a delusion imposed on you by some outside source. Being “Woke” actually means being ignorant by way of self-conviction. If we weren’t forced to use baby words in public discourse, a better term might be “Hubristic”. And the border implication of the accusation actually is that the group of people who have rallied around “Wokeness” or who are pounding the table shouting “Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!” at a disaffected audience, are gaining strength by way of this shared false conviction.