The Folly of Anti-Woke “Social Distancing”

Taki's Magazine ^ | November 23 2021 | David Cole

[arthurus]

I caricatured such people’s views as, “Them blue cities is goin’ ta hell; let ’em! They voted fer it, let ’em suffer. This is what ya git in blue states! F!@# ’em, let ’em rot!”

And whaddya know, just two days later, John Nolte of Breitbart tweeted:

I don’t give a F!@# if Democrat-run cities burn. I live in MAGA country where it’s clean, safe, tolerant, and people of all races live together in harmony. S!@#hole cities are not my problem. Rage on, morons. You get what you vote for.

It’s literally like he was parodying my parody, but in fact he was dead serious.

[cranked]

Simply stating and saying what many millions are thinking.....?

[ClearCase_guy]

I must need more coffee. This article seems all over the place. I suppose I get the drift of it, but it’s pretty hard for me to follow.

My own view: as with addiction, the first step is for the patient to recognize they have a problem and for them to want to change.

The woke areas can stew in their own juices for awhile — it won’t go well for them and they may realize “our ideology doesn’t work”. I’ll watch from a distance. Other that that, I just don’t care very much about what’s going on in San Francisco or wherever.

[Artemis Webb]

I’m fine if blue cities rot also. I just don’t want the electorate who created the problem moving into red states and promptly going back to their same voting habits.

[Adder]

“You can build a wall to keep out humans, but no wall can keep out an idea. The woke brain disease can hit anyone, anywhere. Young people, and white women, are very susceptible to it. So your 94% white town is not safe.”

That is his main point, I think. And I agree.
BUT. It is easier to react in Boone NC [his chosen example] than it is in NYC. And reaction is key.
Even in blue Fairfax, strong reaction works.

[70times7]

I think you may have missed the central point of the article. It is, specifically, that conservatives do not have the luxury of thinking the way your post suggests we should think.

[70times7]

Something I strongly dislike from some writers is the occasional publishing of an article that is constructed around a "well supported" nonsensical central point. Unless I have misunderstood the premise, David Cole, the author, forwards the idea that the average conservative "Billy Bob" is in error by thinking he is safe from wokeness by living in a "red" location. David points out that being woke is everywhere, because those who are susceptible are everywhere. So are actions and events he cites to prove that a "hard right line" is not being held in many places that are presumed red strongholds. Thank you David, for removing the nonexistent blinders from us all!

David's problem is that his argument is a straw man. He characterizes (admittedly some, not all) conservatives as harsh ignorant bigots. Frankly, this article is a grand display of the ignorance David Cole may imagine he is preaching against. The typical conservative is very well aware that leftists and sympathizers are everywhere because we work with them every day. They are our bosses, peers and subordinates. They are family members. They are spouses, family and friends. We deal with those people as individuals. We do our best to judge them by the content of their character. And we try to convince them, as opportunities present, that they are supporting corruption with actions based on their opinions.

In contrast to the individuals we know, there are "woke" occurrences around the world every day. In spite of intentional censoring by complicit media, we see cities burning because of woke militants. We see soldiers dying because of incompetent leftist leadership. We see laws proposed and passed to restrict our rights. We hear the lies and see the efforts against those who stand up and oppose the left and their actions; people like Kyle Rittenhouse and Ron DeSantis. We try to vote into office those who will fight for us and against the slipping of America into communism. Why would you imagine more than a small handful of conservatives anywhere think they are "safe"? The expressed idea of "let it burn" is a wish that leftists would see that their policies produce destruction, based on events too far away for most individuals to have any practical impact. Have a GOOD LOOK at what happened to a young man who tried to have a practical impact; a 17 year old who tried to do what the government was responsible to do, but refused.

David Cole, what more, exactly, do you propose conservatives do about such things? Please tell us because in my opinion, you have replaced research, thought and work with lazy stereotyping in order to produce filler. Instead of meeting "unforgiving" deadlines by pumping out articles like this, do actual work and provide fact and reason in your articles to support those of us who actually do engage woke folk out here in the trenches.

And by the way, on the chance that you are characterizing conservatives as idiots to satisfy libtard peers/managers that you work with, I encourage you to stop using your head to "gfys". It's much harder to see the truth from there, and the more you give in, the more they will demand.

[saywhatagain]

Pretty sure Nolte is not "the average conservative "Billy Bob"

From my perspective (experience and knowledge) . . . Cole is spot on.

[70times7]

I addressed the idea of “let it burn”, and how I think Cole uses it to mischaracterize conservatives. Even as an expressed frustration, “let it burn” is a very narrow selected expression used to build his straw man. If you are convinced it does describe conservatives maybe you should spend time with better people. Or perhaps the issue is the filter. Hard to say.

[Anti-Bubba182]

David Cole (journalist)

Lot's of footnotes for those wanting more details.