I live in a very liberal area, and it's honestly like living in a foreign country. I like the people around me, but I don't quite understand their customs and I'm constantly on edge about saying something innocuous that might offend them.
Woke ideology is elitist at its core. When talking to regular people, I tend to get the truth. When talking to privileged people who had all of the advantages of living in the "best neighborhoods" and going to the "best schools" and who hang around with the "best people", I sometimes want to run and hide under the covers because the stench of the BS is so overwhelming, and they totally believe all of it (obviously I'm not talking about everybody in these categories, but more than a token number for sure). But Jesus Christ said, "For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves." (Luke 22:27)
Really encouraging article, thanks for sharing, Jenny! I can just imagine how that conversation must have felt. It's truly sanity-saving when you get confirmation that most (or, at least, a lot of) people see through the bullshit, and one's own views are not fringe or problematic. I bet those people would love to read what you wrote about them. They probably went home that day feeling the same sense of relief you did. More and more I self-censor these days (and I consider myself pretty liberal!) Some of my views (controlled immigration, or questions about how far we should go in terms of trans ideology) would firmly label me 'right-wing' nowadays. Maybe many others feel the same, but mostly we're too scared to talk about it. But people really do want to voice their concerns and by sparking that conversation, you gave others the chance to do so.
This is what I love about NYC. Not just the place itself, though that has it's charms. It's the brash, direct, straightforwardness of so many people. But it's not just NY. The nice thing is that the working class is international, so I've met "New Yorkers" in London and Yorkshire and Seoul.
First, condolences to you and your son, and kudos to you for stepping up.
But most importantly - thank you. Every bit of hopeful experiences like your matters. We all need to stop being afraid to speak. Their only power is to keep us divided and scared. Talking (reasonably) to others of different experiences and perspectives is our only hope.
Brilliant! Nice to affirm the BS isn't being swallowed wholesale and people are sick of it being served or treated as if their intellect is inferior. I love the willingness of New Yorkers to speak frankly and call out BS.
I used to hang out on a beach with a bunch of working class people and they would talk about the "woke revolution" and say things like, "They think they are doing the right thing." Also one of them once said, "Google is the CIA's wet dream." It was at that moment that I realized they were way smarter than my friends who attended the most elite colleges in the country.
You are my people. If I want subbed already, I’d sure sub now!
I’m a member of my local Masonic lodge and it’s hilarious listening to them talking at the bar about wokeness or wokeism or whatever the correct term is. All working blokes, or retired blokes. Farmers, mechanics, tradesmen of all kinds. Not so much anti-work as just fucking bewildered.
This is wonderfully written. Jenny has a knack not only to write well but to translate experience into something entertainingly literary that is also in effect citizen journalism. I'm going to show this to my Leftist friend. My Leftist friend is a fascinating combination: he's devoutly Greek Orthodox -- so much so that he went to live in two different monasteries one in Egypt and one in the Greek Islands as he was casting about for a vocation, ending up now teaching Bible related matters. He's also gay but believes homosexuality is a sin, even though he remains gay. I recall one night when he brought some fine single malt whiskey over many years ago he declared "even if God himself came down and told me John you are not gay, I would tell Him you're wrong!"
And thirdly, most relevant to my comment here is my friend is revolutionary in political sentiment, deeply opposed to the 1% and the globalist elites, and all those kinds of people we in "our Tribe" regularly rail about. However, strangely enough he buys into the whole covid narrative with utter credulousness and naivete, and even gets prickly and threatens to cut off communication if I continue to talk about it. As for the other woke issues, he sees them all as a distraction from the exploitation of the workers by the 1% -- a sentiment I detect in Jenny's essay here, though I don't think she goes so far as my friend who is an unabashed Communist -- Trotskyite, not Stalinist. Which reminds me of a charming encounter I had any decades ago with an activist outside a Safeway supermarket standing all alone with a placard for "the workers to unite". I stopped to chat with him, and said with a grin "is this creeping socialism?" He looked at me with a sincere scowl and said "No! This is galloping communism!!!"
If there was hope, it must lie in the proles
I live in a very liberal area, and it's honestly like living in a foreign country. I like the people around me, but I don't quite understand their customs and I'm constantly on edge about saying something innocuous that might offend them.
Woke ideology is elitist at its core. When talking to regular people, I tend to get the truth. When talking to privileged people who had all of the advantages of living in the "best neighborhoods" and going to the "best schools" and who hang around with the "best people", I sometimes want to run and hide under the covers because the stench of the BS is so overwhelming, and they totally believe all of it (obviously I'm not talking about everybody in these categories, but more than a token number for sure). But Jesus Christ said, "For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves." (Luke 22:27)
Really encouraging article, thanks for sharing, Jenny! I can just imagine how that conversation must have felt. It's truly sanity-saving when you get confirmation that most (or, at least, a lot of) people see through the bullshit, and one's own views are not fringe or problematic. I bet those people would love to read what you wrote about them. They probably went home that day feeling the same sense of relief you did. More and more I self-censor these days (and I consider myself pretty liberal!) Some of my views (controlled immigration, or questions about how far we should go in terms of trans ideology) would firmly label me 'right-wing' nowadays. Maybe many others feel the same, but mostly we're too scared to talk about it. But people really do want to voice their concerns and by sparking that conversation, you gave others the chance to do so.
This is what I love about NYC. Not just the place itself, though that has it's charms. It's the brash, direct, straightforwardness of so many people. But it's not just NY. The nice thing is that the working class is international, so I've met "New Yorkers" in London and Yorkshire and Seoul.
First, condolences to you and your son, and kudos to you for stepping up.
But most importantly - thank you. Every bit of hopeful experiences like your matters. We all need to stop being afraid to speak. Their only power is to keep us divided and scared. Talking (reasonably) to others of different experiences and perspectives is our only hope.
As someone who worries about people going too far in any ideological direction, I found this very reassuring and refreshing. Thank you for sharing!
Brilliant! Nice to affirm the BS isn't being swallowed wholesale and people are sick of it being served or treated as if their intellect is inferior. I love the willingness of New Yorkers to speak frankly and call out BS.
I used to hang out on a beach with a bunch of working class people and they would talk about the "woke revolution" and say things like, "They think they are doing the right thing." Also one of them once said, "Google is the CIA's wet dream." It was at that moment that I realized they were way smarter than my friends who attended the most elite colleges in the country.
Try/Me 😂😂😂😂😂. That’s bloody brilliant. What goon that guy was for calling the police.
You are my people. If I want subbed already, I’d sure sub now!
I’m a member of my local Masonic lodge and it’s hilarious listening to them talking at the bar about wokeness or wokeism or whatever the correct term is. All working blokes, or retired blokes. Farmers, mechanics, tradesmen of all kinds. Not so much anti-work as just fucking bewildered.
This is wonderfully written. Jenny has a knack not only to write well but to translate experience into something entertainingly literary that is also in effect citizen journalism. I'm going to show this to my Leftist friend. My Leftist friend is a fascinating combination: he's devoutly Greek Orthodox -- so much so that he went to live in two different monasteries one in Egypt and one in the Greek Islands as he was casting about for a vocation, ending up now teaching Bible related matters. He's also gay but believes homosexuality is a sin, even though he remains gay. I recall one night when he brought some fine single malt whiskey over many years ago he declared "even if God himself came down and told me John you are not gay, I would tell Him you're wrong!"
And thirdly, most relevant to my comment here is my friend is revolutionary in political sentiment, deeply opposed to the 1% and the globalist elites, and all those kinds of people we in "our Tribe" regularly rail about. However, strangely enough he buys into the whole covid narrative with utter credulousness and naivete, and even gets prickly and threatens to cut off communication if I continue to talk about it. As for the other woke issues, he sees them all as a distraction from the exploitation of the workers by the 1% -- a sentiment I detect in Jenny's essay here, though I don't think she goes so far as my friend who is an unabashed Communist -- Trotskyite, not Stalinist. Which reminds me of a charming encounter I had any decades ago with an activist outside a Safeway supermarket standing all alone with a placard for "the workers to unite". I stopped to chat with him, and said with a grin "is this creeping socialism?" He looked at me with a sincere scowl and said "No! This is galloping communism!!!"
Enjoyed this! But, I ❤️ NY. It’s made up of all kinds of people. Just like any other city around the world … and that’s a good thing.
that's my girl. Your dad would be proud of you - again.
"Try/me" . . . ha ha. My laugh of the day!
Sweet.
That was hilarious!