Woke Versus Liberal - A Quick Guide

Mapping the divide of Left

Cat in a cage. Photo by the author.

The label ‘woke’

Woke:

‘Woke’ is a slur of conservatives to mock the Left. In reality, this word is just a warning between Black people to be aware of the racism they face. If you use ‘woke’ as a negative term, you are a conservative.

Liberal:

Call it whatever you want, but there is a nasty ideology that has been corrupting the Left, turning it into something unpalatable to most people. You could call it Identity Politics, but a four-letter word would do quite nicely.

The label ‘liberal’

Woke:

We are the liberals! There is no such division in the Left. Anybody who doesn’t think like us is a conservative.

Liberal:

Not so! Liberalism is a series of values that grew out of the Enlightenment, focusing on humanism, rationality, science, secularism, free-speech and wealth redistribution. The woke have abandoned most of those values.

Diversity

Woke:

Diversity is to value the contributions of people of different races, cultures, nationalities, genders and sexual orientations.

Liberal:

That is fine, but the most important diversity of all is diversity of ideas. Without that, culture stagnates and becomes dogmatic.

Equality versus equity

Woke:

Equality is outdated because it does not take into consideration systemic discrimination based on race and gender. Therefore, people from oppressed groups deserve special consideration. Discrimination can only be defeated when everybody achieves success in life (equality of outcome). We call that equity.

Liberal:

Equality means that everybody is treated the same by the law, the state, corporations and society, without privileging any particular group. Everybody should be given equal access to resources; what they achieve with those resources is up to each individual (equality of opportunity). Equity is just another word for privileging certain groups.

Inclusion

Woke:

Inclusion consists in making sure oppressed groups are no longer excluded because of their race, gender, sexual orientation, etc.

Liberal:

Woke is hypocritical because it actually excludes men, Whites and heterosexuals by treating them with contempt and labeling them as oppressors. People should be accountable for their own deeds, not the deeds of their ancestors.

Free-speech

Woke:

Free-speech is an excuse to propagate the ideas of the powerful, who have access to mass-media while silencing the oppressed. Therefore, racist, misogynistic and colonialist ideas need to be canceled to hold space for the voices of the victims. Offensive speech is tantamount to violence.

Liberal:

Free-speech is an essential value of the Left. Only freedom of expression can guarantee a diversity of ideas and the ability to openly challenge unsound opinions. Both these things are essential to find the optimal solutions to societal problems. Canceling is an excuse for dogmatism. It leads to the ossification of the Left, which becomes unable to fight Conservatism.

Rationality

Woke:

Emphasis on rationality is a hidden way for Whites and men to oppress other races and women, who use other methods of knowledge. Intuition and spirituality are as valuable as rationality. The lived experience of oppressed people should count the same as abstract ideas.

Liberal:

Reason, facts and evidence are the only way we can construct a shared reality in which to base our laws and invest our resources.

Science

Woke:

Science is the bulwark of Western civilization, which has been oppressing the rest of the world with its colonialism. Other cultures, particularly indigenous cultures, have their own wisdom, which is as valid as science. Postmodernism is right in deconstructing science as a system of oppression.

Liberal:

Science is the most valuable thing we have. It allows us to understand Nature and bring it under control. It provides objective knowledge on which to base our societal and political decisions. Science originated from the cross-breeding of multiple civilizations, including Greek, Roman, Arabic, Hindu and Chinese. It can coexist with other cultures as long as they abandon religious dogmatism. Science has created the most rich, powerful and advanced civilization that ever existed. Postmodernism is anti-science and irrational; it has not produced anything of value.

Sex/gender

Woke:

There are up to 72 different sexes. Sex is similar to gender. They are both cultural constructs, anyway. Sex is assigned at birth. Later in life, anybody can choose their sex by simply declaring it. Toxic masculinity is responsible for the oppression of women and the loneliness of men; men should abandon it and adopt a more feminine behavior.

Liberal:

There are only two sexes, male and female, depending on the reproductive cells they produce: sperm for males, oocytes for females. Gender is a cultural construct based on the biological reality of sex. People can change their gender by changing their sexual characteristics with hormone treatment and surgery, becoming transgender men or women.  

Sexuality

Woke:

Sex is one the main ways women and homosexuals are oppressed by the heteropatriarchy. Sex is political. Pornography and prostitution are ways in which men objectify women’s bodies and should be illegal. There is no right to having sex because that would led to the exploitation of women. Penis-in-vagina penetration is degrading for women; non-penetrative forms of sex like oral sex or mutual masturbation should be preferred.

Liberal:

Sexual freedom is an essential part of personal autonomy. Everybody should be free to have consensual sex with any adult, in any way they please. Sex work is work and should not be persecuted. Contraception and abortion should be legal to guarantee reproductive freedom. People should be free to marry people of the opposite or the same sex, in whatever combination of genders.

Wealth

Woke:

The rich are just one among a number of oppressors; for example, the Whites, the heteropatriarchy, colonialism and Western culture. We need to fight all power dynamics, not just the rich.

Liberal:

Wealth redistribution should be the main goal of the Left. The logic of capitalism makes it so that the rich become richer by investing their money, while the poor become poorer by using whatever little money they have to subsist. Wealth disparity is, by far, the largest power dynamic in our society because the obscenely rich can buy unlimited political power. Therefore, the State needs to balance the economy by taxing the rich and giving to the poor.

Health

Woke:

Western medicine is fine, but everybody should take care of their health by developing healthier lifestyles, eating plant-based foods, and getting enough sleep and exercise. Alternative medicine can be as effective as traditional medicine.

Liberal:

Healthcare is a human right. Nobody should suffer or die because they cannot afford access to medical treatment. Health insurance companies have a perverse incentive in minimizing or even denying medical care to maximize profits. Therefore, there should be a universal healthcare system run by the State.

Education

Woke:

Education is often a way to perpetuate systems of oppression and cultural homogeneity. Standpoint theory shows that people with different identities cannot communicate their living experiences to one another. Therefore, education should be geared towards unmasking and deconstructing power dynamics. It should hold space for the voice to the oppressed and recognize their lived experiences. 

Liberal:

Education is essential to provide people with the knowledge they need to succeed in life. In particular, people need to learn critical thinking and science, because this provides objective knowledge about reality. Democracy is inviable when people do not have the knowledge necessary to evaluate political decisions. Postmodernism and the woke ideologies that are based on it degrade knowledge by opposing science and making subjective experience as valid as objective evidence. A state-run system of education with teaching criteria based on science and rationality is necessary to create a common reality for political decisions and equal opportunity for jobs. 

Class

Woke:

Social class is just one among many systems of oppression, among which racism and misogyny stand as the most evil. Intersectionality guarantees that all systems of oppression are fought equally.

Liberal:

Social classes are established through economic exploitation and wealth inequality. Since economic power is the most important force in a capitalist society, big wealth disparity between social classes is the key form of oppression. Injustices because of race and gender are not as reliable indicators of oppression as class, since there are rich people of any gender or color. Besides, an effective system of wealth redistribution would erase differences in race and gender. A well-paid and satisfied working class is the foundation of a productive and affluent society. It is a great shame that the Left has lost the working class to populism. Without the support and the votes of the working class, the Left is doomed.