in defense of wokism.

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This video is about the rise of the reactionary vote around the world and what can be done about it :)
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Sources can be found throughout the video!
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Storygraph: @alicecappelle
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Twitter: @cappelle_alice
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Video edited by Rádi Gábor

[@AliceCappelle]

hey everyone! hope you like this one :) it's difficult to make this video fit each country's political context so I'm hoping you'll be able to clarify some of the general trends I talk about in the comment section. pls share with us what it's like in your country, the specificities etc :) also pls pls don't jump to conclusions before i finish my point or make up things I didn't say. i know this is a difficult topic but i think we can all benefit from those conversations. i wish i could have talked about the left-wing parties that follow the sort of political strategy i talk about in this video - education and politicisation of the people who don't vote (minorities, working class people) as a priority, rather than pleasing those who already vote far-right - and the success they've had. maybe that could be another video.

[@Scott-xb1ku]

you lied. trump won 55% of latino men!

[@Scott-xb1ku]

Harris won the majority of older white voters you liar!

[@lasharael]

I think my primary criticism of modern "wokism," at least in the US where I'm from, is the way it has been swallowed up and corrupted by corporate HR departments to shield bosses from criticism. Here's what I mean (from direct personal experience): - A workplace where we had a long list of innocuous words we weren't allowed to say because they were supposedly ableist, but no one was allowed to call out sick and no one was allowed to sit during their shifts except the managers, who weaponized the DEI program to block marginalized people, especially disabled people, from promotions. - A workplace hosted events and flew the Progress flag during Pride month and ran ads with the flags prominently featured, but would order LGBTQ+ people to take the flags down if they offended religious groups, because that was "respecting everyone's point of view," and systematically fired every LGBTQ+ person who brought complaints to HR. - A workplace that implemented a mandatory DEI "journey" for all workers, in which workers were pressured to share deeply personal traumas in group settings, and then the stories they shared were used to fire them later if they disagreed with managers over being forced to take on work outside their job descriptions, because their anxieties were used to argue they were unfit for their jobs. - A workplace that implemented a similar DEI "journey," but which only ever focused on race, to the point that BIPOC workers grew uncomfortable with constantly being singled out and wanted to discuss things like their disabilities, as well, which claimed that being Indigenous meant being from Africa, and which allowed management to misgender trans workers, fired those trans workers when the misgendering began to negatively impact their mental health, then used the DEI program to crush efforts to organize a union, and took away remote work from Black workers who joined the unionization effort, because they were "traitors." My problem with "wokism" today is that it's become fake. It's been transformed into the unique province of the modern Democratic Party cloaked in faux-progressive language, and it's exhausting, because we're supposed to be grateful for it while it crushes us, undermines true progress, and fuels the reactionary agenda.

[@RavikantRai21490]

All these are great points actually. So yes, in essence, the corporate culture has ruined it for its own exploitation. But that still doesn't mean the word and the intent behind it is lost on most people out there, outside of the contexts you spoke of.

[@waltonsmith7210]

I wouldnt exactly call that wokeism.

[@lasharael]

I agree with both of you. However, we can't ignore the way hegemonic culture subverts Leftist, anti-racist movements for its own ends, and changes definitions along the way. When people talk about wokism in the United States, we can't ignore that this is a facet of that conversation, especially because the bulk of liberals believe in corporate DEI entirely credulously. Nor can we ignore that "wokism" was not a term coined by woke people. The term was the invention of far right ideologues pushing an anti-woke agenda, and their grievances against "wokism" invoke corporate DEI explicitly.

[@kanishkamishra1863]

That's not woke. That's a conservative hiding himself in a liberal costume

[@RuneForumwalker]

This is a valid point, but it isn't "wokeism". Or well that word is the latest name for a bigger phenomenon that's been going on for years. Basically these are ways that the system makes people less revolutionary by trying to make the system (capitalism) seem like it is getting better. It's fake because it isn't based in materialism.

[@FratFerno]

14:45 reminds me of a joke Slavoj Zizek said. I paraphrase: God comes to a farmer and says "I will do to you anything you ask and twice to your neighbor." The farmer says "Take out one of my eyes."

[@tobymaltby6036]

I love Zizek: he's a committed Hard Leftist who is a sexual moral conservative and that teenagers should read Ayn Rand .. 🤣👍

[@Mertheris]

Listening to Alice is my ancor of sanity in this sea of madness that manifests all around.

[@leroybrown8926]

Wokism is far left ideology and is insane. There is only 2 genders, DEI is inherently privileged, identity politics is divisive and socialism aims to change society by force. That’s insanity. How is far left wokism sanity in any way? Wokism is delusional.

[@franciscojeronimo5881]

There are other sane voices but I totally subscribe. What a brilliant take on this subject.

[@TheJofurr]

The problem wasn't being woke, the problem was not being woke enough on the economic conditions that affect most everyone. I'm pretty sure people would still vote for the promise of a cheap breakfast without a side of bigotry, hatred or ethnic cleansing.

[@BERGMANNART]

I also don't feel very represented by people obsessed with criticizing white cis men like me to the point where they completely ignore any economical discourse to focus on their inherent misandry. "It's all the poor white man's fault, everything is".

[@leroybrown8926]

You point at the Far left and call them names and accuse them of being one thing or another but fail to see that if you are woke, you’re far left. Going further woke and thus far left, you’re dividing people more and there is no compromise. No balance. No discourse. Just the far left woke and far right yelling at each other across the chasm. The people like me that are moderate (once upon a time, left) are sick of hearing from both sides. Once upon a time someone with a different political view from you could still be your friend. No longer. The once tolerant left is intolerant and thinks anyone that doesn’t agree with them is the enemy. Great, that will solve everything.

[@Hazardius]

One of the good comments I've heard about this topic was something along the lines of: "even if we avoid the terms demonized by the right, most voters would perceive it either like a sign of weakness or worse - a sign that the right was right from the start about demonizing the term". Cool video!

[@edumazieri]

"sign of weakness"? This just makes it sound like we're discussing what to do when running into a bear in the forest. None of this is gonna go anywhere as long as keep insisting on tribal, irrational and inconsistent interpretations. Less discussion over "isms" and more engagement with actual issues, that's what we need.

[@javierasalinas8630]

i feel like woke (derogatory) is the new feminist in 2014. we had to DEFEND ourselves from that concept which now seems stupid

[@kanishkamishra1863]

See a pattern how all these supposedly good terms get demonized to the point that you feel ashamed to call yourself that? It's a tactic used by conservatives to diminish movements, feminism->feminaz* liberal-> libtards trans->tran*ies non binary -> having a hundred different genders and woke amongst so many other terms which were supposed to be good for the people.

[@leroybrown8926]

Feminism is stupid and was in 2014. What rights don’t you have that men don’t? Feminism hasn’t been about equality for decades. Just like woke isn’t about equality for all but about enforcing your belief like the bolsheviks did to farmers.

[@chavesa5]

There's always a new boogeyman term and it always coincidentally means the same thing -- women, brown folk, and rainbow folk are bothering me. Sometimes they have legitimate reasons for being bothered, however most of the time they're looking to use a perceived minority as a fulcrum for their own gains.

[@arcdelta4107]

Whoever is reading now, please join an organisation as soon as possible and fight back!

[@raquetdude]

What the DSA which is part of the Democratic Party? Or join one of the organisations that has killed the left? Join a PMC organisation that wants to increase powers of the state/ bureaucracies?

[@emmad-ul4tn]

I don't know any

[@tumbr]

@@emmad-ul4tn depends which country you're in but maybe the IWW, your local socialist/communist/leftist party, another labour union present in your area of work/workplace, your university marxist/leftist/critical theory society, if you know any leftist people in your area maybe ask them!

[@galaxychill9578]

join a Union!

[@galaxychill9578]

or Unionize your fellow workers!!

[@DC4477north]

The editing is just… damn

[@troupemusographes2460]

I grew up in the french working class, surrounded with people and family who were racist while generous towards strangers they came across, a bit misogynist while having spouses make all the rules, who proved to be dumb one day and completely on point the day after, who didn’t understand sh*t about politics and ideology, but sometimes had a bit of this common decency Orwell talked about. To sum it up, they were and they are... PEOPLE. As for active racism : it can stem from ideology, from frustration, but also from a desperate need to give back some meaning to a politic game that’s become so deceptive and abstract. For me once, environmental issues were that rubber ring. Without it, I may have stopped voting. For others, alas, I can understand it would be "migrant issues". The thing is... Once the Left used to think the blue collars embodied the future of our societies. But for decades now, they rather have decided it was for the educated people to take this role. And guess what ? the "ineducated" people of the working class have understood it oh so well... The left has so much entrenched themselves in this degraded image of what they are, that even when they change their discourse and be sincere with their care for the working class, they’re still perceived as preaching bourgeoisie... We educated leftists, seen by the working class, are part of the problem while thinking we’re the solution. We speak like bourgeoisie, we smell of bourgeoisie, that’s our image and our curse. It unvalidates every word that comes out of our mouths, when directed to the "bottom". Yes it hurts. Yet, we’re all to often reacting like offended crusaders unwilling to stop hammering the same nail. We’re perceived as the new autoritarian moralists, and though it’s not only of our own doing, we should be more strategic about it. That doesn’t mean we should leave the fight and do nothing, for sure. Every word from the Left about racism, homophobia and so on, when heard by "my" working class, is taken as classist speech. I don’t see people in my family raging against identity politics, from what I see, though they can express some disputable points of view about strangers or gay people: it’s first and foremost class conscience, but in a wicked way, fueled by the reluctance to every ounce of moralism coming from the top, because they’ve been so heavily betrayed in the past. I see no woke or anti-woke issues in their reactions : It’s CLASS issues first. It’s who’s speaking on screen that counts. Not so much what he has to say. It’s the famous "gauche caviar" trope. It was already at work in the 80’s (I know, I was there). It just went further. "It’s a form of surrender" you say. No it’s doesn’t have to be. There’s the media and electoral campaigns... and there’s everyday life, what we scream against and what we really do. Maybe we should scream less. It’s funny to hear voters saying :"I vote for the Left but God I understand those who don’t." I totally agree on the morality/moralism issue. I love intersectionality as morality and I despise it as moralism. The problem is, I see much more moralism at work, with every group fighting for its own little barony and dunking on the "other side" (whoever they might be). And the political elite are so happy to join the ride and divide us even more. And it looks like, just as you said, a lot of voters don’t really hope for a better life, they cling to retaliation against "the others" : the elite, the foreigners, and so on. The Left talks to the brain of voters. The Right talks to their heart. The heart always wins. Now could the Left talk to the heart of voters without nurturing our lowliest instincts ? I don’t think so. Not until they build their reputation anew with concrete politics (better wages, equality, bread on the table) to get back some credibility.

[@aaronsmith1474]

Wokeism is based.

[@idk-ll6yv]

😂 That is why you lost

[@aaronsmith1474]

​@@idk-ll6yv still doesn't make wokeism any less based. You can win and still be a loser 😂

[@keithkoganeislife3144]

Yeah nope, most of us have never been on board with it because it is just propaganda, faux intellectualism, and bad faith arguments.

[@opinion3742]

@@idk-ll6yv Donald Trump is a monster who will cause a ton of suffering. He won the election because large numbers of people are gullible fools who can't do any research or be guided by anything other than their immediate and self-centered concerns. Christ was offered the kingdoms of the world and rejected them. What is right is right.

[@franciscojeronimo5881]

@@idk-ll6yv I guess you are one of the 0,01% cause everyone else has lost, as you'll notice.

[@FishareFriendsNotFood972]

Wokism is just caring about your fellow men. Don't let anyone convince you that's not cool.

[@DetournementArc]

I agree with a lot of this. I think a major complicating factor is the way the political center tends to co-opt "woke" language & aesthetics into itself. I'm an American who was born a few months before the first Clinton term, and for my whole life, the single opposition to Right-wing politics has been some version of More Inclusive Reaganism. Meanwhile, as I was going further and further left-liberal in the 2010s, I noticed how individualistic our approach to minority rights were- from lean-in feminism to disability inspiration porn to tokenized minorities in power to queer assimilationism; social justice felt like it moved away from being about structural issues and into winning more liberties for distinct team-sports-ified marginalized groups. It's hard to be terribly surprised when we have the TERF movement, or Latino men like Enrique Tarrio assuming leadership positions in ostensibly white supremacist organizations like the Proud Boys, because our language around social issues is all this surface level Group Against Group analysis that doesn't reach the underlying factors that oppression operates on. I believe in LGBT+ rights, racial equality, bodily autonomy, all unequivocally; but I think the left needs to offer a vision of "Woke" closer to its original meaning, and farther from the hollow gestures corporations have hid behind- and many are abandoning now that it's more politically expedient to bow to King Trump. In the States at least, we need to secure rights for marginalized peoples in union contracts (I envy the French labor movement so deeply, were that unions only had as much power here!) we need to illustrate how all of our struggles are connected better, how bigotry is always turned into a cudgel used to further consolidate power on top of being a moral evil in its own right. IDK, there's so much good stuff on the surface of the old neoliberal consensus that gets dragged down by the sheer exploitation & cruelty at the heart of it. I want people to see international cooperation and not see things like NAFTA undermining workers or what the EU did to Greece over the 2010s. I want people to see racial justice and not think of a company cynically doing the HR equivalent of a COEXIST bumper sticker as we celebrate girlboss drone pilots and diverse Raytheon executives. It needs to be paramount that Leftist economic policy and "wokeism" (I'm sorry) cannot exist without one another. There is no choice between The Kitchen Table Issues and human rights; the faux-populist bigotry of the Right and the shallow cynical sloganeering of the Center.

[@stuartp2006]

"I think a major complicating factor is the way the political center tends to co-opt "woke" language & aesthetics into itself" In Graeber's The Dawn of Everything, he argues that this is actually a very long tradition, and how "freedom" has been used and evolved is an early example of this (freedom for the upper class to do whatever vs freedom for anyone else to do stuff). But we also see today that White People are the real victims, Palestinians are the real colonisers, welfare recipients are the real exploiters of millions living luxurious lives etc etc. I don't even know if they earnestly believe what they say but it pollutes our language.

[@edumazieri]

Yup, just yup. This is pretty much it. Also, loved how you described it as "More Inclusive Reaganism", that just hits it right on the nail. I got nothing to add, just wanted to comment to hopefully push this up a bit :D

[@ryerye9019]

The problem with wokism in U.S. politics isn’t its existence-it’s that it has overshadowed class politics and economic policy altogether. Even as the Democratic Party loses ground across all branches of government, it remains preoccupied with performative gestures, like struggling to "properly be nonbinary," rather than addressing the material needs of its base. This reflects a broader fallacy: the reduction of politics to a single dimension. When wokism becomes the litmus test for entry into Left politics, the Left finds itself lost, diminished, disorganized, and abandoned, led by uninspiring and incompetent figures who prioritize symbolism over substance. Samuel Johnson once quipped, "Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel," pointing to how individuals exploit national pride for personal gain. Today, I’d argue that wokism has become the first refuge of the modern scoundrel. While genuine patriotism and authentic wokism once existed, they seem to have died with the heroes who embodied them. What remains is a hollow shell, co-opted by those who use the language of justice to mask their own opportunism. Just my humble opinion.

[@swarupkumar2]

Perfectly put into words 👌🏻

[@magnusmauritz8191]

Very well put and I agree

[@animalstylefry]

Yeah this is it. Meta is murder.

[@rodzeroher]

I keep reading these, but then you compare what Kamala and Trump said at the debate and their policy agendas. Trump offered to reduce the price of eggs and eliminate regulation with no details. Kamala proposed to increase the tax on the rich, make housing affordable and bring down the prices of prescription drugs. JD vance said on national television regarding the cost of child care: "maybe grandma and granpa can help more", how is that in anyway appealing to the working class? Do people really care about the economic proposals anyway? How do Trump, a millionare with billionare friends that vows to cut taxes gets the support of the working class? I just don't buy that people actually vote regarding their economic anxiety and reality. I think more than the performative side of wokeism being detrimental the reality is, as Alice points out, the propaganda from the top regarding immigration is working, it just hits a very basic fear in most people. Obama also didn't have a campaign focused that much on economic policy, and he won big two times. Bernie sanders, the guy that talked the most about economic policy and had the biggest proposals, he won in the whitest states in 2020 and then lost in the south to biden who is a as stablishment as you get. So, does working class democrats in the south really cared about economic policy? I just don't get the argument, if the economic anxiety and desire to reform exists then why Bernie didn't won? Its immigration as the big underlaying reason for voting for trump and the like.

[@themysteriousnavi6850]

Either way, good luck getting me to vote Democrat/leftwards any time soon!

[@richardb1949]

Awesome spot on ! Let’s not fall into the rights trap . Stay woke .

[@AmbivalentDreams]

I'm a bisexual transgender communist who lives regional Australia and it's always funny to me how the political structure just cannot fathom my existence

[@JonathanGerstner]

Thank you so much for this empathetic and well laid-out view! It's so important these days. To go in a similar direction, I would add that, if we have the time and energy, we should learn to listen (critically, yes, but listen) to people on the other side of the political spectrum (or "different" in any other way) in an honest manner, open the dialogue. It's so crucial, and I learned so much doing so. It also helps to "humanize" us - and them! Because we're all humans, and honestly most of us humans want the best for other humans, when we realize that our actions have negative consequences on people (granted, usually people we identify with) we will certainly learn to adapt. Nobody wants to be the bad guy, in my experience. It's just that in some places family and close friends are the top priority, and in others every human is thought to have the same priority. It's something that can be changed by going in each other's direction, "humanizing" each other. It might require us to be courageous, humble and allow our own beliefs to be questioned. But it's necessary and highly rewarding as well. Let's have great dialogues with all of "the other" people we can think of and listen. Thanks for what you do Alice!

[@projetivo6248]

Thank you, Alice. This is a very important video! As a comrade in Brazil, I see this dichotomy between "woke" and "anti-woke" playing out frequently, especially with the neoliberal center-left currently in government. They use the "woke agenda" as a rhetorical tool but fail to take real action to improve the living conditions of poor people, women, the LGBTQ+ community, and people of color due to their ties to neoliberal policies. By politicizing these issues, we can move beyond their neoliberal framing as mere "political moralism," which, in my view, serves as a way for capital to secure votes for a neoliberal left (much like the Democrats in the U.S.) without offering any real leftist substance-just empty discourse. I also believe this dynamic pushes the right wing to power in the next government-not necessarily because people are inherently reactionary, but because the far right provides answers to real problems (even if they are the wrong answers). Meanwhile, the neoliberal "left" engages only in rhetoric rather than addressing the actual struggles of working people, whether they belong to marginalized groups or not.

[@jefftist9625]

"Depressed voters". 5:15 "Uneducated voters". 6:37 "Racists voters". 10:25

[@annamariaelia8724]

I really liked your points and I totally agree with you, but I think another big issue that separates left on this subject is how woke battles have been capitalized by corporations (greenwashing, pinkwashing, rainbowashing, and so on… "good" old capitalism)

[@GDKLockout]

@@annamariaelia8724 But that's all it was al along... Woke was just a con to tip the scales away from meritocracy and chauvinism. Jus take the racism angle presented In the video...the woke position is only negative, its only about attacking people who don't want open borders. To have a positive woke position, you'd have to answer: how many is too many? Would you be willing to accept every and all African, S.American and Indian that wants to come to USA and Europe? Bearing in mind there's 3.5billion of them, and at last poll it was 37% that want to migrate westward. So 1.3 billion people. And if you think 1.3billion is too many, whwres your limit? Refusing to engage with that question of: how many is too many? Is why anyone not far-left thinks woke means crazy. And then turning a blind eye to the commercialisation of it. Where rich people are getting richer by using government aide money to traffic these people around and set up camps for them. Not to mention landlords and hoteliers getting paid ridiculous money to host them, making far more profit than they would have through residential and tourism. Woke is literally about human trafficking and corruption.

[@Idealist_Metaphor]

First, but also very excited for this one. Please keep up the good work, we all need strong confident leftist from all over the world to keep up morale and bring us together. As a final thought, a request, I personally would really appreciate more content based on bringing different leftist groups together, like getting people focused on leftism overall and not our little sub groups.

[@raquetdude]

The leftist groups they need to hear from the most are all excluded as they don’t fit into their pure group on stuff. Need to be able to get leftists that understand that justice is not the end goal of leftism rather freedom is. Alongside leftists that are anti state which is non of the American and European left it appears

[@CEOofGameDev]

I don't like wokism, I prefer to sleep until noon...

[@Par3val]

I see that you tried a somewhat different format for this video. I really like what you did there. A bit slower and more explainatory.

[@omarrr79]

As someone who leans more towards Marxism and believes classism is the root of institutional inequalities in society, I've never been more unsure where I stand in political debates. I think what 'woke' culture gets wrong is its focus on identity politics. When too much emphasis is placed on woke language, it creates a facade of progressiveness that corporates can prey on. It gives them an excuse to say "look we have a black gay intern, so we are the good ones". Instead of finding solutions and addressing the root causes together, we end up focussing on micro aggressions, white guilt, etc., which ultimately perpetuate white supremacy. meanwhile, the right wing wins by using distractions like "gender neutral bathrooms" as political instruments- something people actually engage with, even though it is not going to bring real change. neither the left nor the right wing discuss investing in healthcare and education, which are issues most people across the political spectrum would support- issues that COULD ACTUALLY DECREASE THE INEQUALITIES THAT EXIST IN A SOCIETY! At the same time, I don't want to disregard the importance of language. Some terms are undeniably problematic and politically incorrect and should never be used. But Orwell's argument works both ways-pretentious and euphemistic language can be used not just to promote justice but to obscure truth and justify oppression.

[@jaybleu6169]

Ugh... As a lefty, the language policing is the thing I most dislike about my people. I can't even imagine how right-leaning people perceive it. I think stuff like that is the largest part of why Democrats lost. It's not that people love Trump. They just hate the Democrats. And all the people who were supposed to be protected by the language policing are much, much worse off now.

[@uribinnun1045]

7:40 I'm not sure it's true that Trump only won the white working class vote. He also made massive gains among Latino and Black voters

[@keithkoganeislife3144]

Yeah, I don’t know why so many left-wing people dismiss this? One group Trump did extremely well with were American Indians, with some polls indicating he won over 50% of their vote. I think liberals, especially White liberals want to brush this reality off or try to reframe it because to them minorities can’t be anything but left-leaning and any that dare step out of this mould is just an oddity to them and needs to be corrected.

[@lucastv3353]

True. In that case I guess is more about eliminating the competition. As white working class/regional voters may feel threatened by inmigration and the discourse around it, Latino and Black voters also feel like they can still keep an advantage over those who would like to come to US (but just aren't there yet). As someone once told me, working class (and also minorities) start voting for right/far right when they feel like the little that they have can be taken away by newcomers.

[@chazdomingo475]

Only the males of those population. I would not call it massive. Also, Trump did not win anything. The Dems lost 13 million votes. He lost 1 million or so. He simply lost less than the Dems. A lot of that can be put down to voter obstruction. But a lot of it can be put down to the Dems horrible campaign with no real alternative to Trump's vision as well.

[@Zectifin]

He also won among young voters. I think thats a combination of progressives not voting because of kamala's stance on Israel and young men voting right by being brainwashed by manosphere content.

[@jaminavestajugo3456]

I hope we get more effective at showing how wokism is necessary for dealing with "bread and butter" issues.

[@U2ëë919ajanwo]

And the solution to fighting and stopping the far right rise is to join parties, political organisations. Get out of your bed and fight the fascists!

[@BackyardEpicMovies]

Depressed rural people seem to be a growing trend though especially with the rise of many farmers taking their own lives. I think if more rural people had easier access to mental health services their views might also change for the better.

[@데이지-i5w]

[hand alice's video] take this, it's dangerous to go alone

[@lambafa]

Thanks for laying out your position on this, I have a lot to say but I will settle for saying that I don't think the job of the left is to educate society, nor is it to be the moral conscience of capitalist society. At least for socialists, our job is find the links between the organic demands of the working class and the project of socialism, which aims at overcoming the limits of capitalist society in order to free the enormous amount of social potential that is currently stifled. When we lose sight of that I think we drift into the death spiral of 'resistance' politics.

[@LunarMoods]

The problem is not that the right is extreme but that the left is not radical anymore. Being moderate towards an extreme situation like the one we live won't be a solution.

[@kelvin_darwin]

I think the terms Neo-liberal and Post-Modernism define the rise to the right. The idea that an individual can represent one aspect of their individual identity is absurd at best. This is where Leftist thinking like bipoc or post-feminism start to address that the issue is more about the lack of honest communication and exploitation of what is defined as resources. Things like land, minerals, identity, labor, etc. I think the right gets scared of government, but ignores that corporate lobbying is governing government and ignoring social programs everybody benefits from. It's all governance and in a corporation it's all top down. The question is more about where and how we acknowledge boundaries. It's not about us vs them. It's about how do we acknowledge our boundaries to coexist and quit pretending that we have to choose to permanently stay on one side of a paradox (unwavering). Then maybe we can actually engage with one another then copping out or deferring our part to some party or dogma.

[@laurentiusivan]

Hello, thank you for your great video. I think that people distance themselves from the left, because we forget one thing : compassion. Maybe because we fall into the trap of moralism, and start calling people names (racist, stupid, homophobic, etc.). We lack compassion on how approach issues. Instead of blaming people, why we don't just try to listen to them and show them that we are truly care about their issues?

[@stevegiles8019]

The late, great Michael Brooks had a great quote "be kind to people, be ruthless with systems".

[@laurentiusivan]

@stevegiles8019 it is relatively same as "do not blame the player, blame the game"

[@Altropos]

If being against slavery, against imperialism, against racism, pro queer people, pro ethnic diversity, pro labour and anti-capitalist is woke, then I guess I'm woke.

[@lucastv3353]

As someone once told me, the working class (and also minorities) start voting for right/far right when they feel like the little that they have can be taken away by newcomers.

[@theobserver9131]

As a Stonewall era gay man, I can't stand "Wokism". It's turning all our hard work and equality progress into a joke, and attracting a whole new level of hate.

[@aafran1268]

Thank you for this video and the reminder to stay reeaaall woke!

[@blankname5177]

video essay helped me too. I was sam harris fan but i watched Shaun's video on bell curve and truly changed my view on him. I am bengali living in usa male. They help everyone when done well. Lazy content/slop don't but we probably still need them not sure.

[@diek_yt]

Though only tangentially related, this really reminds me of the amazing read "The Rebel Sell", a book that focuses on counter-cultural movements, but whose main thesis can be reinterpreted as saying that "Cultural/sociopolitical movements that go against 'the system' are, at best, simply co-opted and integrated into it, and at worst, end up reinforcing the system they sought to destroy." This is, of course, how the system works; it's by design I'd recommend it to anyone interested, specially the first half, which is full of examples. It really makes you reflect on what kind of actions have any hope of actually changing things for the better!

[@stevegiles8019]

thanks for the recommendation!

[@noelelwood]

Very based

[@Medi_PO]

Hello Alice, I really appriciated your video! I'm a mexican living in Paris, my boyfriend is from the nord of france too! and during the christmas parties where I was surrounded by Ch'ti boomers, the topic came up to conversation.. WOW I couldn't believe how closed some of them were about hearing just a different opinion than theirs... somehow enfuriating but mostly sad to decide to just shut up just to not have to deal with them... I knew I wouldnt be able to make them see a different point of view so I just shut up which made me feel helpess :(

[@Anonymous-sb9rr]

I'm working class, in the Netherlands, and what I see among colleagues in a few different companies, is the perspective that there are good and bad foreigners/Muslims/POC, with about 50% being good and 50% being bad. While among natives this would be 90% good, 10% bad. They have no problems with "the good ones", so they'll say they're not racist. Some brown people are completely accepted. They also don't like it when people don't fit in with their culture, like people with foreign cultures, but also the elites, hippies and vegans. There can even be a "go back to Amsterdam" attitude sometimes, though usually not explicitly said in that manner. Gay people are accepted in the in-group, but transgender and nonbinary people are merely allowed to exist.

[@chavesa5]

This is why I come to Alice's content. Far beyond her beauty, she makes videos that are vulnerable, researched, and informative.

[@chazdomingo475]

I grew up in the rural Deep South America. I have similar experiences, interactions, and conclusions as you. Here, however, this is actually a culture and history of racism. Even when I was a child, it was sometimes celebrated openly. I have interacted with some suburban people farther north in my adulthood, and I notice the target changes, primarily it changes to anti-semitism. And yes, what you are doing is the best advocacy for the left. I wish I could cast a vote for you.

[@Chrissy1312]

loved this!! there are so many people on the radical left (at least in the circles i am organised in in germany) who dont get this and hate on „wokeism“ and are annoyed when people want to center feminism, queer rights and anti racism in their activism alongside class issues… in my personal experience it leads people who are discriminated in these ways to not organise in these spaces and feel unwelcomed

[@misu73373]

i like your channel a lot because you approach subjects in your own way and you put a lot of effort into understanding things yourself. as a romanian, i also like that you are french since i would like to follow more european channels, but as i only speak english and romanian, i watch a lot of american channels. feel free to recommend me some channels by people in europe

[@DonVientos]

Hi Alice. Greetings from Argentina. I love your videoessays and i follow you since more than a year. I want to notice you that finally, after 14 months of having a deranged anti-woke fanatic as president, everything you say (or said) starts to make a lot of sense. A big hug. Let's fight back.

[@poe6018]

The woke movement goes with the socialist flag but still is capitalistic.

[@Iyashikei-t4u]

Here in Belgium it's mandatory to vote, but the far-right is still prevalent. Right now Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest), a separatist party that thrives on racism is the second largest party in the country only preceded by N-VA. Belgium has a questionable history concerning racism. You just have to look at our history in Congo to see what I mean, but you can also see it in how we treat muslims today. Vlaams Belang has tapped into this racism ever since the 1980's. When you really listen to what they're saying a lot of it makes no sense. However, their current leader has worked in the advertising sector and therefore knows how to convince people. This is something the left misses: someone who really understands how to convince the people of our points. Being woke isn't the problem, being woke in a way that makes people believe it is a good thing is. It would also be a good thing if the media stopped turning the race debate into a we vs them thing because it makes people forget we're all in the same boat.

[@ValQuinn]

Great analysis. The problem is 'woke' for the majority has become synonymous with caring about minorities but not 'me'. Even though he supports all 'woke' policies and rhetoric, I don't think right-wingers criticise Bernie Sanders as woke because he always connects it back to redistribution of wealth and power. We have to follow Bernie and do BOTH.

[@PokhrajRoy.]

My only point is that if you believe that injustices are multifaceted and interconnected and you feel that it’s wrong no matter what you tell yourself, then that’s absolutely valid. If you want to understand marginalised people and not be dismissive, that’s valid too. P.S. The editing is always so slick!

[@crashb800]

I'm very glad that you bring in French political examples, as an American, I'm only aware of the United States, and even when I have conversations with various Europeans online from various different countries, they all seem fully aware of American politics and follow it closely. Obviously, the whole world is affected by American politics, and there are plenty of reasons why the whole world pays attention. That being said, I would like to have a somewhat further perspective on things happening in other parts of the world. As far as the actual video is concerned, I think there's a notable difference between uneducated and unintelligent. I've found that comparing the intelligence of different people is almost never good or ever really useful.

[@mofthemoth5755]

As someone who spent my first couple years in rural France and has family there (who's mostly rightwing), this video honestly does reflect a lot of how they think

[@Velvetine_Froggy]

This doesn't have a whole lot to do with your excellent video, but I just wanted to say how much I hate most political maps. I understand why they exist, I understand the analytical need to show how different areas lean politically, but they cut out so much nuance. They oversimplify. In the US, for example, California is a "blue" state, but it has millions of Republicans. Texas is a "red" state, but it has millions of Democrats. The most common political maps paint these places in an almost all or nothing way. They overemphasize division. I'm not saying the division doesn't exist, I'm just saying these maps paint a highly distorted picture of it, even at the smallest scale. If an area is 60-40 in one direction and another area is 60-40 in the other direction, there's a lot of commonality that gets stripped away by simply saying these areas are either red or blue, black or white. And in the end, these areas are all just arbitrary lines on a map. The US is a lot more purple than most people think. There's a reason we say the world is gray. Anyway, good video.

[@evelyndill5688]

Excellent messaging and editing, thank you for all you do Alice!

[@niteshade2271]

I didn't watch this yet but i'm commenting cuz i gotta say; since a couple weeks ago I've been thinking "damn, someone on youtube should defend wokism for once. i wish i could do that on youtube but i'm not a youtuber"and i've been thinking of retorts every now and then since! AND THEN YOU UPLOAD THIS!!!

[@tim290280]

Excellent video. What you've discussed and what Wendy Brown wrote about was clearly what Prof Hans Moeller (Carefree Wandering) tried to articulate with limited success a year or two ago.

[@willschermer1462]

Thank you for this! It is a wonderful essay!

[@beemsalabeem]

For some reason, i read it as workism :")

[@swarupkumar2]

I bought your book in the audiobook format and listened to it recently.

[@ronniesan9805]

I remember one guy from Cuba who loved drumpf. Then he got deported!

[@idk-ll6yv]

I know a guy from california, he voted Biden then his tax money was taken from and used in funding wars in Ukraine and gaza and he got nothing

[@jonathancangelosi2439]

The biggest issue I have with demonizing “woke” is that there are many valid criticisms of how “wokeness” is implemented in practice, particularly when it comes to corporations celebrating pride month, or tokenizing minorities in movies, or claiming to value DEI but missing the mark, but the right uses that to demonize the entire concept of “wokeness” instead of simply criticizing how it’s executed/co-opted by capitalism.

[@yukikosan5468]

Merci pour ta vidéo ! C'était vraiment cool d'avoir ce point de vue :3

[@indricotherium4802]

I said _au revoir_ after five minutes of twiddly accordion music grinding in my ears.

[@franciscojeronimo5881]

What a great dose of dopamine to hear such an amazing woman tell me things I already believe in. I feel great.👍

[@Dracointox.]

WE ARE WOKE PEOPLE!

[@PANKER_NADAV]

Nice video but I'm 20 min in and no data analysis at all and no reference to metiral to support the claims

[@thegamechangerchannelclass9711]

I am critical of "woke" as a framework for change. A consider woke suffering from an illumination fallacy. The idea is that, somehow, if one simply informs people of things, it will change things. Those in communication and culture generation fall into this thinking to nor burn out. Issues of the heart are not addressed simply by providing information.

[@nicholashaines8481]

Wokism is unpopular because it has become synonymous with campaigns to get people fired from their jobs because their personal political views hurt the feelings of the activists. That is not what true activism is. Real activists appeal to the public, invite scrutiny and debate, and don’t resort to authoritarian tactics. The number of university professors fired from their jobs because they didn’t reflect the political sensibilities of activists increased dramatically after 2014. It is naive to claim that the unpopularity of wokism is some deep mystery that we need to unravel. I am a very left-wing progressive person and I can see that cancel culture and deplatforming and depriving people of their livelihoods are toxic tactics. It is not at all surprising that there has been a backlash against it. Activism is not narcissism and the inability to regulate one’s emotions in healthy ways. Activism is not refusing to tolerate pluralism in a society. Activism is not failing to understand how academic freedom is essential to knowledge production. Wokism is strongly associated with a deeply unhealthy form of activism - self-aggrandisement and bullying dressed up as activism. If the backlash against wokism forces progressive activists to rethink their conception of what activism is, that would be a good outcome.

[@tross-lj2eb]

So this is broadly a confirmation of the political impacts we suspected climate change would have, decades ago: a refugee crisis fuels racism and xenophobia which leads to fascism. Except in reality the racism and xenophobia are preceding the refugee crisis, because the fabric of racism was there all along and it didn't take much to ignite it. It sounds like your answer to your own question about rural voters is, DING DING DING!! RACISM

[@tross-lj2eb]

I also found it compelling that rural people don't understand why anyone would pay so much to live in a small box in the city. I asked myself this question, and the biggest answer is, to get away from those people--the bigots.

[@andresyenes7261]

My critique of "woke" aligns with the one presented in the book Left Is Not Woke. In short, "woke" is tribalist, while the left is universalist. This is crucial because, without universalism, concepts like human rights become incoherent. When I defend the rights of LGBTQ people, I do so because they are human beings, and human rights are rooted in that fundamental fact. Abandoning universalism has also, in my view, strengthened the far right, which is likewise tribalist. Another issue is the claim to moral superiority. When "woke" rhetoric began relying on this argument, the first thing that came to my mind was the discourse of ultraconservative Catholic priests who were quite famous when I was a child in the 90's (I'm from Chile). I find this kind of rhetoric toxic and feel very distant from it. I think that if we want to offer an alternative to the rising far right, there are two main things to focus on: 1. The working and middle class. Obama has a documentary on Netflix that illustrates how these two classes exist side by side, how the middle class is far from being truly "in the middle," and how people often have no real sense of just how wealthy millionaires are. 2. Human rights. In this regard, I find it important to recall the phrase: "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights".

[@niteshade2271]

"woke" is a derogatory term created by the right. the left never asked to be labeled woke. so i don't think it makes sense to criticize the left based on a term the right created to put all leftists in a box.

[@Zectifin]

yeah I find it weird that people have started using the term "working class" as a synonym for lower class. Most middle class people are working class unless they are a business owner. You could have a struggling small business owner/entrepreneur, but they are not working class regardless if they are broke or make millions. A youtuber or person selling stuff on etsy isn't working class. A person who makes $120k a year for a boss is still part of the working class as they can be stripped of their income by their boss in an instant.

[@Sarah-ht4xr]

@@Zectifin I think small business owners, entrepreneurs and the self-employed are generally working class. I think the distinction is more along the lines of if you don't show up to work do you still make money? and is it the capital or your labour that is doing the heavy lifting in gaining returns? I know this opens up a little more grey area, but that grey area is more towards the top end with those that have more power, make more money, and contribute less in terms of labour; who we should probably be scrutinising more anyway.

[@andresyenes7261]

@ Yes! I think very similarly to you. Moreover, and speaking of the left in Chile and Europe (where I am from and where I live now), I feel like they have long pretended that the central issue of the left-the defense of the working class-has disappeared. Why? Well, I don’t know. But this issue hasn’t just slightly faded in recent years; rather, the conditions for the working class have worsened more than ever. Meanwhile, the far right, with its rhetoric, appeals to them by offering apparent solutions that are not realistic. At the same time, the rhetoric of the 'woke' fails to resonate with a majority that could actually win elections-especially if the working class is left unattended. So, you end up with the perfect storm.

[@DISTANTSHOREGames]

French guy here, how did you learn to speak with such a good english accent ?

[@OpenTanyao]

It still sounds relatively French to me, but it's such a good accent that I wish all English sounded like it.

[@niewazneniewazne1890]

Take my answer with a grain of salt. But in the previous video she mentions the university study she attended to and I think it's something akin to ?cultural studies of USA? or ?language studies? idk

[@nestorquintana88]

thank you in advance for the openness and the conversation. I differ from min 17:23 with the question: when did Wokism become a weakness? I think it always has been, because it is an amalgam of minorities, and in those differences you can find starting points, but not all minorities are equal, it depends on the country and its neighbors and in the regions within the country as you have addressed, and although they share in many cases a common axis are those nuances that can tip the balance to some side. (Ensuring equal rights should be a priority but in practice it is extremely difficult because you must prioritize and it is precisely in the WHAT? HOW? and WHERE ARE YOU? when you are faced with the reality that you are no longer campaigning and someone in your coalition may have a majority and prefer something less radical and focus on the priority issues of their voters). I also differ in grouping the international right or left as 2 unique blocs. Bulgary after being 800 years under Ottoman rule and still make a resurgence of Catholicism as a brake on the spread of Islam is minimized. I don't think that in 15 years they will decide to change their national identity -> Sweden is the other side of the coin where integration did not happen. Poland I don't think they want to “go back” to the Left. In the Americas, Brazil's evangelical majority has shifted left-right-left. Mexico is another example, a Catholic majority with a leftist government. USA, Obama was the pinnacle of the American left and yet he has been the biggest deporter and that was not forgotten by the Latino community in Trump's first term 2016-2020 nor by the working class of the Swing States (Illinois). Just to give a fact the US has an annual flow of approximately 4 million immigrants, 1 million by the “legal” way and 3 by other means. Also people are tired of this new age leftist virtuosity and I think we have just reached a point where the politization of personal experiences has become a “Survivorship Bias” that overrides the experience and reality of the other aka Emilia Pérez. For me it is difficult to believe that we “re-educate”, it would be like saying: “I have these values, but if you like them, I have others” and that can be seen in the disastrous numbers of companies engaged in “re-education” with woke themes called softpower in series and movies by Hollywood and Legacy Media and the video game industry aka Flopbusters. Most public companies (listed on the stock exchange) have collapsed due to high production costs linked to re-recordings, poorly qualified personnel and the prioritization of “modern audience” themes that nobody wants or asked for, focused on groups or creating metropolitan narratives in times foreign to the historical period. The companies that have not gone bankrupt are those that have maintained themselves by creating entertainment and listening to their audiences and not by re-educating them. “One gets used to everything, except not eating”. Popular Mexican saying.

[@subcitizen2012]

I've seen a lot of people accept the right wing framing of woke. "How's it feel to advocate for phantom issues that only lose for us."

[@REOswedewagon]

Being transgender, I can't describe how desperately disheartening it's been to see the center-left flee from all things "woke". Like I just am inherently woke whether I like it or not. That's me they're hanging out to dry.

[@vraisairs9201]

Uneducated? Not necessarily. Stupid? Most definitely. You don’t vote against your own best interests without either a great amount of ignorance or hate

[@layeng251]

This stretched my view on the world of politics. I feel like asking the question of what the point of politics even is. Is it to resist the right?

[@bb1televator]

I advocate for more of a conception of wokeness that is class conscious, anti imperialist, and anti hierarchical. So basically something that is a counter to reactionary tendencies. However, “intersectionality” is not something I have a lot of stock in because of how much I see it in defense of rich people or used by rich people themselves in order to make special exceptions for their wealth and status as exploiters. I don’t like concepts that remove or ignore a class basis because of this. That tends to make them easy tools for capitalists to use as cover. I prefer plurinational liberation

[@Mikelon797]

Hi, I've been watching your videos for several years, just as I watch other leftist channels like ContraPoints or Philosophy Tube to contrast and challenge my ideas. With all due respect, you are straw manning the ideas and beliefs of the far right regarding immigration. Without truly understanding the other side, you'll never have strong arguments or an effective plan to win. Good luck.

[@franky1650]

Among Alice's many aunties, we have now also met Auntie Woke 😂 Seriously though, another great video and great insights as always.

[@vladimirsthk3130]

here's another funny take on the word "woke", in greek, the word for smart or intelligent (I think that in french you could use "esprit vif") is literally the equivalent of woke. it's kinda insane how being awake or engaged is now a bad thing

[@Khantia]

People should have equal rights, and they shouldn't be discriminated based on their race, gender or sexual orientation. With that said, I don't agree that movies should FORCE diversity, if it's unfaithful to the source material. Like the elves in Lord of the Rings are described as "fair". Or Snowwhite is known for her light skin, hence her name. But if the source material indeed has "woke elements" in itself, then the reverse should also not be happening, and they should not be removed/censored just to appease the anti-woke crowd.

[@martinr1830]

Don't apologize about getting philosophical!

[@MasterOfBaiter]

Moralism is but a symptom of the more fundamental problem that is idealism. The way liberal philosophy encourages us to center ideas rather than the conditions that lead to the ideas. When you only concern yourself with the positions and beliefs someone holds you as a consequence attribute those believes and positions to that person. They become that persons fault. If you instead recognize that every individual exists only within a larger social context that materially shapes said individual then you start questioning why the individual is that way. You move beyond the moralistic dead end and go further to understanding that as individuals we don't have complete agency in how we construct our believes and thus the fault and origin of these harmful ideas lies somewhere else. The bigot in a way is both victim of their circumstances that lead them to become the perpetrator as well and treating the person considering them only one and not the other in no way will be able to every fully abolish the phenomenon. Moving away form idealism and encouraging the same with others fostering a materialist outlook is what is necessary in my opinion.

[@nawfalshammari4579]

Please enable the donation feature on youtube if possible, I can't keep tracking another platform like patreon.

[@bloodbecoming]

Retvrn (to militant left movements)

[@desumafia]

bro forgot that "militant left" back then had political views of today's moderate right💀💀

[@raquetdude]

Those failed… the left is dead and the militants helped killed it. The alliance with anti imperialists, pro Maoists and pro Stalinists. This video shows why the left is dead and why there won’t be a leftist movement from this. There is no working class left there is a PMC educated ultra urban left.

[@dieucondorimperial2509]

@@desumafia during the French Revolution, maybe. Since at the very least the Paris Commune, the militant left has been committed to anti-capitalism, since basically the 1900s it’s where feminism with suffragette movements emerged, and the first anti-imperialist and truly anti-racist theories, and all of that really took steam on the social side in the 60s. The current militant left, with its unions, its intersectionality, its dream of a world freed from the shackles of capital and all forms of domination is the direct heir to the leftism of yore.

[@desumafia]

@@dieucondorimperial2509 bro i lived in country that was "freed from capital" believe me, you don't want it

[@pkhaloobonaccio9883]

​@@desumafia why lefties always says radical right , extreme right or whatever . That's why they are losing , they are alienating everyone else . They think cause they got a degree they superior than everyone

[@katarzynakapusta2525]

The problem is, tolerance is being preached all over corporate and mainstream, all while economic inequality is glossed over by the same outlets. The left doesn't really need to say the same thing but louder. It's enough to just admit this part of the agenda is to be appreciated, and is our win, "however". Let the left shift focus to economics at last! Otherwise, most of its support base, the precariat, will keep non-voting. And the immigration will sadly keep being an actual issue to that very group, bringing their wages down and letting all labor regulations disperse because of the _lack of political care from the left side_. The resignation has to be addressed at last! Shouldn't it? Otherwise we'll even lose the mainstream, shallow and single-sided "woke". The right exposes it as hypocritical, and isn't there some truth to that. There is one very interesting Czech comedy tackling the dynamics of upper class leftism vs working class racism: Up and Down (Horem pádem) from 2004. A shame it does not resurface much.

[@RickyWashington-pl1jo]

This was a well needed pep talk!

[@ChrisHunterhome]

I really struggle with the idea that people are left or right, black or white, wrong or right, our tribe or not ... surely our world is a lot more nuanced than that ... theory & practice often do not match !

[@supersim1357]

This video was so timely!

[@thecaveofthedead]

Preach Alice! This was some very valuable context for these times.

[@sleepingpotato942]

never been this early to a video in my life

[@alexharbin4124]

you did it! its all downhill from here.

[@sophieisyerin]

hasanabi kind of woke, yes. neolib centrist bs, no.

[@07Flash11MRC]

Yes.

[@fionaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa9548]

Now I want to read more about the concepts you brought up here.

[@simonmcglary]

I always think that the definition of wokism is in the name. Woke, awake, understanding the real world and science, educated and open minded, respectful and supportive of difference, regardless of religion, sexuality, nationality and inclusive. Even if different “woke” want to include all in the debate while the far right seems to want to shutdown any debate or difference. Look at the natural world, the greater the bioDIVERSITY the healthier the environment. I’ve read reports that cities that embrace DIVERSITY tend to be more successful. My favourite word, DIVERSITY!

[@danielebowman]

This is the problem, you defend woke but ignore woke types have been what have been doing a lot of the suppression of discussion over the past decade or so. What else has cancel culture be referring to? Yes the extreme right are terrible, but as we've seen the extreme left just as bad. Pushing ideology over reality is the problem for both sides. As for your reports, cities draw in people because they are successful. Otherwise US cities like Detroit wouldn't have been in disarray for decades. Many Asian cities are now mega successes while being extremely un-diverse ethnically. In the natural world, diversity is only good if it's in balance, bring in a foreign species and watch that increased diversity damage or destroy the ecosystem. As Australia has discovered on many occasions. This is why the cult-like mantra 'diversity is good' is never able to rationally argue itself. Diversity isn't an innately good or bad thing. The type of diversity can be though.

[@amberhide04]

@@danielebowman detroid has been shit not because of black people, but because of segregation and export of factory jobs. Stop advocating for ethnostates, you're not fooling anyone. Saying asian cities are successes because of lack of ethnical diversity not only ignores several socioeconomical factors that lead to those sucesses (that are actually quite mixed in fact). But also promotes literal fascist ideology. Comparing different ethnicities to different species is an 18th century level of racism, you can easily find more genetic differences between members of the same ethnicity than members of different ones, because, shocker, ethnicities are just arbitrary boxes and social constructs

[@galaxychill9578]

I've never seen "the radical left" do anything like the far right has, because if they did it would be _everywhere_.

[@Syphil23]

This is so helpful - thank you 🙏

[@VitoWolf-me3tq]

Thanks for this . Thanks for continuing to speak up

[@aura_mariana]

your videos make me feel lesss lonely ❤️‍🩹

[@Anonymous-sb9rr]

Don't you love how on this election map, Meloni is center right? 3:42

[@Glitsynh]

I implore everyone here to _please_ look up Ian Haney López and his work on the Race Class Narrative (Race Class _Gender_ Narrative currently in development). _We need to master our messaging._