Causes for woke and prescriptions on how to end it

I bought this audiobook because it was the subject of a hitpiece in the media, with the author being smeared with the slurs which are as predictable as they are false.

The book argues that woke is the direct result of civil rights legislation that was passed in the 1960s in the US (and then copied in other countries). While these civil rights laws were intended to break the ossified caste system in the American South, where a large portion of the population was denied basic rights, scope creep led to ever greater interference in the affairs of private parties - such as outlawing objective tests when some groups score worse than others, assuming discrimination when there is a numerical disparity in the opinions of bureaucrats, and the effective banning of jokes and opinions that can make others 'uncomfortable'. This caused companies to hire HR 'experts' who then have to justify why these bans are in place, for which they advance woke or woke-adjacent justifications.

Moreover, he argues that the aforementioned scope creep is the result not of laws, but of undemocratic decisions by judges and administrators. Many of the excesses of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the US law, are actually prohibited by the law itself, but which are then overruled by judicial or administrative fiat. This not only damages democracy, something the elites talk about a lot while respecting it very little, but also the rule of law - as it's definitely people ruling and not laws.

The book also provides some solutions. Hanania, as a libertarian, would rather have no state interference when it comes to private hiring decisions, but he recognizes that it's too late for that. Instead, he proposes some ways to keep the principle of legal non-discrimination in place, while mitigating and perhaps eliminating the excesses - like outlawing the use of the 'disparate impact' standard, among other propositions. This would reactivate free market incentives to not go woke.

One should be a bit skeptical of Hanania, as he is a libertarian who does not like state intervention, even in the pursuit of noble goals like combating racial discrimination. However, the causal chain is persuasive, though it does not explain why there was a wok explosion in the 2010s, even though these laws and procedures have been in place for quite a while. The reasoning is also US-centric: there are a lot of other countries that have a woke-problem, even though it may not be as bad as in the US. A comparative analysis between different countries may have been more productive. In the book, there is a comparison with France, but only to make a point about 'state strength'.

Still, I'd highly recommend this book, if only so that people can start debating on how to end the woke nonsense, rather than just complaining about it.

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2 people found this helpful

Excellent roadmap to a less divisive future

As one exceedingly tired by the culture war and upset by state-driven racial discrimination, it's great to be presented with a practical assessment of the regulations underpinning it all, and a roadmap towards a more meritocratic and civil future.

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Thorough analysis of, and clear solutions to, an embedded ideology

Prescriptive but necessary critique of the ‘unintended consequences’ of woke. Woke DEI is a massive negative externality

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Could have been interesting

Put off by the constant language of division. The "Left" being called "identity obsessed" and "egoist" academics. I'm all for intellectual debate, this is not one of those. Sad waste of this week's credit. Couldn't listen to the end due to the obvious bias, Ill thought out assumptions and one sided opinion posing as objective facts. Hoped to learn something, sadly not.

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