What is “woke”?

I see and read a lot about this topic. Let me list some characteristics of “woke” as I understand it without looking up the definition.

• Virtue signaling about the current social and political trends in a light-minded way — without thoroughly assessing their complexities.
• Virtue signaling, period. Announcing to the world that you’re not with the dark side. That your next-door neighbor or own mother are members of the dark side — well, no one will know that.
• “Cancelling” people who have different opinions.
• An intellectual or emotional monopoly over what’s virtuous and righteous in this world.
• Double standards. Have you been following the story of Ja Morant? Ja is one of the youngest and most talented NBA players, making tens of millions a year. The dude has been brandishing his gun live on social media. Nike said, “We appreciate Ja’s accountability and that he is taking the time to get the help he needs. We support the prioritization of his well-being.” Compare this to Kyrie Irving getting canceled (figuratively and literally — by Nike) because of a tweet about a movie. I’m not discussing Kyrie’s actual tweet. He expressed an opinion about a movie. Morant waived his gun. Guns are a bit of a problem in America, last time I checked. To clarify, I’m not saying that one star deserves a bigger punishment than the other. We all make mistakes. Why not be forgiving to both Ja and Kyrie?

Picture from Bleacher Report

• Double standards. Double standards. Double standards. Did I mention double standards? You’re not sleeping well over climate change, but your own carbon footprint is a spectacular outlier. You’re tolerant, but the moment someone has a different opinion, you put them in the scum of the earth bucket.

A short story, but I thought I’d get it out.