Spend enough time online and you will spot the buzzwords that are currently symbolizing broader social conflict – maybe even before it makes its way into the mainstream via cable news and hot takes. Each time the feed is updated, a new “moral panic” threatens. Commentators rant about the rise of “Illiberalism”; “Alertness” is classified as a common belief system that fuels the Twitter mob.
But as you scroll through social media, you’ll find that these words are used so often – and relate to so many different situations – that often they don’t mean much anymore. The reality is much more complicated than fabricated indignation suggests, which is why you should avoid such hot button phrases as much as possible unless you are sure what you are talking about.
What is ‘alertness’?
No word is currently causing more sensation in online areas than “woke up”, a modern term that describes a much older way of thinking – namely the commitment to social justice and racial and economic justice. Opponents of “wakefulness” call it a contemporary specter – a Thought system that gives politically correct thinking priority over logical problem solving that makes dangerous intrusions into our nation military, schools, philanthropic organizations and beyond that, which probably brings functioning institutions into the crosshairs of a cohort of culture fighters.
But if wakefulness means that to its most feverish critics, it’s often used by less militant types to simply describe things they don’t like. A good example is a new blog by NYU marketing professor Scott Galloway, who urges graduates to be “warriors, not climbers” when they enter careers.
To be clear, Galloway is not exactly attuned to the crowd trying to change “critical racial theory”. into a derogatory, but his blog offers a masterclass in combining workplace self-advocacy with the cynical “sacrifice game”.
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He writes:
Structural racism is real, and our economic system is overturned, if not manipulated. The most accurate predictor of your chances is not your intelligence or work ethic, but your place of birth. But playing the victim decreases your ability to be a warrior against these injustices. Pursuing the politics of personal identity ensures that you remain an individual, alienated and alone. Warriors sacrifice for the tribe, but they realize they are part of a tribe. Separate people from ideology or give up access to 50% of potential relationships and allies.
At a time marked by dizzying economic inequality, stagnant wagesand diversity as a company PR tactics, Galloway doesn’t ask young employees to stay awake – he tells them not to stand up for themselves. They are clearly two different things, but by labeling self-advocacy (or even complaining) as a symptom of the supposed social sickness of wakefulness, he makes his essay more culturally resonant – clickable – at the expense of clarity.
Galloway’s contribution is a direct example of why one should use increasingly specific words instead of resorting to divisive, zeitgeist phrases – because the latter often only serve to perpetuate the cycle of outrage that feeds social media.
Instead, say what you really mean
While it is unclear how many young workers across the country regularly “join a Twitter mob that picks up on an unfortunate middle manager,” as Galloway writes, the concept is certainly largely illusory, especially for those who do not work in public spaces. It seems like Galloway is actually saying that given the discouragement, new workers should roll with the punches instead of crawling. That is fair enough, but real efforts are being made to create a better, fairer work environment – through organizing, for example – as slow wakefulness only undermines efforts to make meaningful institutional change.
Outside of the circumstances suggested by Galloway’s essay, those you refer to with the word are increasingly being referred to as antagonistic or hysterical when you refer to something as awake, regardless of your intentions or beliefs. You can be more specific in your assessment – and avoid contributing to the latest cycle of cultural anger – by using concise language.
When you feel that one person or party is being silenced or belittled by another person, you can say, “It sounds like you are trying to keep them from sharing a fair view”; If you think someone is being too reactionary, you could offer, “I think assuming the best of intentions here might help.” In any case, you would do a lot more to promote mutual understanding than if you throw a loaded word like “woke up” into the conversation.
