What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
The ugly head of wokeism in India has conveniently created a ‘minority oppressor’ for the lack of a ‘minority oppressed’ class
In accordance with the zeitgeist, wokeism has become the latest acquisition in the US geopolitical arsenal for destabilization.
While orchestrated proxy wars, or coups and colour revolutions remain bracketed for non-friendlies, woke infiltration is quickly making its mark within those nations that America calls its friends, allies, or partners.
Different nations suffering from different degrees of US soft-power hangover, whether it is Hollywood-philia, American corporate culture, or social justice movement, are being pushed to devour their civilizational souls.
Of special interest are Europe and India
The Cambridge dictionary now defines woman as “any adult ‘who lives and identifies as female’ even if they had a ‘different sex at birth’… Even if they sport a pair of testicles. Even if they’re one of those human beings we’ve referred to as men for millennia.”
Guardian – the reputed news media house – these days offers tips on how to date a ‘Mr Woke’. Ian Fleming’s immortal spy James Bond would probably be a black female in the near future, and Rings of Power – a spin-off of the legendary Tolkien masterpiece Lord of the Rings – has inflicted copious amounts of racial absurdity in its cast to keep it ‘inclusive’.
People are living with these anomalies lest they be labelled racists, misogynists, or one (or many) of the adjectives that woke progressives use to ‘cancel’ opinions that border around logic and reason.
In the UK, PM Sunak is having a tough time trying to put a leash on the British woke-police. This is the actual UK police force; do not confuse them with neighbourhood-watch gangs. He has gone on record calling on the police forces to focus on ‘fighting actual crime… not policing bad jokes on Twitter’.
For some unexplainable reasons, these days the UK police are finding it convenient to butt into the different cultural skirmishes and take sides, in a manner that defies logic. They are putting in jail women who hold posters like ‘no men in women’s prison’, or are busy warning social media users to watch out for consequences if they misgender convicted paedophiles.
The New Indian readers would know quite well about the Leicester riots and the role of UK police in harassing the Hindu residents; add to that the UK media that hides behind political correctness. For instance, they have played a crucial role in covering up the heinous crimes of the Rotherham grooming gang – an outfit comprising Pakistani individuals that have taken the raping of young and adolescent white boys and girls to industrial levels.
Germany and Sweden are no different. Sweden, reeling under a spurt in street violence, crime, and a quickly changing demographic equation, insists on pushing what is clearly a slow-burning chaos under the carpet in the name of liberalism, and Germany does the same, hiding behind the banner of ‘multiculturalism’.
France is the only West European member that is trying to become more and more audible in its assertions against wokeism. President Macron unambiguously calls this a ‘US import’ – one that he would not let France suffer from. While France suffers not so much from what ails the US today in the shape of forced racial equity with a special focus on blacks, it is not without its share of trouble.
French (and European) trouble comes in the shape of an Islamo-Leftist alliance: shrill demands for more leniency towards those who go about murdering people in the name of Islam, or cacophony about providing equality of outcome to Muslims irrespective of their criminal records, competence, experience, or intent. There is also the question of the French language, which is fairly gendered; the woke demand is that it must be made gender-neutral.
A curious aspect of wokeism is that it is a shapeshifter. In the USA while the fight is against the majority of whites, in Europe, the lack of ‘oppressed black people’ have made the woke cheerleaders discover the ‘oppressed minority’ in immigrant Muslims.
And the ugly head of wokeism in India has conveniently created a ‘minority oppressor’ for the lack of a ‘minority oppressed’ class. Thus, Brahmins (4% of the Indian population) have become the ones that according to the different woke literatures, need to be demolished, dismantled, and cancelled.
From finding ‘Brahminical patriarchy’ in art and architecture to literature and all forms of communication, the narrative has built enough wing-span to fan out from its breeding ground (academia and universities) and is now at large, trying to subvert even policy-making and judiciary.
Lack of space won’t permit listing the details elaborately in this essay, however, the shift in these institutions is visible if one notices the emerging endorsements, decisions and judgements with regard to pushing the LGBTQ agenda in schools, gender fluidity, and sex-change surgeries through government schemes like Ayushman Bharat, marriage and/or divorce judgements, or equity and diversity propaganda in the corporate world.
They seem quite content parroting lines that typify American values (we can wonder if there is any such thing as an American ‘value’, but that does not change the reality).
These are moves aimed at undermining the civilizational ethos of the subcontinent every step of the way; these are decisions framed to weaken every aspect of Indic values: from family ties to sociocultural bindings and religions, from individuals to community connections and everything in between. And this is going to affect all – Brahmin or not.
How did US policymakers notice a covert weapon in wokeism?
There are no surprises there. Wokeism has this habit of selling itself to a good bidder. I believe the proper street tag for this characteristic is ‘pimping’. Vivek Ramaswamy, in his famous book Woke Inc, observes that the first time wokeism sold itself was when the Wall Street capitalists decided to use it to subvert the Occupy Wall Street Movement (Vivek considers OWS to be the last of the classical leftist movement) – one that had the potential to damage the bankers and their banks.
Later on, Wall Street joined hands with Silicon Valley to drive wokeism to change corporate and consumer behaviour to aid their profit.
It was only a matter of time before the US establishment noticed the potential. In wokeism, they see: a liquid (I usually borrow this term from philosopher Zygmunt Bauman) entity with no head to cut off; a dubious origin – that facilitates its appeal among people across the ideological spectrum, whether they are liberal, Marxist, Catholic, atheists, or even plain pretenders; and a sufficiently low-resolution worldview that ensures maximum reach.
Most importantly, they see what characterises wokeism: a desperation to dismantle societies and their institutions wherever it infiltrates. As far as geopolitical tools go, this is extremism without suicide bombers and their Kalashnikovs, and way more efficient.
And so, America is using woke ideologies to indoctrinate or destabilise societies that have gone through an optimal amount of westernisation already. The UK, being the best candidate, has been sabotaged the most. France, Poland, or Hungary – a few European nations that take pride in their identity, culture, and legacy – are trying their best to resist.
Deracinated Indian elites, missionary and international schools, West-affiliated universities, humanities branches in most colleges, anglicised media, and now policymakers within the present government, along with the judiciary, are busy peddling woke narratives in the subcontinent.
At this rate, it is only a matter of time before we catch up with the UK unless we address this urgently.
About the China question: Since wokeism is quickly becoming the preferred off-the-shelf product for destabilization, China is experimenting with it too, trying to subvert US domestic affairs. Walt Disney to NBA and Nike – to preserve their profit framework that hinges on Chinese blessings – have regularly taken to pushing woke narratives to undermine their country of origin at the behest of Beijing. These are just a few of the big names that have come under focus; I am sure there are many more. However, their success remains limited in the short run.
This is because of two reasons: One, you cannot keep adding a soluble to an oversaturated solution. America is sufficiently woke already. And two, there is a certain advantage that the US power structure enjoys. The average American has only two parties to choose from. As far as the politician-banker network is concerned, there is no electoral determinant there. With the role of a population thus restricted to playing the consumer, it bears little or no impact on whichever cause China pushes them to run riots with, as long as the corporations and banks remain western, and retain the financial levers.
Arindam Mukherjee is a geopolitical analyst and the author of JourneyDog Tales, The Puppeteer, and A Matter of Greed.
Disclaimer: Views expressed above are the author’s own.
