There\u2019s a lot of indicators that I\u2019m getting old, but one of them kind of came as a surprise to me \u2014 when I listen to the news, some of the words they use don\u2019t make any sense. This is especially true when I try to understand political \u201cnews.\u201d I realize politics has a language of their own, but some of the words they use nowadays apparently have taken on a whole new meaning than when I \u201clearned\u201d them in school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One word that puzzles me is \u201cwoke.\u201d Watching the news the other night, the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, pretty much indicated that all the current problems that America faces mostly stem from \u201cwokeness.\u201d\u00a0
I think woke means, or at least used to mean, socially aware, or empathetic. Apparently, not anymore.
Governor DeSantis recently signed a Stop Woke Act into law and bragged about it during his \u201cmidterm victory speech.\u201d In Washington, there is talk in the House of Representatives of forming an \u201canti-woke caucus.\u201d
It seems like woke is the blame for everything from deadly mass shootings to increased medical costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My extensive research found that \u201cwoke\u201d was once used largely by black people, encouraging them to stay mindful of racism in America. Its use was fueled by black musicians, social media and the #BlackLivesMatter movement and the term only entered the Oxford English Dictionary in 2017 \u2014 by then it had become more of a fashionable buzzword than a set of values.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The term is now mostly used by political figures \u2014 maybe because it doesn\u2019t actually mean anything. That might be part of its appeal \u2014 one can slam \u201cwokeness\u201d to oppose various issues without spelling out any specific objections.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So after all my extensive research, I\u2019ve decided that \u201cwoke\u201d is interesting, but, at least for me, it\u2019s just kind of an unusable word \u2014 because it doesn\u2019t actually mean anything. Actually, it obviously means something \u2014 I just don\u2019t know what\u2026.
\u2014 30 \u2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There\u2019s a lot of indicators that I\u2019m getting old, but one of them kind of came as a surprise to me \u2014 when I listen to the news, some of the words they use don\u2019t make any sense. This is … Continue reading