The (Attempted) Demonization of Consciousness
The fight to repress Woke-ism reflects a desperate resistance to change
I’ve been writing a lot about intuition and how to discern truth from falsehood. We even have another essay coming out this Sunday that dives even deeper into the topic. And not to beat a dead horse, but truly what could be more important than liberating ourselves from confusion and entering the light of truth? How can I evolve as an individual if I’m not willing to face into the truth? And how can we as a people create a better world for all if we are not willing to face the truth?
Woke-ism began in the black community, referring to an individual who has woken up to the reality of systemic racism and consciously chooses to live their life in the light of this knowing. Then the term was applied to CEOs who came into the realization that being purpose-driven was good for business. Then it was applied to politicians who perceive the importance of diversity and inclusion. And then . . .
And then it became a bad thing. Like George Orwell’s Ministry of the Truth, which was actually a ministry of torture that forced people to proclaim what they did not believe to be true, we now have a growing number of people believing that being “Woke” is bad.
These narrative creation machines are going so far as to blame the failure of Silicon Valley Bank on woke-ism because they had a diverse board. The inference they draw is that if SVB had been less focused on diversity they might have been better at running the bank successfully. Never mind the fact that the bank’s CEO was hell bent on lobbying for deregulation so he could invest a higher percentage of deposits.
But then inflation came, interest rates rose, and all those bonds that SVB invested in at nearly zero percent are worth a small fraction of their original price. Inflation constrained the flow of venture funding in Silicon Valley tech companies, which forced those companies to draw down their cash holdings (meaning their deposits in SVB). But because the bank invested a greater percentage of their deposits (in the now worthless bonds) they didn’t have the cash reserves to honor the withdraws, which caused a run on the bank.
Banking in the pre-deregulation days used to be boring. People deposited money for a small interest rate, banks loaned that money out at a higher percentage. It was boring but safe. Then came Reganomics and the S&L crisis, fully realized due to the deregulation of the S&L industry. The credit default swap fiasco caused the 2008 crash, and now with more deregulation of the banking industry we’re on the cusp of another crash.
But “Woke-ism” is to blame. Being conscious is bad. Being awake to the truth is evil.
Why not just say that up is down and left is right?
On the surface this seems silly. Underneath it can feel scary that so many people are being taken in by this new narrative. But deeper still there is another story to tell.
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