Review: We Have Never Been Woke

This is a challenging book. It made me think, get clear, consider, and reconsider. I wrote, edited, and re-wrote this post several times. Kudos to the author! While occasionally frustrated, I also laughed. In sum, it was a valuable exercise that helped clarify some of my thinking. If you want to get you head around “woke” or really the larger context in which it emerged, this book is for you!

The author situates the woke phenomenon as nothing really new but rather the latest manifestation of a historical, almost-cyclical phenomenon. Its central characters are the symbolic capitalists – who can be thought of as knowledge workers, or the top 10 or 20% income bracket — that largely service the top 1%. To cut to the chase: he argues the symbolic capitalists are the real problem, though much attention is focused on the villainy of the top 1%.

His attack, and I choose attack deliberately, is on the hypocrisy of the symbolic capitalists, in particular as it manifested in wokeness. He presents a compelling case that rather than really being dedicated to the social justice causes they espouse, the woke symbolic capitalists are more interested in promoting their own status. I agree this accurately captures a large chunk, but no symbolic capitalists escape criticism. Those who “oppose” the woke hypocrisy are in fact playing their part in the play and not exempt from blame. Takeaway: we indeed are all guilty of hypocrisy to some degree and it is good to stop and examine our behavior.

The author clearly states he is doing diagnosis, not prescription. That is totally fair. The critique is very strong, and it does make one think, “well, what should I be doing?” Again, it’s good that we are moved to self-examination. I did feel it was a bit too strong in the critique at times. For instance, he criticizes the wealthier, more educated for tending to dedicate more to environmental causes than Amnesty International or the ACLU. I also felt he let the top 1% off a bit lightly … granted, that was not the focus of the book.

Yes, there is hypocrisy and status-jousting among the symbolic capitalists. He admits that sometimes they have good intentions but come up short. I might add that people – even this “elite – are often simply bumbling along the best they can. I feel the author under-weights the power of the system imperative or simple inertia. Capitalism, the system in play, creates tremendous incentives for certain types of behavior that are hard to resist. It is easier to go along, and to play the game.

He calls out blaming the system as a cop out. He puts more blames on the capitalists than capitalism that I would. The system so ubiquitous and powerful that resistance is really, really difficult. I think this is an important point for us to be aware of in our After Capitalism work. Systems are difficult to change! But I totally agree with the author and it’s on us to be wary of simply blaming the system when we don’t want to do the hard work of change.

Another very useful point for After Capitalism emerged as thought through is point how “wokeness” was being used as an elite status play. I agreed with him on this. But it contradicts the values shift from modern to postmodern. Status is a very key modern value. Not postmodern, and the postmoderns fit the woke profile very strongly. The postmoderns value equality and participation over status and hierarchy. Hmm. What I wonder …. We have also talked about the “mean greens” who dragged postmodern values into unhealthy expression. Sooo, is the unhealthy aspect that they have not let go of their modern desire for status just yet. It would explain a lot, no?

The author provides us a great service in analyzing woke and putting it in its proper context. He challenges us to be crystal clear in our purpose. And to watch for hyprocrisy and make sure we are walking our talk. Also, kudos to the friend who said I should check it out, ha! – Andy Hines