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Is Wokeness ‘Kryptonite for Democrats’?

Republicans sure seem to think so. They are not alone. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/26/opinion/democrats-republicans-wokeness-cancel-culture.html?smid=em-share

I asked Jonathan Rauch, a senior fellow at Brookings and the author of the new book “The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth,” about the lack of pushback, and he suggested a series of factors:

·        “The younger generation (wrongly) perceives free speech as hazardous to minority rights.”

·        “The purist side has had more passion, focus and organization than the pluralist side.”

·        “Universities are consumeristic these days and very image-conscious, and so they have trouble withstanding pressure from their ‘customers,’ e.g., activist students.”

·        “The use of social pressure to manipulate opinion is a powerful and sophisticated form of information warfare. Anyone can be dogpiled in minutes for any reason, or no reason.”

·        “Activists have figured out that they can have disproportionate influence by claiming to be physically endangered and psychologically traumatized by speech that offends them.”