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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
In which Douglas Murray tears apart a straw man stand-in for woke progressivism.
He cherry-picked a few clearly egregious overstretches of performative wokeism and then presented them as though they were the standard-bearer of the movement. They aren’t. It’s all a bit more complex than that, and, TBH, he knows it. In a sense it almost felt reassuring: if the conservative culture wars are battling against a woke enemy that doesn’t really exist in anything like the insane iteration that they think it does, then maybe we’ll all eventually realize that 99.5% of us don’t disagree on all that much. Basically all woke SJW types will admit that the West contributed more objectively positive things to society than *literally* all other cultures combined. But if Murray acknowledged that fact then his entire thesis falls apart, so he spends a book righteously battling a straw man built exclusively by Breitbart and Info Wars. It’s socially irresponsible to make provocative arguments based on misleading and incomplete inputs, and it’s especially ironic coming from someone that accuses the left of lacking interpretive generosity.
Pass.
He cherry-picked a few clearly egregious overstretches of performative wokeism and then presented them as though they were the standard-bearer of the movement. They aren’t. It’s all a bit more complex than that, and, TBH, he knows it. In a sense it almost felt reassuring: if the conservative culture wars are battling against a woke enemy that doesn’t really exist in anything like the insane iteration that they think it does, then maybe we’ll all eventually realize that 99.5% of us don’t disagree on all that much. Basically all woke SJW types will admit that the West contributed more objectively positive things to society than *literally* all other cultures combined. But if Murray acknowledged that fact then his entire thesis falls apart, so he spends a book righteously battling a straw man built exclusively by Breitbart and Info Wars. It’s socially irresponsible to make provocative arguments based on misleading and incomplete inputs, and it’s especially ironic coming from someone that accuses the left of lacking interpretive generosity.
Pass.
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
informative
medium-paced
Some parts of this boom ommit the other side of the arguments he is making. Others are shocking to hear about
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
dark
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
informative
medium-paced
While Douglas may not be telling me much I don't know already (on a macro level at least), his erudite, witty and well-reasoned arguments carry the book and entertained me anyway. Listening on audio too was an added bonus as Douglas reads it himself.
The title may be provocative but the concept of the book focuses more on how quickly "Western" countries have given up on protecting their legacy, whether in politics, culture or academia. And while the process seems quick, Douglas also shows the roots of the modern ills in exhaustive detail. One little episode I was not aware of was the Tate restaurant debacle, which to me sums up the current moment. The way Douglas collates stories and anecdotes and lays them (and their actors) bare is masterful, as in his previous books.
Anyone on the fence about whether or not a culture war is truly underway or whether being 'woke' is not all it's cracked up to be should give this book a read. It is the most succinct and persuasive summary you will find to explain our time of confusion.
The title may be provocative but the concept of the book focuses more on how quickly "Western" countries have given up on protecting their legacy, whether in politics, culture or academia. And while the process seems quick, Douglas also shows the roots of the modern ills in exhaustive detail. One little episode I was not aware of was the Tate restaurant debacle, which to me sums up the current moment. The way Douglas collates stories and anecdotes and lays them (and their actors) bare is masterful, as in his previous books.
Anyone on the fence about whether or not a culture war is truly underway or whether being 'woke' is not all it's cracked up to be should give this book a read. It is the most succinct and persuasive summary you will find to explain our time of confusion.
