‘Hey Camp what’s woke? How has wokeness taken over the political and social discourse?’

‘The way I understand it is that minorities demand recognition and impose rules and behavior norms while disrespecting the majority. It used to be majorities making the rules while respecting the minorities. Wokeness has imposed and forced verbal and grammatical changes to words and concepts on us as well as redefined gender and pronouns while insisting on equal treatment. In fact, some minorities who feel disadvantaged and discriminated against now demand privileges and recognition beyond and above what ordinary people can expect.’

‘Isn’t woke awareness supposed to be socially and racially sensitive?’ 

‘I guess as wokeness pervades our western societies we can expect more limits and restrictions on word choices as in extremes like birthing person instead of mother. I guess it started with gender neutral descriptions like fishers instead of fishermen.’

‘What about post-masters and post-mistresses or stewardesses which are now flight attendants or waitresses and waiters which are all servers now,’ I said.

‘I don’t have problems with neutral terms like that but where I have problems to adjust is with gender neutrality. It used to be male and female but these days it’s a whole alphabet soup of acronyms in-between. When sexual orientation becomes front and center of one’s personality identification then I have a problem. I don’t care who and how they love but I always thought it to be a private matter.’

‘We now live in a political climate where scientists and experts are overruled by politicians and judges, where small minorities are scapegoated for fundamental changes in our laws and rules, as in trans gender healthcare and where extreme positions rule the conversation. Whoever speaks the loudest must be right.’ 

‘We already have institutions that eschew science and facts as in all religions.’ 

‘Well, we’re just old fashioned and reluctant to change our ways and views,’ Camp said. ‘I have to deal with all manner of woke social concerns in my store like gender pronouns. Whoa if I use the wrong one or don’t take it seriously. They doesn’t just mean the plural of one but it defines something between he and she or him and her. Not a hermaphrodite or a cross dresser, not a drag queen or a lady boy but a definite they. Gender neutral as in: no gender. Hence the gender-neutral or multi gender bathrooms which I can accept. Just as long as men lower the seats.’

‘Since the recent US election, I’ve talked to many people trying to figure out why people voted for Trump despite all his personal, political and social extremism. First there is the fact that the majority feels poorer thanks to inflation and stagnant wages and they blame the current administration for their woes. That never changes. Next, I hear two issues which carry more weight than women’s rights or the environment and they are wokeness and the fact that they are tired of it and immigration which many see as an invasion of their personal territory and space, no matter their background or the fact that they’re recent immigrants or fifth generation locals. Not in my backyard is the sentiment. Racial and social issues were down the list of concerns.’

‘Some argue that conservatives are depicting wokeness, or being educated on social injustice, as a bad thing, as in DeSantis’s Florida ‘Stop Woke Act’ which restricts the topics of race, oppression, gender and sex in the classroom.’

‘Prohibition and denial have never been a good policy on any issue nor has book burning or denial of basic rights but a majority of Americas have just voted for those policies and laws. Mind you half of the Americans did not vote for Trump. Go figure.’

‘The same issues drive Canadians at the polls:  affordable housing shortage, inflation, immigration and wokeness.’

‘Let’s ask Vicki if she subscribes to wokeness?’

‘Let everybody love and define themselves as they want as long as they don’t hurt anybody,’ she said.

‘That’s not wokeness, that’s just universal tolerance and acceptance,’ Camp said.

‘Exactly,’ Vicki said, giving me a conspiratorial wink.