Three Woke Lies

The extreme DEI agenda

Diversity. Equity. Inclusion. By now nearly every student, employee and even isolated retiree in North America has been exposed to the DEI agenda. The idealistic principles behind DEI celebrate every person for the unique contribution that they might make to society. While the theory was originally inclusive of different races and ethnicities, it has been significantly expanded to address social issues related to intimate sexual behaviors, those suffering from gender dysphoria, and on occasion specific religious groups and nationalities. The expansion of DEI into a more extreme agenda is considered to be the "woke” movement for the purpose of this article

Image by Markéta Machová from Pixabay

While DEI may have been formed within the impractical hallways of academia, it has since been adopted by governments as statutes and policy goals. Even large corporations have jumped on the bandwagon to proclaim some groups deserve acknowledgement beyond their actual contribution to either the bottom line or to society at large.

FIRST LIE

The first lie of the extreme DEI “Woke” agenda is that everyone can make an equally valuable contribution to the community. The very nature of diversity, which acknowledges that each group or person is different, indicates that their contributions will be different. Only things and people that are identical have the same value whether measured in terms of practical production or value of an intrinsic nature.

Even within the strictest totalitarian societies, individuals continue to have preferences. Based upon personal likes and dislikes, everyone assigns greater or lesser value to items (and people) when given an option between two or more choices. Options and differences are the bedrock of diversity.

Can diverse individuals learn to provide a valuable service to society through training whether a classroom education or by learning a trade? Yes. However, because of natural variations in development and sometimes at a genetic level, not everyone within any particular group within the DEI agenda has the ability to do everything and anything.

SECOND LIE

The second lie of the woke DEI agenda and of Western Civilization (specifically the culture with the United States of America) is that anyone can become whatever they want to be. How often have children, teens, and even adults in the USA been told, “You can become whatever you want, just work hard and make it happen.”

The advice to work harder to achieve an unachievable or unlikely goal is both harmful to the individual and destructive to society at large. Not everyone has the same mental capacity for engineering, medicine, law, or any number of professions that require brains with the ability to learn and retain advanced specific information. Not everyone is born with the genetics to become an exceptional athlete, to be the world’s best singer, nor even to become a world renown artist. Nor does everyone have the capacity to understand the practical application of many trades with ease and enthusiasm.

THIRD LIE

Society has a responsibility to promote and support selfish, impractical, and even harmful goals that individuals may pursue. Why shouldn’t a nerd be a jock? Why can’t a mechanic be a doctor? Shouldn’t someone who is tone deaf be able to become a successful singer? What if a boy wants to become a girl or a girl wants to become a boy?

When the DEI agenda expands from acknowledging that there is a mix of talents and potential within every racial, ethnic and national group of people, to asserting that everyone can make an equally valuable contribution, it becomes destructive.

When the aim shifts from acknowledging that everyone has a unique talent and role in the world to promoting the lie that anyone can become whatever they choose, society no longer affirms unique talents and diverse expressions but encourages self-hatred, feelings of inadequacy especially when confronting failure, and the personal pursuit of destructive goals.

Intellectuals rarely have natural athletic abilities. A trades person usually finds the skills and intuitive insights needed for excelling at their role are not often easily transferred to another profession. Until there is a cure for tone deafness, this person will be lucky to achieve basic skills as a singer. Genetically, gender cannot be swapped.

THE WAY FORWARD

The original goals of diversity, equity and inclusion were healthy. Indeed, those who are qualified or who can learn specific skills required for most any role should not be denied an opportunity solely based upon the color of their skin or their cultural heritage. However, when the goal became to claim that everyone can be a star athlete, a global artist, the leader of the free world, or even a different gender, the DEI agenda became woke and destructive.

Even if everyone was not born with unique features and talents (in other words if diversity did not naturally exist), there is still only one position at the top of any profession or desired achievement. There is only one champion, just one slot at #1, one MVP, one supreme leader, etc.  The Guinness Book of World Records does not pay individuals to set new records, yet each year humans find a niche accomplishment to achieve, and the list of records continues to grow.

To move forward affirming individuality rather than forcing one standard for all, the DEI agenda must give up these three lies. First, not everyone can make an equally valuable contribution to society and that is okay. Those who make no contribution at all should be counseled on doing better. Second, no you can’t become whatever you want to become. Perhaps you can achieve a very high level of understanding, practiced skills, and athleticism but there is only a single top slot at any given time in the world. The emphasis on achieving that slot, to “win at any cost” has become destructive. Third, governments and corporations do not have a responsibility to promote and support goals that are neither genetically possible nor supportive of the greater good. Centralized governments and global corporations should be deferring the recently adopted goals of the woke DEI agenda to local communities. People have a right to associate with those who affirm their diversity.

Diversity means differences exist. Let’s acknowledge those differences, celebrate them when it helps society to function better, and even affirm opportunities by cultivating personal awareness that someone of a different race, ethnicity or nationality may be more alike in abilities than not. Let’s not create a situation where desired goals are not only unlikely to be achieved but also likely to be harmful to the individual either physically or mentally.

“Woke” has come to represent the extreme and worse initiatives of the DEI agenda. It’s time to return to a sustainable and desirable approach to affirming positive personal differences.