The Cost of Becoming "Woke"

Merriam-Webster defines woke as being "aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues [especially issues of racial and social justice]."The Urban Dictionary defines woke as "the act of being very pretentious, attempting to impress by affecting greater importance or merit than is actually possessed, about how much you care about a social issue."Contemporary wisdom would suggest that woke is best defined as extreme progressivism.W. Durant--author, historian, philosopher, Pulitzer Prize winner in 1968, and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977--concluded that "a great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within."The Biden administration's progressive agenda has weakened America in every aspect.Woke progressive policies have cost America with open borders, the highest inflation rate in forty years, empty store shelves, unmanageable energy costs, education curricula viewed through the prism of racism, international humiliation, high crime and lawlessness, cancel culture, sanctuary cities, and an exploding national debt.Extremely progressive woke policies are by their nature, divisive, and ultimately do more harm than good to our nation.While most woke initiatives seem noble, few are successful; while most woke ideologies seem altruistic, few are pragmatic. We should aspire to more diversity of thought and less diversity of color. Americans must choose between reason and emotion in future elections. We must choose between being woke or being awake.Once civilization begins to decay, it can accelerate rapidly down a steep decline into passivity, indolence, ignorance, and violence. America is now teetering on the brink of that kind of decaying culture. That is why this debate over work vs. welfare, knowledge vs. ignorance, and independence vs. dependence is so vital.Newt Gingrich - Beyond Biden 2021