James Lindsay: "No, The Woke Won't Debate You"

(They stuck one of those irritating trailers that are everywhere now to the end of it: "Here's why." Why do they do that? Is it not clear from the first part of the article that he's going to explain? Is the article just the word 'because'? I don't know why this has started to annoy me so much.)

More importantly: this is really, really good.

There's probably no such thing as being exactly right about such things, because you're trying to bring order to such hopeless chaos. But he's in the bullseye. 

Absolutely worth a read, IMO. 

Actually, I was just talking to myself...er...I mean...a friend...about some of these points recently. It's absolutely crucial to realize that woketarians reject the very idea of rational discussion, and see it all as a sophistical, rhetorical contest for power. I think Lindsay's wrong to say that they are committed to the idea that they can't win a debate with ordinary people. They just don't think it's anything more than a power struggle--one front in the overall clash of the powerless (them) against the powerful (us). Thus they don't think of themselves as bound by the kinds of rules we consider ourselves to be bound by. That's one reason they rely so heavily on racism ad hominems: they know they're rhetorically effective. We tend not to use them (when they're false) because we think we're engaged in a process of inquiry and rational discussion. Thus only rational persuasion is permissible. They don't believe that Not only do they think that any persuasion is permissible, they don't even think they need to be limited to persuasion. If violence works better, they should use violence. If you didn't realize they believed that before two months ago, you should realize now that they do. At any rate: they do. 

   Of course lots of people on the progressive left don't understand all of the implications of the view they've accepted. Some genuinely don't understand it, and some don't let themselves understand it. Besides, consistency is the hobgoblin of little--liberal--minds. It's exactly the kind of straight white male Western Enlightenment superstition that they're trying to abolish...

   Anyway. I say you really ought to read the Lindsay piece.