In my Spectator column today I pose the question, ‘Have we reached peak woke?’
In Hollywood, that seems to be the emerging consensus. Thanks to the box office success of Top Gun: Maverick and the disappointing performance of Pixar’s Lightyear, in which Buzz Lightyear’s commanding officer is a black lesbian, the studios think audiences may be tiring of being lectured to. The same is true of the streaming platforms, with the biggest hits of the year being shows that take the mickey out of corporate virtue-signalling (The Boys) or just celebrate old-fashioned American heroism (The Terminal List). In this context, the reaction of Netflix when some of its employees staged a walkout over Dave Chappelle’s un-PC jokes in his recent comedy special was a straw in the wind: the company told them that if they weren’t prepared to tolerate a broad range of tastes and viewpoints, maybe Netflix wasn’t the right place for them.
In the tech sector, too, a pushback against social activism seems to be under way. A sign of things to come was the 2020 memo by Brian Armstrong, CEO of cryptocurrency firm Coinbase, saying he didn’t want his company to promote political causes, such as Black Lives Matter, because it was a distraction from its “core mission” and created “internal division”. “We have people with many different backgrounds and viewpoints at Coinbase, and even if we all agree that something is a problem, we may not agree on how to actually go solve it,” he wrote. Given that the memo was sent a few months after the death of George Floyd, it caused a predictable uproar and Armstrong offered an exit package to those employees who felt they could no longer work at Coinbase. Sixty took up the offer – five per cent of the workforce – and the initial conclusion was that Armstrong’s intervention had been a mistake. But he had no difficulty filling those positions and his keep-politics-out-of-the-workplace memo now looks like an act of bold leadership.
According to a Silicon Valley entrepreneur I had breakfast with a couple of weeks ago, leading venture capital firms are abandoning their insistence that tech companies have to demonstrate what they’re doing to advance the cause of anti-racism before they’ll invest. Having progressive polices on EDI (Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) and ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) is a luxury that start-ups can no longer afford. With a global recession looming, these canny investors have jettisoned identity politics and are focusing on the bottom line. “All this woke crap will be gone within 12 months,” says the entrepreneur.
But the news is less good elsewhere.
Among the liberal metropolitan elite – particularly those who are paid by the state, whether directly or indirectly – there are few signs of a counter-revolution. On the contrary, in schools, universities, museums, galleries, arts organisations, Whitehall, quangos, the BBC, the NHS, public sector law firms, large charities etc, the long march through the institutions is complete. There are occasional successful skirmishes, such as the recent fightback within the National Trust, but the chances of a Coinbase-style revolution across the sector, with left-wing activism being ditched in favour of a return to the “core mission” (i.e., serving the public) are slim.
If we really want to take down this new priestly caste, the only solution is to reduce the size of the state radically and force them to earn a living in the real world.
Worth reading in full.
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They could run into trouble with local authorities re planning permission if it goes on too long. It’s a grey area, but browse though things like this: https://www.britishdwelling.co.uk/posts/do-i-need-planning-permission-for-creating-a-home-business-in-a-residential-area It may be that if they only work online, with no physical visitors, that they will get away with it. Then again, property insurance could be affected as well, perhaps even their energy supply deal.
Entitled petulant tw*ts. The union is in the wrong here. Two days a week working from home is pretty good, especially if you can choose which days.
Instruct them once, then dismiss any who refuse. Then sack any who go on strike. Our state is bloated and should be trimmed. They’re far too comfortable and have little idea what working in the private sector is like. They’d be out on their ears if they made similar ‘demands’.
I go into the office every day and my tax pays their wages. I am in effect one of their employers and if they are not going to work for the benefit of this country and me then they must find another job.
“Dear boss, I won’t be coming into work today as I have a bad back”
The return of the trade unions, next gripe will be “All out brothers, the toilet paper isn’t soft enough “
And once the unions have secured this increase in holiday rights they will be demanding tax free allowances for “work from home costs” such as bed depreciation – spending too much time therein – extra heating, lighting and brewing up, nanny services because they cannot manage children and work etc.
In short this will become a bloody free for all as the country collapses around this parasite class.
Any sensible person couldn’t really argue with anything you’ve just stated!
Thanks Dinger
“The difference between a welfare state and a totalitarian one is……a matter of time” Ayn Rand. ———-Are we turning into Rome? Is western civilisation collapsing in a sea of welfare and entitlement? —–Yep—–We are drowning in Wokery, Political Correctness, Equality, Diversity, Race, Gender and Climate Tyranny. ——–But the sad thing is as we saw the other day in Switzerland with those silly ladies seeking “protection” from the climate that people are clamouring for this tyranny.
Three days in the office is a good deal.
Nevertheless, the government does not help its case by having done little to improve national infrastructure.
Getting to work in large cities is difficult, time consuming and expensive.
Furthermore, open plan offices are, frankly, unpleasant and distracting places in which to work.
The DEI madness means that employees are treading on eggshells at every meeting; speaking out, discussion, constructive criticism are difficult.
And working within conurbations is unhealthy; commute times make exercising difficult during the working week.
I do not believe that employers or Human Remains departments prioritise the best interests of the workforce.
Consequently, I have some sympathy with the PCS position.
Productivity could be improved dramatically if the civil service was a great deal smaller and better motivated through improved working conditions.
Your third sentence reads like a reason why they relocated many Departments outside London over the years. Another fly on the wall could be if the Health & Safety evangelists come round to inspect the houses of those working at home; no shortage of paperwork for them, you’d have thought.
20% in London, the rest in Bristol, Swansea, Newcastle, Leeds and so on.
“3 days in the office is a good deal” —–No it isn’t. ——Employment is a good deal.
**Off-topic incoming** ( If the professional whingers can handle it. )
Today this terrible tragedy occurred in Australia. What makes it even more horrendous is that the psycho even stabbed a little baby. They haven’t released his identity and I’m not going to jump to any conclusions because going by his picture you can’t say confidently he’s Muslim, but in a way it doesn’t matter because it’s the same outcome. People have tragically died at the hands of some warped sicko, who fortunately was exterminated by a policewoman;
”The knifeman who killed five women and one man during a rampage in Sydney today was ‘known to police’.
Six people were killed and three more stabbed during the horrific attack in that left multiple people critically injured including a mother and her baby on the start of the Australian school holidays.
Four women and one man died at the scene and another woman died in hospital. Other victims critically injured in the attack at Bondi Junction Westfield mall at around 3.30pm local time included a mother and her nine-month-old baby.
The attacker was in the mall at 3pm but left and returned at 3.20pm with a knife. He attacked the mother and child at 3.30pm before police arrived at 3.45pm and the mall was placed under lockdown at 4pm.
The baby is undergoing surgery in hospital. The motive was not immediately clear and police have not ruled out terrorism.
He was shot and killed by a hero female police officer, who apprehended the knifeman alone after being on patrol nearby.
The Sydney knifeman was a 40-year-old and his attack is not thought to be terror-related, New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb said.”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13303971/Knifeman-goes-rampage-Sydney-Four-feared-dead-shopping-centre-stabbing-spree-attacker-shot-killed-police.html
Iran has now launched drones and cruise missiles at Israel. Reports say they’re being launched from Yemen also, so who knows what news we’ll wake up to tomorrow? But don’t they just shoot these things down? How big of a threat is this? I really have no clue..
”For the first time in the State of Israel’s history, Iran has begun a direct attack on Israel, launching dozens of UAVs towards the Jewish state, US reports said.
A UAV launched from Iran would reach Israel in approximately nine minutes, while a cruise missile would take two hours to reach Israel, and a ballistic missile would take nine minutes.
At around 11:20p.m., a second round of UAVs was launched from Iranian territory towards Israel. Later reports said cruise missiles were also launched towards Israel.
A security source has reported that UAVs are being launched at Israel not only from Iran, but from other countries as well.
Security sources estimate that the UAVs will arrive in Israel between 2:00a.m. and 4:00a.m. on Sunday morning.”
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/388424
Why do you think you need to tell us this news, Mogwai? Do you think we are all cut off from all sources of news apart somehow from the Daily Sceptic?
Perhaps you can answer me this: whenever our huxley posts anything off-topic nobody seems to have an issue but whenever I do people seem to have a problem with it and take exception. As predicted, here you are, having a whinge. Why is that?
Also, as predicted, the news about Iran is in the Round-up this morning. So will you be making the same complaint to the DS team, that you are capable of getting the same news elsewhere?
I would never dream of challenging a fellow poster on what they choose to post, it’s downright rude, but it would seem that I’m foolish for holding other people to my standards. Haters gonna hate, just like whingers gonna whinge. Can’t win.
I am with you Mogs. My view about Off-T posts is that if I come across articles that I consider may be of interest to the DS readership then I post them and I tend to post on the current thread otherwise I know they will be missed. I have on some days the time to trawl the other sites I subscribe to and if my researches turn up interesting info I post it here.
Surely the least we should do is support each other and DS in particular.
Agreed, Huxtable. I was just intrigued as to why you seem to get a free pass but the ‘miserable git collective’ appear to single me out for doing the exact same thing, and I seldom do my off-territory dumps any more. I taught you well. ;-o LOL
I think, seasoned posters that we are by now, it’s rather self-evident on this site that there are plenty of little ‘Blue Meanies’ who get off on either moaning for the sake of moaning or following us around, like an unmerry band of obsessive haters, just to write goady, spiteful and generally unnecessary remarks, purely because they’ve taken a personal dislike to us and are triggered whenever they see our names. I laugh at somebody with such messed up psychology! Where to begin…
Whenever I see any of my haters’ names I just scroll past ( and I guess I have yet another addition now, lol ) because why would I waste my time? It’s telling that they’re incapable of doing the same. Last time I looked nobody is obliged to read anyone else’s posts, let alone react in a rude or disrespectful manner. Go figure!
“I taught you well. ;-o LOL.”
Indeed.
And I agree – if people don’t want to read Off-T posts then they should ignore them. Personally I follow up the majority of Off-T posts because we all largely have similar outlooks – don’t we – and so information found by other DS members is probably of interest.
Mogwai, it’s not true to say that “whenever our huxley posts anything off-topic nobody seems to have an issue”, here is what ‘Bellacovidonia’ said directly underneath huxley’s off-topic post 8 days ago:
“Incidentally, I think it’s rude of people to post about unrelated issues buts it’s all too common on here. You know who you are. If you really feel the need to post about the pandemic there are plenty of open threads to use.“
9 upvotes, 2 downvotes – perhaps you and huxley.
https://dailysceptic.org/2024/04/05/some-animals-are-more-equal-than-others-review-of-animal-farm-at-hull-new-truck-theatre/
Yet more divide and conquer.
The problem is not where the person is.
The problem is if the person is doing anything useful.
In the case of many state functions, the person could be here, there, or anywhere – it wouldn’t matter – they are paid by other people spending other people’s money to do something on the basis of what other people tell them are other people’s problems.
The real problem is that the state is too big and there are too many laws and too many people – civil servants or otherwise – are employed to do nothing of any value, whether they are in their homes, offices, or anywhere in between.
Come on, folks. Let’s not lose sight of the main problem: which is that there is too much state.
What a novel concept. —–Being at your place of work to undertake your duties. Who would ever have thought of that?
I don’t care where people work as long as they are as, or more, productive than working in the office.
Home workers must be able to have their work monitored remotely and if they are failing to meet their targets, or are unavailable when they should be, sack them, and have their replacement office based.
Yes but this article is about workers trying to dictate where they will do their work. That is not their call.
I wonder if the Unions are aware of the recent study in America that showed that those who work from home are more likely to get passed over for promotion (as they are not visible to their bosses) and that overall they got lower pay rises.
If they went on strike, would anyone notice? Surely their employment contract has the place of work in it? If so, not going into work would be breach of contract.