Just heard of you from Katie Herzog - really love this blog and your tone. While I was never fully enmeshed in social justice culture, I became very aware of my own impulses to become a left-wing thoughtpolice following George Floyd’s murder and slowly started to pull myself back and critically assess my unquestioning devotion to ideas that lacked coherence. My forays were short-lived, but I was left with an incredible curiosity of the ideologies and groupthink behaviors of social justice culture, so I’ve lurked on the pages of people like Clementine Morrigan and Molly Frances, and recently have been enjoying Jesse Singal and Katie Herzog for their humor around all of this. Unpleasantly, I lurked on the other side for a time, listening to the rhetoric of some of the so-called vanguard against wokeness (namely Blaire White and Amala Ekpunobi) and found some of their excesses to be as toxic and demoralizing as their opposition, particularly in the snarky delivery and propensity to “react” to the most ridiculous and sensationalistic examples. I feel that their intellect is being wasted on outrage-mongering and cheap content creation - being anti-woke crusaders, as you mention here. There’s so much more to life than being got in the culture wars, and so many better places to put our energies than in this endless fight that no one will ever win. Anyway, thank you for your writing. I look forward to reading more.
Really great blog, expresses many things I’ve been thinking for quite some time. I also greatly enjoyed the conversation you had on the F**king Cancelled website. For a while now, I’ve considered myself ‘outsider left’ because I’ve been fed up with how joyless and puritanical so many left wing spaces have become. Also I like to think issues through for myself and not get bullied/emotionally blackmailed into drawing the ‘correct conclusion.’ For a while, I too worried that I was ‘going right’ but after listening to Conservative arguments and seeing so many right-wing pundits act dishonestly in the so-called culture wars, I realised that this fear was groundless. My values are unchanged. Additionally, conservativism has wrecked the UK, especially post-Brexit. So I personally think that I’d be very foolish to hook my wagon to that particular horse!
You've really got a very clear-thinking head on your shoulders, having come out the other side, and to have that kind of clarity for a vision of your own happiness, health, self-worth and effectiveness in the world is impressive. In your newfound optimism, I wholeheartedly agree about your admonition of the role of "Anti-woke crusader"—that road is equally false, and it has consumed some good minds who have been corrupted by what began as a legitimate rebellion against the accepted narrative of the "Religious Left", as I have now taken to thinking about them.
And I'm glad that you now get to write your book. Everything I read so far (I linked from a mention by Andrew Sullivan) is very well written and I wish you success with it. All the best.
OK, all the other articles on Toxic Social Justice Culture and what to do (and avoid) after can go home now. This is the best & only one from now on ;-) No but really. It truly covers everything. I now have whiplash from nodding along so hard.
I love the fact that you are now choosing to live authentically. Trying to live up to the expectations of others while hiding your true self seems like a recipe for disconnection at the deepest level. What a lonely life that would be. Congratulations on the breakthroughs you have made and may you make many more!!
Aug 27, 2022·edited Aug 27, 2022Liked by Kier Adrian Gray
Fantastic. I agree with everything you've said, but this really struck home:
"I’ve decided it’s better to do something imperfectly than not at all, which is why this newsletter exists!"
Human beings are not wizards, and we control very little. However, we can *try* to do the right thing. If we mess up, we can try again, and again, and hopefully do a little bit better each time. Expecting to get everything right the first time not only unrealistic, it's oppressive and unhelpful. Better to try to get it right and fail than to simply shrug and go shopping.
Just heard of you from Katie Herzog - really love this blog and your tone. While I was never fully enmeshed in social justice culture, I became very aware of my own impulses to become a left-wing thoughtpolice following George Floyd’s murder and slowly started to pull myself back and critically assess my unquestioning devotion to ideas that lacked coherence. My forays were short-lived, but I was left with an incredible curiosity of the ideologies and groupthink behaviors of social justice culture, so I’ve lurked on the pages of people like Clementine Morrigan and Molly Frances, and recently have been enjoying Jesse Singal and Katie Herzog for their humor around all of this. Unpleasantly, I lurked on the other side for a time, listening to the rhetoric of some of the so-called vanguard against wokeness (namely Blaire White and Amala Ekpunobi) and found some of their excesses to be as toxic and demoralizing as their opposition, particularly in the snarky delivery and propensity to “react” to the most ridiculous and sensationalistic examples. I feel that their intellect is being wasted on outrage-mongering and cheap content creation - being anti-woke crusaders, as you mention here. There’s so much more to life than being got in the culture wars, and so many better places to put our energies than in this endless fight that no one will ever win. Anyway, thank you for your writing. I look forward to reading more.
Hi Kier —
Really great blog, expresses many things I’ve been thinking for quite some time. I also greatly enjoyed the conversation you had on the F**king Cancelled website. For a while now, I’ve considered myself ‘outsider left’ because I’ve been fed up with how joyless and puritanical so many left wing spaces have become. Also I like to think issues through for myself and not get bullied/emotionally blackmailed into drawing the ‘correct conclusion.’ For a while, I too worried that I was ‘going right’ but after listening to Conservative arguments and seeing so many right-wing pundits act dishonestly in the so-called culture wars, I realised that this fear was groundless. My values are unchanged. Additionally, conservativism has wrecked the UK, especially post-Brexit. So I personally think that I’d be very foolish to hook my wagon to that particular horse!
You've really got a very clear-thinking head on your shoulders, having come out the other side, and to have that kind of clarity for a vision of your own happiness, health, self-worth and effectiveness in the world is impressive. In your newfound optimism, I wholeheartedly agree about your admonition of the role of "Anti-woke crusader"—that road is equally false, and it has consumed some good minds who have been corrupted by what began as a legitimate rebellion against the accepted narrative of the "Religious Left", as I have now taken to thinking about them.
And I'm glad that you now get to write your book. Everything I read so far (I linked from a mention by Andrew Sullivan) is very well written and I wish you success with it. All the best.
This series is brilliant writing!
As the classic film said: "Peace be da journey".
Great series! Have you checked out Pinker? Excellent historical context.
I loved the series and thank you 🧡
OK, all the other articles on Toxic Social Justice Culture and what to do (and avoid) after can go home now. This is the best & only one from now on ;-) No but really. It truly covers everything. I now have whiplash from nodding along so hard.
I love the fact that you are now choosing to live authentically. Trying to live up to the expectations of others while hiding your true self seems like a recipe for disconnection at the deepest level. What a lonely life that would be. Congratulations on the breakthroughs you have made and may you make many more!!
Fantastic. I agree with everything you've said, but this really struck home:
"I’ve decided it’s better to do something imperfectly than not at all, which is why this newsletter exists!"
Human beings are not wizards, and we control very little. However, we can *try* to do the right thing. If we mess up, we can try again, and again, and hopefully do a little bit better each time. Expecting to get everything right the first time not only unrealistic, it's oppressive and unhelpful. Better to try to get it right and fail than to simply shrug and go shopping.