American Consequences - July 2020

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THINGS I SAY TO DRIVE MY ‘WOKE’ KIDS NUTS

My three children, ranging in age from teens to early 20s, are (of course) “woke.” That is, they are strongly opposed to oppression, persecution, discrimination, prejudice, inequality, unfairness, and all bad things. Not that I’d prefer to have kids who favored bad things. That would be creepy. But... Being woke also means being constantly, perpetually aware of all bad things. And “aware,” in this dad’s experience, is synonymous with “won’t shut up about.” Every night at the dinner table, for instance...

Meanwhile, it’s not like I’ve spent my day going to indoor Trump rallies without a mask, posting boogaloo boys memes on the Dark Net, and guarding statues of Stonewall Jackson with my duck gun. When the kids start making their woke arguments at the dinner table, I ask them, “Who are you arguing with ?” “ We’re not arguing! ” they argue. Then they contend, contentiously, “ It’s important to be aware! ” And when I fail to dispute that, the kids resort to the ultimate rebuttal of all parental attempts at understanding and shout, “ You just don’t understand! ”

American Consequences

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