Woke-ism's Recipe for Poor Mental Health

There aren't many opening lines of songs that have stuck with me more than the opening lines of Jerry Merrick's "The Stranger (He Was the Kind)," one of many terrific performances on Jerry Jeff Walker's very strong live album from 1977, A Man Must Carry On. The song starts: "He was the kind / to pay no mind / if he was bumped into." Every time I hear that I think, damn, I've spent my whole life trying to get to that place. Trying to develop some thicker skin, to let stuff roll off my back, to take no offense where none is intended, and, more, to have a laugh even if offense was intended. That's how you live a happy life.

So it is with a fair amount of consternation that I observe woke educators teaching kids to do the opposite of all those things: that is, to take everything personally, and worse, to impute bad motives whenever possible. Wow. This is the worldview of "microaggressions." Basically, to pay too much attention to shit you should just blow off. Yes, even when it resides somewhere in the vicinity of race or gender. You see, there are no exemptions to this pursuit of mental well being -- inner peace, if you will. 

So, in woke culture "calling people out" on what they see as racism or trans-phobia is considered a virtue. Others might call it asshole-ism. 

On the flip side, for the woke, everyone is supposed to become adept at "checking themselves," "checking their privilege," etc. While it is honorable to want to treat others as considerately as possible, there is also trouble lurking there. Since I very much value that goal, I've found out the hard way that taking too much responsibility for others' feelings and perceptions is not healthy at all. It's crippling. 

Thus, if we put microaggression theory together with the constant "checking" of oneself, we can see how the entire "diversity, inclusion, and equity" business amounts to a massive exercise in walking on eggshells. And we can see how it amounts to either gaslighting or delusion to insist that any objection at all to woke-ism must only be because of racism.