Everybody knows that democracy with a small "d" means rule by the people. But the "people" generally don't express themselves as individuals but as members of communities. Many members are inarticulate because they are children or disabled or prevented from self-expression because of poverty, discrimination or linguistic lameness. Wokeness is designed to give voice to the voiceless. Those members who are fortunate to be over-represented in community discourse are encouraged to cede some of their voice to those who are not so fortunate.
Communities support wokeness efforts in order to thrive socially, culturally, politically and economically. Social and economic innovations occur disproportionately in places like Boston, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles because of adherence by the more fortunate members to wokeness rules that cede some of their voice to those who are not so fortunate.
The more fortunate members do this partly out of self-interest, because they realize that all members including themselves will benefit by improving the odds that all major voices in the community will be heard. Brainstorming is more effective when all members of the brainstorming group are encouraged to contribute and overly dominant speakers are encouraged to refrainSource: . Conversely, hierarchical suppression of minority voices contributes to suboptimal decision-makingSource:.
We have today conservative state governors whose hostility to democracy takes many forms, all of which are designed to suppress minority voices. These forms of hostility include as their targets: gays, immigrants, atheists, consumers, unions, students, Blacks, Jews, Asians, environmentalists, socialists, teachers, news reporters and public health professionals, to name just a few of their recent targets. Their anti-wokeness is designed to suppress the voices of these targets, even if these targets are essential workers or could save the lives of state citizens or will be needed to invent high-profit new technology. Their anti-wokeness is premised on the belief that national wellbeing will be optimized by keeping conservative white Christians in charge, a belief belied by recent history and likely to leave their states poorer and angrier if implemented aggressively.
