Too Woke for Your Boat?
Episode 8, Mar 07, 2023, 07:04 PM
Regardless of where you are in the world right now it’s hard to avoid the relentless invoking of ‘wokeness’ in the news. It’s at the heart of some of the biggest recent movements and controversies; a compliment to some, an insult to others.
‘Woke’ was officially added into the dictionary in 2017 as “a perceived awareness of issues that concern social justice and especially racial justice.” Hot buttons have also included: sexism, homophobia, transphobia, climate change, politics, class privilege, gender and identity politics.
Yachting has always been a bit awkward when it comes to any of these topics; crew from all over the world, from different generations and cultures work in such close quarters, and we often come from VERY different value systems. Some conflict has always been inevitable, but keeping the peace seems to be getting harder. Why is it now trickier than ever to get through a working day without hearing someone’s views on one contentious issue or another? And how do we work with one another when our places on the ‘wokeness’ scale can vary radically?
The world in general is struggling with civilised disagreement. Netflix’s ‘The Social Dilemma’ neatly summarised how social media’s algorithms are provoking and polarising views more than ever before. “Where will it all end?” one contributor was asked. “Civil war,” he answered simply. BLM, Trump, Brexit and Covid have provoked strong online and offline reactions…a debate is now a toxic and dangerous thing. Online discussions lack nuance, stances are hysterical and oppositional. You can be branded as for or against an entire community based on your view on one topic, while 'cancel culture' erases the careers of public figures if they express one unpopular opinion.
Even families are struggling to tolerate each other’s viewpoints. We had to ban Brexit from the dinner table in mine. People within their social media bubbles are becoming angrier and more aggressive to the ‘other side’ – insults are flying between ‘snowflakes’, ‘covidiots’, ‘TERFs’ and ‘gammons’. A typical yacht crew though can be made up of all these groups and we don’t get to retreat into our bubbles because we are all together, all the time - in the bubble of the yacht.
For the Full Written Article:
https://www.onboardonline.com/superyacht-news/features/too-woke-for-your-boat/
#Yachting #YachtCrew #Woke #Offend #Diversity #Racism #OnboardOnline
‘Woke’ was officially added into the dictionary in 2017 as “a perceived awareness of issues that concern social justice and especially racial justice.” Hot buttons have also included: sexism, homophobia, transphobia, climate change, politics, class privilege, gender and identity politics.
Yachting has always been a bit awkward when it comes to any of these topics; crew from all over the world, from different generations and cultures work in such close quarters, and we often come from VERY different value systems. Some conflict has always been inevitable, but keeping the peace seems to be getting harder. Why is it now trickier than ever to get through a working day without hearing someone’s views on one contentious issue or another? And how do we work with one another when our places on the ‘wokeness’ scale can vary radically?
The world in general is struggling with civilised disagreement. Netflix’s ‘The Social Dilemma’ neatly summarised how social media’s algorithms are provoking and polarising views more than ever before. “Where will it all end?” one contributor was asked. “Civil war,” he answered simply. BLM, Trump, Brexit and Covid have provoked strong online and offline reactions…a debate is now a toxic and dangerous thing. Online discussions lack nuance, stances are hysterical and oppositional. You can be branded as for or against an entire community based on your view on one topic, while 'cancel culture' erases the careers of public figures if they express one unpopular opinion.
Even families are struggling to tolerate each other’s viewpoints. We had to ban Brexit from the dinner table in mine. People within their social media bubbles are becoming angrier and more aggressive to the ‘other side’ – insults are flying between ‘snowflakes’, ‘covidiots’, ‘TERFs’ and ‘gammons’. A typical yacht crew though can be made up of all these groups and we don’t get to retreat into our bubbles because we are all together, all the time - in the bubble of the yacht.
For the Full Written Article:
https://www.onboardonline.com/superyacht-news/features/too-woke-for-your-boat/
#Yachting #YachtCrew #Woke #Offend #Diversity #Racism #OnboardOnline