War on Woke: Conservative Cultural Campaigning

[Artaxerxes]

I work for a built environment org and I'd say the industry is quietly confident - the fact was, even before this, actual occupancy of most buildings during the day is 60% tops, so I think some are seeing it as 'well, occupants still want the swing space'. It'll definitely change somewhat - I don't think it'll be either a feast or a famine for commercial property quite, but we'll see.

The pandemic has/will accelerate existing trends, as an IT worker there have been a couple of jobs that went entirely remote in the last decade while others had people coming in about 80-90% of the time and wfh the rest. The pandemic just means those trends will apply to more jobs but theres always going to be some demand for bums on seats. Essentially your looking at middle managers who'd never contemplate the move having to accept it which just updates everyone a decade in advance.

You could easily come out of this situation with a regenerated local high street, working from home as the new normal, and probably a few other really good ideas, it could be done but that would require a government with imagination.

 

[Cloo]

Quite a lot of people in the industry looking at new approaches - my sister in law is working for some guys doing what they call 'work near home' in terms of creating co-working in regional large towns/ smaller cities, so interested to see how that plays out.

 

[killer b]

I have seen a few co-working places springing up in the last 12 months, but they seem to be still aimed at freelance creatives more than meat and potato office stuff.

 

[Cloo]

A lot will come down to whether employers will budget for staff using these spaces. I think online schemes already exist that allow a business to pay for passes that will get their staff a set amount of time over a year/month etc at a variety of co working spots. I think this only really works out if businesses cut their rented footprint.

 

[Rob Ray]

A standout candidate for conservative anti-woke whiner of the week (the cringiest of cringe lyrics here).

"I'm a high-risk hillbilly" said Mr Kid Rock, 50, whose parents ran a successful car dealership franchise and who grew up on a six-acre suburban estate.
"Ain't nothin' changed here" the self-proclaimed blue-collar singer said, arguing he's "Detroit til I die." His Detroit suburbs mansion is currently on sale for $2.1m.
Insisting he was "like Springsteen" Mr Rock, net worth $150m, spent four minutes rapping about how he felt personally oppressed by "minions and their agendas" but was also really manly and still "slings more dick".

 

[MickiQ]

A standout candidate for conservative anti-woke whiner of the week (the cringiest of cringe lyrics here).

"I'm a high-risk hillbilly" said Mr Kid Rock, 50, whose parents ran a successful car dealership franchise and who grew up on a six-acre suburban estate.
"Ain't nothin' changed here" the self-proclaimed blue-collar singer said, arguing he's "Detroit til I die." His Detroit suburbs mansion is currently on sale for $2.1m.
Insisting he was "like Springsteen" Mr Rock, net worth $150m, spent four minutes rapping about how he felt personally oppressed by "minions and their agendas" but was also really manly and still "slings more dick".

I have to admit that was rather catchy though I felt the guitarist had a better voice than his boss, not sure how he can feel oppressed by yellow cartoon characters though.

 

[Artaxerxes]

 

[alex_]

Sounds like cancel culture to me

 

[existentialist]

Sounds like cancel culture to me

That's OK. It's only wrong when someone else does it.

 

[8ball]

That's OK. It's only wrong when someone else does it.

Oh, urban has moved on from the line that cancel culture doesn’t exist?

Will update my notes…

 

[NoXion]

Oh, urban has moved on from the line that cancel culture doesn’t exist?

Will update my notes…

I wasn't aware we had a line on anything. Sounds a bit like this "monothought clique" I keep hearing about which also doesn't exist.

 

[two sheds]

I wasn't aware we had a line on anything. Sounds a bit like this "monothought clique" I keep hearing about which also doesn't exist.

yeh that's what you all say

 

[8ball]

I wasn't aware we had a line on anything. Sounds a bit like this "monothought clique" I keep hearing about which also doesn't exist.

Ah, that still doesn’t exist. Cheers.
<updates notes…>

 

[campanula]

My daughter uses a co-working space because it is warm, near to her house, friendly to having the dog about and has really good coffee facilities. And she likes the chit-chat. She was going a bit stir-crazy wfh. Her work even pays for the rent (which is around £30 pw, I think). I thought this was a thing because she had a choice of several spaces.

 

[Raheem]

"Woke" here is superfluous. It just means "has criticised Boris Johnson".

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

"Woke" here is superfluous. It just means "has criticised Boris Johnson".

'woke' enough to realise he's wrong/lying.

 

[two sheds]

This would be all over the front pages of the Mail and others with accusations of Stalinist repression if it were Labour doing it.

 

[Raheem]

It's actually pretty scandalous. Scientist knocks on the DHSC with news of miracle a cure for Covid. Says the doorman: "That's all very well, but I'm afraid they Googled you, sir."

 

[8ball]

"Woke" here is superfluous. It just means "has criticised Boris Johnson".

Indeed. Have seen Tory circles criticising Johnson for being “too woke”.

Though I think that was partly responsible for the “war on woke” idea in the first place.

 

[existentialist]

Oh, urban has moved on from the line that cancel culture doesn’t exist?

Will update my notes…

I should point out that I speak only on my own account, and am not speaking on behalf of the shadowy collective behind Urban75 .

 

[Artaxerxes]

"Woke" here is superfluous. It just means "has criticised Boris Johnson".

Woke has always meant "someone is stopping me doing something discriminatory" so yes.

 

[8ball]

I should point out that I speak only on my own account, and am not speaking on behalf of the shadowy collective behind Urban75 .

Thanks. Footnote added.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

Woke has always meant "someone is stopping me doing something discriminatory" so yes.

I don't think it has. When it was first banded around it was people declaring 'themselves' woke, to mean that they had come to a (or several) realisations. I now only hear it thrown onto other people as either an insult for a socialist pov or any person who you feel curtails your 'freedoms'.

 

[Orang Utan]

The weather has been very woke recently.
Is it Doctor Who’s fault?

 

[two sheds]

There are a few occasions where the 'woke' accusation is justified - when there's an accusation of racism, sexism or homophobia by someone who's just misunderstood or gone down some rabbit hole themselves. That's about 1% of the accusations though and the right use them for general smearing purposes.

Eta: I've seen accusations of cultural appropriation of Japanese culture when the "appropriator" turned out to be Japanese, for example.

 

[Kevbad the Bad]

The weather has been very woke recently.
Is it Doctor Who’s fault?

Ever since the Time Lord became a Time Lady.

 

[ska invita]

I heard Iain Sinclair talking about his new book Gold Machine and he brought up the role of Kew Gardens in plantation colonialism - something i wasnt aware of before.
A little overview of sorts here To what extent is the colonial history of botany realised at Kew Gardens today?

The dark history of Kew Gardens with its 'deep roots in colonialism and racism'

Kew's director has spoken about its 'shameful' past

www.mylondon.news

Anyhow Kew have been making small steps to fess up to this history and also make gardening that bit less posh-white- radio-4-racist

Kew Gardens director hits back at claims it is 'growing woke'

Richard Deverell says there is ‘no acceptable neutral position’ on history of colonialism and racism

www.theguardian.com

...cue Tory outrage etc

 

[8ball]

Eta: I've seen accusations of cultural appropriation of Japanese culture when the "appropriator" turned out to be Japanese, for example.

The acceptable Japanese face of white privilege.

 

[nogojones]

I heard Iain Sinclair talking about his new book Gold Machine and he brought up the role of Kew Gardens in plantation colonialism - something i wasnt aware of before.
A little overview of sorts here To what extent is the colonial history of botany realised at Kew Gardens today?

The dark history of Kew Gardens with its 'deep roots in colonialism and racism'

Kew's director has spoken about its 'shameful' past

www.mylondon.news

Anyhow Kew have been making small steps to fess up to this history and also make gardening that bit less posh-white- radio-4-racist

Kew Gardens director hits back at claims it is 'growing woke'

Richard Deverell says there is ‘no acceptable neutral position’ on history of colonialism and racism

www.theguardian.com

...cue Tory outrage etc

If you want a longer read around some aspects, this is pretty good...

Plants and Empire

Plants seldom figure in the grand narratives of war, peace, or even everyday life yet they are often at the center of high intrigue. In t...

www.goodreads.com

 

[isvicthere?]

I wasn't aware we had a line on anything. Sounds a bit like this "monothought clique" I keep hearing about which also doesn't exist.

Ah, the urban "monothought clique"! It's a long time since l heard THAT phrase. Nostalgic shades of Steelgate, urban parties before they were called "Offline" and "l went to the Living Room last night" threads.