“wake up do your own research”
As an order directed at the metaphorically asleep, Wake Up is completely toothless and self-contradictory. The “sleeping” don’t know they’re asleep, and can’t receive that order with the understanding required to fulfill the request. It doesn’t make any sense to tell someone to metaphorically politically wake up if you believe they are metaphorically politically sleeping.
A Dude With Dreadlocks Just Told Me To Wake Up, But I’m Pretty Sure I Already Woke Up at 6:45 AM to Head To My Job
Wake up, man. Open your EYES. Open your eyes is the same metaphor. Your eyes are closed. You are asleep to reality. You are in dreamland. It’s kind of like an ironic leftist flip of the conservative ‘you live in a fantasy, I live in reality’ bullshit.
Your Political, like, metaphorical eyes, are closed man, if you decide to open them right now, you’ll believe the things I think! Like hold on man. If we all take a step back for a second, clear our mind of fog, look at the situation objectively, and stop getting so carried away with ideology, we’ll all start to agree with my interpretation of events.
“Wake up!” is just a veiled way of saying “believe what I already believe!” – it can have wildly different meanings in different contexts. Wake up! – Communism is the answer. Wake up! Communism is never the answer. Either of these things can be gleaned from the image of an anonymous mask with the words “Wake Up” that you just shared.
Shame on activists and thinkers who expect people to do their own research. When you say “Do Your Own Research” what you are really saying is “Go onto the internet- which is completely awash with disinformation, paid mockingbirds, and unsourced alternative histories- Read around, you know, generally. Do some general reading out there, and then come back having made all the same conclusions I have.” This is unrealistic and irresponsible.
We have to lead new recruits, you know, new ‘awake’ people- by the hand and make sure they don’t get too mixed up in the political axioms of right wing think tanks, the exploiters and liars, and the real motherfuckers to loathe and fear.
Telling someone to do their own research is telling a child to go into the wild jungle to catch their own dinner.
sv
