War On Woke Is Highly Overrated
If you want to see a state descend into darkness, look no further than Florida.
The Sunshine State is becoming a little dimmer with each new law signed and utterance spoken by our very own Fearless Leader. To succeed, every dictator needs to have a docile legislature to pass any bill that the dictator wants. DeSantis certainly has a fan club masquerading as legislators.
His war on “woke” follows the authoritarian playbook to a T. And what is the purpose of this plan? It is to have himself elected as the Republican nominee for president and ultimately the White House.
For Floridians, what does his slogan, “woke goes to die” mean. So far, the jury is still out because the descent into our own “1984” hasn’t been measured yet. Time will tell the ultimate impact of his “reign.”
It is true that Florida was ranked #1 for population growth last year which was the first time since 1957 that this occurred according to the Census Bureau. Two factors were at play in achieving that distinction…the ability to work remotely and affordability. Housing affordability in Florida is rapidly becoming a thing of the past.
Affordability may no longer play such a factor since home prices have soared in the state. As to people who can work remotely…that is a finite demographic. The NAR (which backed DeSantis’ reelection bid) said growth is returning to metro areas with the biggest job rebounds in Miami first followed by Scranton, Minneapolis, and Colorado Springs.
DeSantis has abandoned the Reagan philosophy of small government to one of blatant wielding of government power to coerce people and institutions to do his bidding. Instead of small government, the DeSantis-Trump model is to follow the actions of the leaders in places like Hungary, Turkey, Russia, and China. DeSantis has punished those who disagree with his actions beginning with Disney, school boards, State Attorney removal, and the freedom of the press.
Once the facts regarding COVID were known, the governor’s response was the correct one. However, that doesn’t mean he should dictate to private business whether they should have masks, vaccines, or anything else. A private business is just that…private.
If customers or employees feel any business has it all wrong, they will not patronize or work there. Interfering in the policies of businesses is not freedom but tyranny. Just because a majority in the state may believe in the governor’s policy, it doesn’t mean the minority’s concerns should be shunned aside.
DeSantis’ Orwellian view of freedom is seeing its biggest impact in our schools. From his nixing of the African American studies AP course to “Stop Woke Act,” and even a good idea gone bad with parental rights, he is not helping in our already poor standing nationally in education. WalletHub evaluated the 50 states in family friendliness. Florida was 32nd overall. It came in 50th for affordability and 30th for affordable childcare.
Ron DeSantis running for president has made Florida a worse place. In his trying to beat Donald Trump by promulgating a more dystopian view on social issues, our state is becoming a joke nationally and internationally. The recent flap over calling Michelangelo’s “David” obscene is what will make fewer people want to raise their families here.
There may be signs that he has overplayed his hand with the war on “wokeness.” One USA Today poll has 56% of Americans stating that they consider “woke” a positive term. Only 39% agree that it has a negative connotation. As he descends more and more into his dystopian authoritarianism, the majority of Americans are not going with him.
Many now see him as a symbol of oppression and not freedom. Further, if Trump continues to run for the Republican nomination, why would any MAGA follower abandon Trump for DeSantis? He has a very narrow lane to hoe. Former President Trump would have a very hard time being elected president. DeSantis even a harder one. As I have written before, the electorate is center right not center crazy.
