• Latest
  • Trending
  • All
  • News
  • Business
  • Lifestyle

Chinese Dissident: Wokeness Has Made America an Authoritarian State, ‘You Just Don’t Know It’

November 17, 2021
Democrats’ Latest Attempt To Communicate With Normal People Falling Flat On Its Face

Democrats’ Latest Attempt To Communicate With Normal People Falling Flat On Its Face

June 24, 2025
National Guard Joins DEA In California Desert To Bust Illicit Marijuana Grow

National Guard Joins DEA In California Desert To Bust Illicit Marijuana Grow

June 24, 2025
Trump Vilifies AOC, Calls Rep ‘Stupid’ For Impeachment Talk

Trump Vilifies AOC, Calls Rep ‘Stupid’ For Impeachment Talk

June 24, 2025
Massie Not Phased by Trump’s Push for His Removal From House

Massie Not Phased by Trump’s Push for His Removal From House

June 24, 2025
Dems Promote Rep Who Organized Luxury Trip To Support Reputed MS-13 Gangbanger

Dems Promote Rep Who Organized Luxury Trip To Support Reputed MS-13 Gangbanger

June 24, 2025
Unelected Official Plunges Dagger Into Heart Of Mike Lee’s Public Lands Bill 

Unelected Official Plunges Dagger Into Heart Of Mike Lee’s Public Lands Bill 

June 24, 2025
Speaker Johnson Calls out Dem Hypocrisy After US Strike on Iran: ‘It’s All Politics’

Speaker Johnson Calls out Dem Hypocrisy After US Strike on Iran: ‘It’s All Politics’

June 24, 2025
Trump Admin Green-Lights Migrant Detention Facility Guarded By Alligators

Trump Admin Green-Lights Migrant Detention Facility Guarded By Alligators

June 24, 2025
Trump Offers Rebuke as Iran and Israel Ceasefire Deal Appears to Crumble

Trump Offers Rebuke as Iran and Israel Ceasefire Deal Appears to Crumble

June 24, 2025
‘Who’s The Moral Actor Here?’: Scott Jennings Tears Into Cornel West For Suggesting Iran Strike Was ‘Immoral’

‘Who’s The Moral Actor Here?’: Scott Jennings Tears Into Cornel West For Suggesting Iran Strike Was ‘Immoral’

June 24, 2025
‘They Don’t Know What The F*ck They’re Doing’: Trump Unloads On Iran, Israel

‘They Don’t Know What The F*ck They’re Doing’: Trump Unloads On Iran, Israel

June 24, 2025
Biden-Appointed Judge Appears To Skirt SCOTUS Ruling In Deportations Case

Biden-Appointed Judge Appears To Skirt SCOTUS Ruling In Deportations Case

June 24, 2025
  • Donald Trump
  • State of the Union
  • Elon Musk
  • Tariffs
  • Congress
  • Faith
  • Immigration
Tuesday, June 24, 2025
  • Login
IJR
  • Politics
  • US News
  • Commentary
  • World News
  • Faith
  • Latest Polls
No Result
View All Result
IJR
No Result
View All Result
Home Commentary

Chinese Dissident: Wokeness Has Made America an Authoritarian State, ‘You Just Don’t Know It’

by Western Journal
November 17, 2021
in Commentary
235 17
0
491
SHARES
1.4k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Ai Weiwei is an artist and human rights activist whose dissident activities against the Chinese Communist Party led to his incarceration and eventual exile from his native country. He’s a figure who knows totalitarianism when he sees it.

When he appeared on Margaret Hoover’s “Firing Line” on PBS for an interview which aired Friday, it wasn’t a surprise that he saw it in the United States. The surprise: It wasn’t from former President Donald Trump, but from wokeness instead.

Host Margaret Hoover — a conservative commentator who was staunchly anti-Trump during the 2020 campaign — thought Ai would actually go for the former president, judging by the fact she read from a part of his autobiography which compared Trump with communist China’s most notoriously totalitarian leader.

“In your book, you were describing the directives of Mao Zedong during the Cultural Revolution that would be distributed publicly every night,” Hoover said.

“And then you write — this is your quote — ‘They served a function similar to Donald Trump’s late-night tweets while in office. They were the direct communication of a leader’s thoughts to his devoted followers, enhancing the sanctity of his authority.’

“So, do you see Donald Trump as an authoritarian?” she asked.

He didn’t seem to think so.

“If you are authoritarian, you have to have a system supporting you,” Ai said.

“You cannot just be an authoritarian by yourself. But certainly, in the United States, with today’s condition, you can easily have an authoritarian. In many ways, you’re already in the authoritarian state. You just don’t know it.”

Hoover asked why that was.

“Many things that happen today in the U.S. can be compared to the Cultural Revolution in China … like people trying to be unified in a certain political correctness. That is very dangerous.”

When asked what he thought had gone awry with political correctness, Ai said, “It’s very philosophical. With today’s technology, we know so much more than we really understand.

“The information [has] become jammed. But we don’t really — and really have the knowledge, because you don’t work. You don’t — you don’t have to act on anything. You just think you’re purified by certain ideas that you agree with it. That is posing dangers to society, to an extreme divided society.”

[firefly_embed]

[/firefly_embed]

Ai, again, is a man who knows authoritarianism. He was kept in what was known as “residential detention” for 81 days by the Chinese Communist Party in 2011, something that he documented through his art:

Ai Weiwei, the renowned Chinese contemporary artist, “reconstructed” his daily life in detention in series of scene models. He’s being closely watched by 2 Chinese officers in PLA uniform at all times when he was eating, sleeping, taking shower or using toilet.

Source:自由之聲FB pic.twitter.com/CpGvZkpJxr

— ☆:**:. ℭ?????? ?? ᶜᶜᴾ ?? .:**:.☆ (@CriticalCezanne) July 15, 2020

Chinese Artist Ai Weiwei Describes His 81 Days in Prison—And the Extreme Surveillance, Censorship, and “Soft Detention” He’s Endured Since https://t.co/6s9qI60Xfk pic.twitter.com/itddG7aiFW

— Artspace (@artspace) December 27, 2018

And he espies this in America? Perhaps not yet — but you can see where the similarities arise.

There’s the stilted jargon of “wokeness” — the “speaking as a [insert group identification here]” statements, the unpleasant souls who seek to educate you in when you should use “person of color” and when “BIPOC” is more apt, the too-frequent use of words like “cisgender” and “gaslighting.”

More importantly, there’s the punishment when you use the wrong language.

Just look at Dave Chappelle stating obvious biological facts or the preposterous Yale Law “trap house” fiasco. If you’re guilty of one of these solecisms, the transgressor is expected to publicly grovel at the feet of society for a chance at rehabilitation — you know, just like people who fall out of line in authoritarian states.

Sometimes, you don’t even need to do anything to have to apologize. All you need is “privilege.” If you’re adjudged to be in possession of any, you’re going to have to wear cultural sack-cloth, like someone from a bourgeois background who wanted to get anywhere in a Marxist regime.

One doesn’t need to be thrown into a Chinese jail for 81 days to recognize all of this as a form of soft authoritarianism. It doesn’t hurt, though.

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.

Tags: ChinaCommunismDonald Trumppoliticswokeness
Share196Tweet123
Western Journal

Western Journal

Advertisements

Top Stories June 10th
Top Stories June 7th
Top Stories June 6th
Top Stories June 3rd
Top Stories May 30th
Top Stories May 29th
Top Stories May 24th
Top Stories May 23rd
Top Stories May 21st
Top Stories May 17th

Join Over 6M Subscribers

We’re organizing an online community to elevate trusted voices on all sides so that you can be fully informed.





IJR

    Copyright © 2024 IJR

Trusted Voices On All Sides

  • About Us
  • GDPR Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Editorial Standards & Corrections Policy
  • Subscribe to IJR

Follow Us

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Politics
  • US News
  • Commentary
  • World News
  • Faith
  • Latest Polls

    Copyright © 2024 IJR

Top Stories June 10th Top Stories June 7th Top Stories June 6th Top Stories June 3rd Top Stories May 30th Top Stories May 29th Top Stories May 24th Top Stories May 23rd Top Stories May 21st Top Stories May 17th