Woke activists see themselves as representatives of progress. Although they do not believe in the historical materialism of Marxism, they continue to propagate a dialectical understanding of history in which the marginalised take on the role of the proletariat (see Conflict).
The direction of progress is usually proclaimed by experts. Anyone who does not stand on the woke side is against dialectical progress. If everyone with the right attitude spreads the right narratives, everything bad will disappear in the future (see Liberation). Woke progress also justifies repressive means, as progress allegedly only arises when there are (almost) no more delayers, deniers, or blockers. To prevent any mistrust of allegedly progressive ideas, people are to be educated into conformist supporters and dissidents punished (see Cancel Culture).
This follows a similar logic to that under Mao. Mao demanded that one should start from a desire for unity in one’s political striving. To resolve so-called contradictions within the people, everything that prevents unity must be combated and criticised. In practice, this means criticising everything that does not promote the right form of ideological determination. Through such criticism of the status quo of unity, one is to arrive at a higher form of unity (progress as a higher form of unity).170
As a rule, flexible terms are instrumentalised for progress: inclusion, integration, sustainability, diversity, democracy, solidarity, empathy, openness to the world, protection, well-being, attitude, justice, antifascism, recognition, diversity, transformation, resilience…
These terms sound nice but contain no success criteria. Because of their vague definitions, woke activists can never be wrong. Where there are concrete criteria, they are so disruptive that they inevitably lead to the destruction of the free market economy (see Quotas and Degrowth).
Woke activism has a religious appeal because it proclaims utopian promises of salvation for the future. Redemption is to be achieved once all people submit to the ideas of woke activists. A falsification of the promised paradise is impossible: if the promised progress does not materialise, it is not the woke worldview itself that is wrong. The path to paradise has simply not yet been implemented correctly. Failures are then blamed on ominous power structures or a lack of ideological conviction.
In reality, wokeness offers nothing progressive at all: it is merely false promises of a new-left form of socialism.