“Wokism”, used at the start to designate the anti-racist struggle of African Americans, was subsequently registered as the discourse of militant spheres to denounce all forms of injustice (sexual, ethnic or religious) suffered by minorities. For the philosopher Michel Onfray, guest of the Grand Rendez-vous on Europe 1, the “woke” thought tends towards a “destruction of culture”, generated by a “tyranny” of these same minorities.
Minorities who become the majority
“Sociologically, minorities are not the majority, by definition (…) Tocqueville was wrong when he said that the problem of democracy would be the tyranny of majorities”, describes the philosopher. “In all the advertisements today, we sell electricity, we sell you a hybrid car, we sell coffee and you still have the ideology of the insufferable little girl who gives lessons to her parents because they can’t find the coffee pods or whatever. Or two girls kissing on the mouth or a mixed couple. That’s fine, okay, but it’s not just that in France. ”
A “Nazi ceremony”
The philosopher then calls for the preservation and “respect” of works. “Advertising, cinema, theater, literature. But we are starting to blow up passages in books. We saw the other day on television, Madame Bovary who became Emma Bovary because she is a friend. They say she is a victim of the patriarchal system, of state machismo. But then we make another film. If we adapt Madame Bovary, we are respectful of what Flaubert says. “
Another example taken up by the philosopher, the fireworks, this action of destroying books by fire, already practiced on Lucky Luke comics in Canada because of the representation of the Amerindians that was made there. “We burn them, we have ashes, and we use these ashes to make fertilizer for a tree that will say the beauty of the world? Do you realize? It’s a Nazi ceremony, this way of burning books and estimate that we will purify with the ash of the trees. “
“The elites (of France) are very woke”
If the “wokism” was imported from the United States, in France, for the philosopher, the representation of this ideology is done by the elites. “I think the elites are very woke. Let the World, Libé, L’Obs, France Inter, etc., a handful of people who live most of the time with public money – otherwise these newspapers completely collapse. they are not being helped – they are in the minority, but in the majority. ” But part of France would resist the “woke” thought, this “majority” there would then need a “little courage”.
“I have friends who say, ‘Well, nobody listens to us, I can say that. I think like you too.’ These are people on the left who actually defend Wokism, etc. I tell them: a little courage, dare it, say that things are starting to do well. ” The elites have “already sunk” according to Michel Onfray. “I am not sure that France resists as much as that”, concludes the philosopher before adding: “A good part of deep France smiles at all this, but does not smile too strongly because it has not. necessarily want to be called fascist or Nazi. “