Letters

Rebalance is needed

At its core, "woke" once meant awareness--being alert to injustice and committed to fairness. It came from a good place: Don't be blind to discrimination, don't accept cruelty or corruption as normal. But like many well-intended movements, awareness has morphed into a judgmental authoritarianism. In business, education, and government, the focus has shifted from solving problems to signaling virtue. Corporations now push moral slogans over measurable performance. Universities have replaced open inquiry with ideological conformity. Public institutions now prioritize optics over outcomes.

Fear of saying the wrong thing has now eclipsed the courage to say the right thing. A movement that began in the name of empowerment has unfortunately created fragility, division, and