Urtica Ferox

  The Bland, Banal Boredom of Woke Culture Most people criticise woke culture for shutting down free speech, for cancelling, for hypocrisy: we are allowed to be as horrible as we like to you, but don't you dare even think about discussing our beliefs, our identity . But the truly terrible effect of woke culture is the staggering boredom it creates by blandifying everything. " I' m bored; you’re bored; we’re all bored. By our books and movies and television shows, the endless blandness of the Netflix queue, by our music and theater and art. Culture now is strenuously cautious, nervously polite, earnestly worthy, ploddingly obvious, and above all, dismally predictable." In this fascinating article William Deresiewicz   explores the origins of wokeness in the arts, and what we have lost in the process.

  Are You a Garbled Environmentalist? God the Father. Attributed to  Giovanni Battista Cima da Conegliano , c. 1515,   The Courtauld Institute of Art. Meet Jason. Jason is a thoroughly modern, well-educated young man. He dabbled with agnosticism at school but is now a confirmed atheist and will only (reluctantly) enter a church for weddings and funerals. He cares about the environment, especially biodiversity, and sometimes lies awake at night worrying about the ever-expanding Red List of Threatened Species. He is involved with a local volunteer group that tackles invasive species, and he strives to save indigenous species, planting only endemic trees in his well-kept town garden. Living in New Zealand he is proud of his clean, green country, and, like any decent person, he welcomes new immigrants. Jason is so convinced of the moral rectitude of his position that he believes he could hold his own in any argument. Is he correct? An important part of Jason’s atheism is his belief in Darw