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For at least two generations now, our woke overlords have had cultural hegemony. They dominate Big Education, Big Journalism, Big Entertainment, Big Tech, Big Business, and Big Government—that is, they dominate our country’s most influential thought-shaping institutions. Our woke overlords are thus largely responsible for how we Americans think and behave.
But the impressive rise of woke America hasn’t exactly corresponded with an equally impressive rise in the fortunes of America. In fact, it’s just the opposite. The rise of woke America has actually corresponded with the fall of the American empire. We see this internationally, of course, as more and more countries become better than us at providing healthcare, higher education, housing, safety, and opportunity. But more importantly, we see this domestically. The typical American today is hardly an example of what heights the human species can soar to. I gaze at him or her and I don’t see anything approaching excellence. I see an overweight financial boob who would have a very hard time fending for himself or herself without government handouts, prescription drugs, and cheap Chinese-made goods.
How is this possible? Aren’t our woke overlords the wisest and most virtuous people to ever walk on this planet? Wouldn’t America be the land of the thin, flush, and independent rather than the land of the fat, broke, and dependent if our woke overlords were as brilliant and caring as they congratulate themselves for being?
The sad truth of the matter is that our woke overlords are the worst elites in history. Never have so few destroyed so much and thought so highly of themselves. The only good thing to come out of the rise of woke America is that the bar for outstanding is now so low, anyone with a modest amount of drive and discipline can become a freaking rock star.
Okay, with that depressing observation from the previous sentence now on the table, here are five ways to be outstanding in woke America.
Be Thin
According to our woke overlords, one can be healthy at any size. And, sadly, a solid majority of Americans have decided to test this theory by embracing their inner fatty.
If you want to be outstanding in America today, all you need do is have a BMI under 25.
Be Strong
Check out the following three videos.
Man, have we fallen! I’m a soon-to-be 62-year-old man and can easily do more pull-ups than 99 percent of America’s 20-year-olds.
If you want to be outstanding in America today, meet any one of the following very modest benchmarks for strength:
- Do five consecutive full range-of-motion pull-ups without any kipping.
- Benchpress your weight.
- Deadlift one and a half times your weight.
Be Competent at Your Job
How many businesses or government agencies do you come across in your daily travels that are really excellent at what they do? How many employees do you come across in your daily travels who are truly trying their best, who haven’t quiet-quit and aren’t just doing the bare minimum? Oh, sure, there are still plenty of people who take their jobs or professions seriously. But these hearty souls no longer seem to be the norm. America is rapidly becoming a sea of incompetency with little islands of competency.
If you want to be outstanding in America today, be competent at your job. Show up to work on time, play nice with co-workers and customers, and make a concerted effort to do your job well.
Be Competent with Your Finances
Your typical American today is a financial mess. Even with all the healthcare subsidies, housing subsidies, food subsidies, energy subsidies, education subsidies, and childcare subsidies, he or she is still living paycheck-to-paycheck, one layoff or life-oopsie away from financial oblivion.
If you want to be outstanding in America today, simply figure out how to spend less than you make. If you want to be a freak of nature in America today, have no consumer debt, and be able to save ten percent of your gross income.
Be Considerate of Others
Is it me, or are Americans ruder than ever? And this seemingly rampant rudeness isn’t just confined to big cities. It’s everywhere. The last two times I visited a restaurant in Franklinton, NC (population 2,456), I had to endure children running around the place like it was a playground. And their parents couldn’t have cared less. Screw the other diners! And oh my god, the warm season is now upon us. This means my senses will not just be subjected to loud, thumping music whenever I visit the Louisburg Walmart. (Louisburg has a population of 3,064, by the way.) My senses will also be subjected to the exposed underwear of sartorially-challenged young males and the exposed midriff of garishly clad obese females of all ages. Oh, joy!
If you want to be outstanding in America today, conduct yourself as if other people matter. Don’t visit violence against others. Don’t foist your music upon others. Don’t twerk in front of other people’s children. Obey the traffic laws. Shower regularly. Wear modest, appropriately-fitting clothing. And by all means, keep a civil tongue.
Final Thoughts
Okay, groovy freedomist, that’s all I got. What say you? Am I right in claiming that it’s never been easier to be outstanding in America? And if I am, how many of my benchmarks for “outstanding-ness” do you meet? Let me know when you get a chance. Peace.
Mr Groovy, unfortunately you are 100% correct. The bar has been lowered so far a gnat could perform a limbo dance underneath. It’s sad, and frankly, it’s an epidemic. The demise of the traditional family is at it’s core the major part of the problem. Lack of parental guidance, as well as the government rewarding bad behavior are the ingredients for an America on the decline! I pray it changes course one day.
Well said, Jim. And I’m praying with you. Our collapse is imminent unless we change course dramatically.
Dr Standord, featured in the YT video, was appointed to the 2025 dietary guidelines committee. Its final report dictates how Americans are told to eat. In addition to her belief that obesity is dependent on only genetics, she has also served as an advisor to numerous pharmaceutical companies, according to the NY Times. Nothing to see here! Right.
You will be fat and you will like it!
Dr. Stanford’s theory is a lot more involved than the 60 minutes clip showed. Of course genetics plays a part… there are people who can eat whatever they want and they stay thin and there are those predisposed to be heavier. You can have a gene that goes haywire in regulating appetite control which of course is a big problem when trying to reduce calorie intake… which is a whole other issue. But without going into an explanation of the quantity of fat cells you create when you are obese (which makes it hard to keep weight off after dieting), the set point she talks about is truly hard to change. So the ideal situation is to not allow children to get obese in the first place so they don’t create the excess number of fat cells above the normal amount.
Very interesting, IM. The fat-cell set point makes sense. But there’s something about obesity that I can’t wrap my head around. Americans prior to 1970 had fat-cell set points too. And obesity prior to 1970 wasn’t a huge problem. What changed? I have a hard time believing it was genetics. I think our food has changed, and, I’m sad to say, I think the intentions of our government have changed. I don’t think our government wants the best for us. I think our government wants us to be fat, broke, and dependent. Admittedly, I’m talking out of my ass here, but very few government actions over the past couple of decades have inspired confidence. In other words, my conspiracy mindset is entirely warranted. Thanks for the push-back, IM. It made me think. Peace.
What changed was fast food and processed food. Introduction of so called diet food ( lo fat but filled with sugar). Lack of exercise as number of desk jobs increased, introduction of home computers and video games so kids didn’t play outside.
But I certainly grew up in the 60s knowing people who were overweight who struggled to lose pounds.
I was chubby as a kid, and it’s a constant effort to maintain a healthy weight.
Excellent points, IM. I couldn’t agree more. And your excellent points only make my indictment of our woke overlords more valid. Our woke overlords know our food is crap and they do nothing with their cultural hegemony to help us turn against fast food and processed food. Why? In the 60s, 70s, and 80s, our woke overlords used their then partial cultural hegemony to make smoking and anti-black racism very uncool. Why aren’t they using full-blown cultural hegemony today to make fast food and processed food very uncool? I think it’s because they’re venal. But it might merely be they’re not as brilliant as they tell us. Either way, though, our cultural overlords suck the big one. Thanks for another great comment, my friend. Peace.
We will be fat, we will take meds, we will make pharmaceutical companies rich, and we will let the government take care of us, AND we will like it!
No one forces us to eat bad food or take medication but it’s the fast and easy way to solve what ails you.
Sadly many small towns have little access to fresh fruits and vegetables. And pasta, rice and potatoes are cheap and filling. My great grandmother was a peasant and was overweight even in America because she was used to eating the way she ate as a peasant in Europe. And that was though she had no access to processed food.
Many states tried to add a tax on sugary drinks but companies like Coca Cola fought it. Very few cities were able to enact this regulation. But even taxing food and nicotine, man is his own worst enemy and will spend whatever to get what he craves.
So true, IM. Freedom means the freedom to make bad decisions, and, sadly, we Americans are voracious when it comes to exercising this type of freedom. Very tough problem. I just wish our woke overlords would attempt to stigmatize the consumption of sugary drinks and refined carbs the way it stigmatized smoking and anti-black racism. Thanks for another great comment, IM. Peace.
The overlords, as you refer to whoever is in charge, do attempt to affect change regarding sugar. Taxing sugary drinks is an example, as was done with cigarettes but failed in so many places where people want their sugar. Very liberal Berkeley, California is one of the few cities where it was successful. In my city, there’s an attempt to eliminate chocolate milk in school cafeterias. It’s tough to get people to agree because it’s the people who refuse to let the government dictate what is good for them. Same with guns…people want them but I’d be happy if these overlords could eliminate sales of assault weapons. Children being killed by guns (the leading cause of death in children) is a worse epidemic than sugar for our children and yet nothing is being done about it.
Hey, IM. As usual, you gave me a lot to chew on. And, truth be told, I really don’t have an answer to the excellent points you made. It’s impossible to solve any of our most pressing problems given our current circumstances. We’re a nation of losers being led by losers. Take the issue of children being killed with guns. In NYC last year, 158 children were shot. 93 percent of these children were either black or Hispanic. 3 percent were either Asian or white. So in my mind, when I look at these numbers, I think the best way to reduce the number of children being killed with guns is to…
Reduce the prevalence of single moms in black and brown communities.
Make rap music that glorifies guns, gangs, drugs, and bling anathema.
Sentence people who commit gun crimes to much longer prison terms.
And bring back “stop and frisk.”
Now, assuming for the moment that these measures would actually reduce the number of children being shot, how likely are any of them to be adopted? Zero. Our loser citizens and our loser politicians want nothing to do with these measures. And they want nothing to do with them because these measures contradict the comfortable lies they’ve been surrounding themselves with for years: Single moms are heroes. Rap music is “talking truth to power.” Black and brown people are overrepresented in prison because of racism. And cops are the biggest criminals out there.
I wish I could be more hopeful, IM. But we just don’t have enough winners, in and out of government, to turn things around. So our epidemic of obesity and civilian brutality (i.e., “gun violence”) will continue unabated. Sigh.
Thanks again for stopping by, IM. Love your moxie. Cheers.
when I working I had an unpleasant job working for a terribly inept “mahogany row.” I commonly remarked that “Any fool can run Fat City.” One of my friends who was on the fast track for management replied that mahogany row wasn’t filled with fools. Their skill set was optimized for something other than performance according to my metric (competence, profitability, efficiency, effectiveness) but the metrics of higher levels of management.
The US is Fat City in that compared with the rest of the world, we have better demographics, geography, logistics, and our military is second to none when it wants to break things and kill people anywhere in the world at the drop of a hat. See Peter Zeihan’s videos on how over-powered the US is compared with anywhere else. We can win when led by monkeys. As demonstrated for the last two generations.
When the US falls, it will fall very hard and very fast. I don’t think it will be in my lifetime, but…
As usual, you make my points much better in a pithy comment. Bravo, my friend. Also, I just watched a YouTube video of Zeihan discussing Mexico. Here’s the link. Fascinating stuff.
Peter Zeihan on Mexico
If you want to be outstanding in America today, be capable of reading, writing, and doing math at the level of a high school graduate in 1923.
Excellent point, JDF. If you know what “copious” and “soh-cah-toa” mean, you’re a cognitive one-percenter.
I haven’t heard soh-cah-toa since high school but here I am thirty years later and still know what it means. I might even be able to work through a problem or two.
Haha! I love it. I totally forgot about it. The only reason I’m familiar with it now, some 40 years after high school, is because I’ve been doing 15 minutes of math every day via Khan Academy. I know it’s weird, but doing a little math every day helps me deal with our insane world. The rationality of math is a great anti-anxiety drug. Thanks for stopping by, David. Your comment made my day. Cheers.