First and foremost, Wokism is inextricably linked to Leftism and Leftism to Marxism. Marxism, being amoral at best, and immoral at worst, requires the veneer of virtuousness to continue on and grow after its calamitous defeats in the 20^th Century. In order to survive, it required a moral component, something to give its adherents’ lives moral direction and meaning as they sought to supplant the previous moral and religious foundations of Western culture based upon the Judeo-Christian ethic. Enter Wokism. Wokeness is the need to demonstrate one’s virtue, or “wokeness” by advocating for certain causes that the Left, under the ethical framework of Cultural Marxism, has deemed worthy. Wokism has evolved into a pseudo-religion filling the cultural and spiritual void created by the abandonment of classical religious beliefs such as Judaism and Christianity in favor of the secular dogma of Cultural Marxism. Its central tenet is that there is a power struggle between any two groups, the “dialectic”, and that the stronger group will always victimize and subjugate the weaker groups. Virtue or good is found by identifying either as a victim of some stronger group or for members of a predominant group, to denounce and act against the interests of that group. The denouncement of the “oppressor” group must be public, in order to receive the sacrament of approval by one’s fellow woke. For the adherents of Wokism, the highest honor that can be had and to be sought is to have a person or entity such as a company or organization morally discredited or “canceled” that they deem has acted in an unwoke manner, either in the present or even the distant past. The objective in the case of a person is to get that person fired or removed from a position of power. Failing that, the objective is to get that person to issue a public apology accepting their “unwoke” behavior. In the case of a company or organization, the objective is for that company to apologize for the offending and perform a public act of contrition such as a donation to some leftist cause.

In woke or cancel culture, unlike with most classical religions, there is no grace, and in the case of an individual, there is no penance to be had. The values of wokism are, arbitrary and capricious, therefore forgiveness for sins against wokism is likewise an arbitrary and capricious thing, to be given or withheld by the collective will of the woke. Accusation, judgment, and sentencing against those targeted for cancellation are performed simultaneously and immediately, there is no appeal or penance that an individual can perform to avert sentencing. Capitulation or apology, therefore, has no mitigating effect on the cancel culture mob’s behavior against the accused. Cancellation is at once, both accusation, and final judgment.

The true end goal of wokism, as a Marxist phenomenon is to achieve power for its faithful. That they believe (or a least espouse the belief) that following the actions prescribed by Marx and Engels in the Communist Manifesto, will result in the complete destruction of what is referred to as Western Civilization, and from its ashes will arise the Phoenix of a collectivist Utopian society. This of course is a fantasy they tell themselves and others they wish to indoctrinate. In reality, the goal of the leftist-woke is to create a society where they are on top, the true goal not being to eliminate oppression, but to simply upturn it so that the oppressed (as they see themselves) exchange roles with the oppressors, resulting in an Orwellian, fascist society by, for, and of the intellectual elites. Their current pet causes, their idea of “racial justice”, LGBT rights, feminism are therefore most likely transitory, providing moral cover for their true goals of cultural, economic, and political domination most likely to be abandoned once these goals are achieved. Leftists believe the ends justify the means, so these causes would appear to be a means to an end and will survive as woke values only so long as they are useful to achieving those means. Throughout history, whenever authoritarian socialist or fascist regimes are established, and the means of retaining power are secure, the wellbeing of the ordinary person becomes secondary to the welling and perpetuation of the state.