Vice News Layoffs -- Get Woke, Go Broke

Vice News, that paragon of woke news blogging, has taken a little tumble off the cliff. But why? I think I know.

LGBT++++ Astroturfing 

The main reason I stopped posting on this blog is because I was going round in circles, blathering on about the same subject, namely the deleterious effects of trans activism on our crumbling society. It's everywhere. Every time I click on the + button on my browser, there's some narcissistic so-and-so whingeing and sniveling for attention. The last article title I saw that turned me off was, 'My eating disorder stopped me being the trans woman I am.' I really can't take this seriously. Especially after reading the article. 

Counter-intuitive activism

Yes, dysphoria is horrible. No, having an eating disorder does not confer a gender identity upon you and it's possible to suffer dysphoria without attaching an artificial social construct to it. Fionne Orlander, Debbie Hayton, and many others have managed it. The writer has stated that eating disorders are common among dysphoria sufferers. Actually, co-morbidities are part of the deal, yet in 2019 the WHO decided to remove transsexualism from its mental health issues list on the grounds that doing so stigmatised dysphoria sufferers, and that this put them off seeking help. Had it not considered that if that's true, it also stigmatises people with eating disorders? Would it not have been better to de-stigmatise mental health issues? 

The hunting of the snark

We have always had some mention of transsexualism in the press (usually sympathetic), but since 2019 the sheer barrage of articles presenting them as delicate, vulnerable, and under attack as a community has been relentless. The trouble with this is that any time someone like me points out that the things we're being told don't add up we get called bigots and end up being ostracised--or worse. Then more things happen that cause us to question what we're being told to the point where we realise we are not crazy or big mad nazis after all--and we're not the only ones asking questions. At this point we end up looking for other like ourselves and find that we are legion. In fact, we're the majority.

Look at this photo of trans M2F swimmer Meghan Cortez-Fields (hat tip to The Glinner Update). He is clearly and obviously male, much bigger and much stronger than his colleagues but is celebrated for cheating winning in women's swimming contests. And women defend this as a human rights issue. Are women not human too? Seriously, look up "trans swimmer" and see how even the search results are rigged to present this blatant unfairness as a triumph for trans rights. Do they really think we haven't noticed? We not only noticed, we're telling each other that we noticed and we're acting on it.

Bad management 

Sirin Kale is not the only person blaming bad management for Vice's demise. However, if you read between the lines you come to realise that it's not just Facebook changing publisher algorithms and a lack of strategy that was the problem. No, the content needs to take some of the flack. And management did sod all about it. While I appreciate that people--especially--those in minority groups--need to have a voice, I can't see any value in aggressively demonising people who question the absurdities of gender identity ideology. While Vice is not the only outlet to do so, the outright bashing of anyone who deviates from woke diktats is very much a feature of its brand. As Redditor Kouropalates said about liberal TV personality Bill Maher,

He's basically a liberal mentally in stasis since the 2000s. He may have once been liberal, but the times have superceded him so now he's a conservative by proxy of unwillingness to grow.

Grow in what, though? Understanding is certainly not part of the deal. We must obey without question, or else. That's not growth, it's obedience. 

Wokeness blowback

If wokeness is a nail in Vice's coffin, it's the intrinsic totalitarianism that hammered it in. Once the woke get a bee in their bonnet they can't and won't let it go. And woe betide anyone who dares to question the Preciousss. They have no one but themselves to blame for the fact that sooner or later they end up losing support. Are they really blaming Facebook algorithms for a drop in traffic? Stop it! Just stop. Regular readers would keep on reading so it's not that. Interesting articles would show up in casual searches for news topics so it's not that. No, it's the preachy, bombastic articles that vilify those who stray from woke orthodoxy that put readers off. 

Assume I'm right. Other woke outlets--or those infected with wokeness--will most likely also die with a whimper about bad management, etc., their readership reduced to the most loyal subscribers.

Conclusion 

Ultimately, I'm sorry to see Vice go, but I'm not surprised. At a time when the cost of living crisis has reduced people's ability to pay for non-essential items, the last thing we want to spend our hard-earned wages on is a pile of preachy nonsense with lies and exaggeration on the side. Workers at those outlets that tend to uncritically present content from a woke perspective would be well advised to remember that if you get woke, you go broke.  And to learn what "personal growth" really means.