Did George Orwell predict the Woke?

No, but he predicted the psychological type. Here’s Orwell on a large subset of Socialists in the early 20th century:

“Sometimes, when I listen to these people talking, and still more when I read their books, I get the impression that, to them, the whole Socialist movement is no more than a kind of exciting heresy-hunt — a leaping to and fro of frenzied witch-doctors to the beat of tom-toms and the tune of ‘Fee fi, fo, fum, I smell the blood of a right-wing deviationist!’”
The Road to Wigan Pier

Now let’s change just two words in Orwell’s sentence:

“Sometimes, when I listen to these people talking, and still more when I read their books, I get the impression that, to them, the whole Wokist movement is no more than a kind of exciting heresy-hunt — a leaping to and fro of frenzied witch-doctors to the beat of tom-toms and the tune of ‘Fee fi, fo, fum, I smell the blood of a racist/sexist deviationist!’

Related: Orwell in the Philosophers, Explained series, January 2023.

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