‘Woke 1’ has collapsed: shall we now turn to a critical examination of supermarket psychoanalysis?

What a flurry of right-wing posturing, just like in the old days, at what might well be the wake of ‘woke’. It was unexpected; we didn’t even have our outfits ready. As for this whole business of the renegades of ‘good-people’ extremism – that’s what it was, there’s really nothing more to say – everyone has jumped on the excommunication bandwagon; even the former leaders of the crusade were keen to explain that we hadn’t grasped the concept, and yet, of course, we did see a few nasty things, but the path was the right one. On the other side, they aren’t even bothering with the ‘I told you so’s’, because the damage is done by now, and here on this side we’re waiting on our guard for the next ‘woke’ figure. A fine writer, Assia Neumann Dayan, writes that we must be ready because the teams of performative socialism are on their way. Let’s light candles to the Lares so they keep their hands only on the keyboard; in the meantime, let’s place sandbags by the windows. My only small request is this: let’s remember the little chuckle. That’s it – that’s important, more eloquent than any editorial; let’s not forget it. I’m referring to the interview with Ocasio-Cortez, who exclaims "woke 1 was crazy" and laughs with all those big American teeth, rather boisterously. What’s there to laugh at? Not much. Why is it serious? Perhaps a comparison will help: it’s as if, in my line of work as a lawyer, due to an excessive and mistaken assessment on my part, I were to let someone end up in prison rather than correct my mistake. Afterwards, I feel the urge to recall the episode and laugh about it – not even alone in front of the mirror like a Dr Faust, but right there in public.

At best, I am a fool (it is fools who produce the Trumps). In the middle scenario, I am dangerously incompetent. At worst, I am a criminal with no conscience. It seems important to me to remember certain sniggers from people. Certain sniggers tell you everything. End of preamble.

With the collapse of ‘woke’ culture – given that we’ve already got the axe in our hands – I’d like to take this opportunity to call for the eradication of the psychoanalytic craze that’s spread far and wide, a social and editorial scourge. It all began with supermarket-style narcissism, then came widespread trauma, followed by ADHD diagnosed posthumously even in my grandfather. Now there isn’t a single dinner with friends where the topic doesn’t come up; I’ve had enough. Diagnoses are everywhere – even on the beach, that’s all people talk about these days (don’t they use tarot cards any more?). Is there anything left that isn’t therapy, pseudo-therapy or therapy-speak? When will we finally declare that we’re fed up with psychoanalysing even our knick-knacks? Isn’t that exactly what’s driving us mad?

This ‘reductio ad morbum’ has gone to our heads, and any honest doctor will tell you so. Enough of this whingeing about trauma. Can we please put up some posters stating that the ‘certain’ consequences of our traumas (which, at most, are ‘moderate’ traumas, because I don’t think we’ve actually gone to war) aren’t actually so certain? Dr Friedman, a psychiatrist frequently consulted by the New York Times, is clear on this point:

“Studies show that around 90 per cent of Americans have experienced traumatic events, but post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has developed in only 6.8 per cent of cases. So, whilst it is common to have experienced trauma, only a minority go on to develop PTSD.”

On the other hand, there’s a very good chance we’ve got absolutely nothing at all, just an obscene amount of affluence. I realise that, as the privileged and extremely fortunate few born in the ‘fat millennium’, we don’t want to get used to it, but that’s just the way it is.