I know various people who have pretty non-woke views (on some issues at least). When I try to warn them that soft totalitarianism is coming, they just think I'm being mad and alarmist. They say 'but it's just a few mad students, they have no power'. Tempting - but wrong

It is true that most voters, much of the old media, & a decent chunk (probably a minority) of politicians are opposed to this insanity. The problem is that, tho a minority in the population, the people they're up against are zealous, determined & dominate key elite institutions

Crucially, the woke increasingly dominate education, both schooling and universities. Education moulds and shapes the coming generations - and many far-lefty academics see their job purely as activism and indoctrination, not encouraging free thought and genuine debate.

They also dominate the new tech elite, the internet companies that increasingly shape how people consume news and see the world. Facebook, Twitter, Google are woke fiefdoms. Do not underestimate the importance of this: they are far more powerful than the old-school press barons

They are getting their claws into the public sector, QUANGOs/NGOs, the BBC and the civil service. Do not underestimate the power of these institutions: they take thousands of decisions that shape our everyday life, whatever the pretensions of representative democracy

The basic crux of this is that a zealous minority that targets the right institutions can have a massively outsized impact. Capture the intellectuals and the bien pensant elite and those who subtly wield power but aren't democratically accountable then you're half way there

Compare old press v new tech media. Newspapers still have to take public opinion into account to sell papers. But Google, Twitter, Facebook are all near monopolies, apparently 'neutral' platforms that benefit from network effects. So they don't have to care about public opinion

I say to my non-woke acquaintances, 'you sound just like a pagan in the 3rd/4th century saying, 'these Christians, they're a small minority, their religion will never catch on. You worry too much: the majority still worship the old Gods.' That didn't go so well for the pagans

The problem is that the majority might be anti-woke, but they care a lot less than the woke vanguard. They want a quiet life and aren't so bothered about politics. The small minority of crazies can gradually defeat an indifferent majority: complacency will kill us

The message to the complacent, the majority must be: you might not be interested in these woke zealots - but they are sure as hell interested in you. They will not rest until you comply. You have to wake up. Refuse that diversity workshop. Do not submit to transgenderism. Say no

And good people who see themselves as traditionally on the Left have to do this too, even if it means being cancelled by your old comrades. I'd rather throw my lot in with those who oppose totalitarianism, even if they're not my traditional tribe, than submit to '2 + 2 = 5'

For the record, there is no reason for traditional Labour social democrats to support this woke bullshit. Disbelieving in biology, opposing free speech, crazy ID politics, hating Christianity, supporting the culture of death: none of them are inherent to our left traditions

They may be inherent to Marxism and the totalitarian socialist traditions of Europe, but my Labour Party was founded by Christians who supported free-speech, opposed open borders, and would have thought that saying men can choose to be women was BONKERS.