The Problem With DeSantis’ ‘Stop WOKE’ Act

The state can't really banish ideas, and it's dangerous to try.

Full text and links: https://reason.com/video/2022/10/11/the-problem-with-desantis-stop-woke-act/
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Our institutions have been infected by "the woke mind virus," Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) told an audience at the National Conservatism conference in Miami this September. "Some of these big corporations are now exercising quasi-public power."

Is it time to fight fire with fire? To wield government power to stop a dangerous ideology from destroying America's vital institutions? DeSantis thinks so.

"We're not just going to sit idly by if you're trying to circumscribe people's freedoms," he said in the same speech. "And that's true if it's government. It's also true if it's big business."

DeSantis, a likely presidential candidate and favorite of the conservative movement, seeks to jettison the libertarian idea that the government shouldn't meddle in the affairs of private business.

Earlier this year, DeSantis and Republicans in the Florida Legislature retaliated against Disney for opposing a state law prohibiting the discussion of sexuality and gender identity in kindergarten through third-grade classrooms. Critics attempted to make the new education law a national issue and dubbed it the "Don't Say Gay Act," and DeSantis' communications team responded by routinely calling the law's critics "groomers."

Now DeSantis, who declined our interview request, has signed into law the Individual Rights Act, which he formerly referred to as the Stop WOKE Act.

Produced by Zach Weissmueller; edited by Danielle Thompson; graphics by Thompson. Sound editing by Ian Keyser.

Photos: Douglas R. Clifford/ZUMA Press/Newscom; Daniel A. Varela/TNS/Newscom; Stephen M. Dowell/TNS/Newscom; Michael Brochstein/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; Paul Weaver/Sipa USA/Newscom; John-Marshall Mantel/Polaris/Newscom; BONNIE CASH/UPI/Newscom; Karla Cot/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; Stephen Zenner/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; Paul Hennessy/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; Image of Sport/Newscom; Joe Burbank/TNS/Newscom; Daniel A. Varela/TNS/Newscom; James Borchuck/ZUMA Press/Newscom; Megan Jelinger/ZUMA Press/Newscom; Stephen Zenner/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; Circa Images / Glasshouse Images/Newscom; DPST/Newscom; Chris Sweda/TNS/Newscom; University of Florida Archives, CC-BY-SA-2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Scholarly Commons @ FAMU Law; The American Legion Digital Archive; St Petersburg Times/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; Amy Beth Bennett/TNS/Newscom

Music: "IX" by Angel Salazar via Artlist; "Now You Know" by Angel Salazar via Artlist; "Day Drunk" by Amparo via Artlist; "More to the Story" by Charlie Ryan via Artlist; "Waves and Pulses" by Evert Z via Artlist; "Lost" by Generation Lost via Artlist; "It Was Time We Let Go" by Stanley Gurvich via Artlist; "X" by Angel Salazar via Artlist; "Renewal" by The David Roy Collective via Artlist; "Killing Time" by Stanley Gurvich via Artlist