Book title and author: Woke Inc Inside Corporate Americas Social Justice Scam - Vivek Ramaswamy published 8-17- 2021 reviewed 2-28-24

Why I picked this book up: Vivek ran for president in 2024. He is clearly intelligent, is a fast thinker, logical and speaks well. I like him.

Thoughts: AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! A young entrepreneur makes the case that politics has no place in business, and sets out a new vision for the future of American capitalism. There’s a new invisible force at work in our economic and cultural lives. It affects every advertisement we see and every product we buy, from our morning coffee to a new pair of shoes. “Stakeholder capitalism” makes rosy promises of a better, more diverse, environmentally-friendly world, but in reality this ideology championed by America’s business and political leaders robs us of our money, our voice, and our identity. During his campaign he often owned founding multibillion-dollar enterprises, led a biotech company as CEO, he became a hedge fund partner in his 20s, trained as a scientist at Harvard and a lawyer at Yale, and grew up the child of immigrants in a small town in Ohio. Now he takes us behind the scenes into corporate boardrooms and five-star conferences, into Ivy League classrooms and secretive nonprofits, to reveal the defining scam of our century. The modern woke-industrial complex divides us as a people. By mixing morality with consumerism, America’s elites prey on our innermost insecurities about who we really are. They sell us cheap social causes and skin-deep identities to satisfy our hunger for a cause and our search for meaning, at a moment when we as Americans lack both. This book not only rips back the curtain on the new corporatist agenda, it offers a better way forward. America’s elites may want to sort us into demographic boxes, but we don’t have to stay there. Woke, Inc. begins as a critique of stakeholder capitalism and ends with an exploration of what it means to be an American in 2021–a journey that begins with cynicism and ends with hope.

Why I finished this read: Vivek Ramaswamy drew me in with his sharing of personal information. He used a lot of economics/business, legal, social an pragmatic wisdom. He sees beyond the basics, points out great and useful information.

Stars rating: 5 if 5 stars ( )

Interesting point of view from an insider.

Woke Inc., Vivek Ramaswamy, author and narrator
The author is an accomplished businessman and a scholar. He resigned from the company he started because of woke politics. When some of his remarks disagreed with the political culture of the left, he was attacked by his own employees and executives. No one was more shocked than he was. However, when he realized that no explanation would stop the firestorm of negative reactions, he decided to hand his business over to an opposite of him, someone he trusted who could lead the company in a different direction successfully. Vivek is of Indian descent, conservative and has brown skin. His replacement is white and liberal and American born. He did not give up however, he does not believe in giving in to this woke elite, rather he wrote this book to defeat them, perhaps at their own game.
The premise of his book is based on the Golden Rule, which the author refers to it as the Goldman Rule, since he learned it at Goldman Sachs. Instead of saying do unto others as they would do unto you, he defines it as “the one with the gold rules.” Essentially, the book shows how money is power and power rules. He shows how the woke are using their influence and power to force corporations, politicians, and individuals to follow their lead. Those who dissent are simply erased.
Ramaswamy, very skillfully, in layman’s terms, takes apart the politics of this “Wokeism”, and the people behind it, complete with their goals and their deceptions. He explains how they shut down opposition and speech they disagree with, he gives many examples of the damage woke behavior has caused. He defines it is a religion, and as such, it rules the lives of its followers who have complete faith in their righteousness. Those that don’t agree are excommunicated from the movement, ergo, they are canceled, boycotted, and fired when the pressure mounts too high.
Unfortunately the results of the woke movement are already with us, so, rather than dismantle it, which is an impossibility, he attempts to offer ways to redesign it. He carefully explains their tactics, their fake outrage and their threats, and basically treats the followers of woke politics as performers. He offers advice to make Americans more appreciative of what they have and suggests the formation of a citizen army dedicated to public service. It should be mandatory, the way it is in other countries, like Israel, but not necessarily military, rather geared toward the community. In this way, he believes people will work together and unite under the umbrella of common goals, rather than constantly dividing themselves into separate groups fighting each other, based on race, religion or politics.
Ramaswamy does not believe in giving in to the mob, but rather he believes in reforming it, in fighting back. The book is filled with information, leading to his conclusions, and is sometimes repetitive, but always easy to follow. He also reads his own audio very well, which is an exception, because most authors are better off with a professional. His final words remind the public that when it “woke” up, it might not necessarily have been fully awake. We must restore America’s dream. ( )