Book SummaryWoke, Inc., by Vivek Ramaswamy

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of Woke, Inc.

Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy argues that corporations have devised an elaborate scam: advertising a hollow fight for social justice in order to reap unprecedented profit and power. Ramaswamy calls this fusion of progressive ideals and capitalism “Wokenomics.” By engaging in Wokenomics, corporations go beyond selling a product; they are selling Americans a new standard for the right way to think and live. He contends that their false alliance with social causes allows them to influence legislation, manipulate consumers, and silence dissent. He argues that Wokenomics’s...

Woke, Inc. Summary What Is “Woke?”

Ramaswamy uses woke as the summation of all progressive politics, particularly ones regarding marginalized identities. However, the definition of woke has fluctuated over the years. Originally, the word woke was used exclusively in Black communities as a steady reminder to be alert to anti-Blackness, but it didn’t have any particular political affiliation. When the Black Lives Matter movement introduced woke to the mainstream, the use of the word expanded, and people on both sides of the political lines have difficulty agreeing on a precise definition. The meaning of woke ranges from being synonymous with an age of enlightenment (people awakening to the causes of...

Woke, Inc. Summary Why Is a Woke Company Harmful?

Ramaswamy focuses his criticism on identity politics in the workplace. He argues that by proclaiming to care about race and gender, companies transform into entities that profess to have a sense of morality but which are only using such claims to obscure their true goal of making as much money as possible.

How Companies Take a Stance

Throughout this guide, we’ll be discussing companies that present themselves as woke or advocates for woke policies, but what are the concrete methods companies use to accomplish this? There are two main ways companies can demonstrate their support for a cause: visually aligning the company with the cause and leveraging money behind the cause:

Visual alignment includes tactics like:

• Publishing an affirmative statement on social media

• Including representation in ad campaigns (a homosexual couple in a commercial, a person of color in a magazine spread, and so on)

• Hiring brand ambassadors who are known activists

• Signing related petitions

• Developing a community outreach branch at their company

Leveraging money includes tactics...

Woke, Inc. Summary How Did Woke Become Wokenomics?

Ramaswamy argues that Wokenomics emerged when companies discovered they could boost their profits by claiming to fight for social justice. This discovery came during a significant cultural shift after the 2008 recession: The blame for American inequality moved from economic policy to systemic racism. So-called “Big Business” has always been characterized by greed and corruption, and that was true in 2008 when Americans were frustrated and distrustful (of banking companies especially). Desperately needing to improve their image, companies learned to capitalize on two key ideas developing at the time: stakeholder capitalism and Critical Race Theory.

Companies Have Long Been Politically Involved

The emergence of stakeholder capitalism and Critical Race Theory indeed correlates with CEOs being more vocal about their beliefs, and Ramaswamy wants to return to a time when capitalists kept these beliefs out of their companies. However, some historians argue that companies were never apolitical—even in regard to social issues.

Political journalist Helen Lewis observes that as society evolves, [it’s almost always more profitable for companies to adapt to new...

Woke, Inc. Summary What Does Wokenomics in Practice Look Like?

Ramaswamy writes that a company engaging in any way with progressive values is woke and strays from his ideal of apolitical capitalism. He highlights what he contends are the worst ways that Wokenomics is applied to American society, including diversity training and censorship, boycotting, and submitting to foreign, undemocratic countries.

Diversity Training and Censorship

Ramaswamy contends that diversity training is a way for a company to inflate its efforts of making internal changes while never having to implement any actual practices. These trainings often teach about sexual harassment, LBGTQ+ inclusion, or anti-racist practices. While they may have some educational value for employees, they do not guarantee that the company will hire more marginalized identities, create safe spaces for them, nor donate to related causes.

(Shortform note: To be clear, Ramaswamy isn’t suggesting that companies reconcile this disconnect between what they say they do and what they actually do by changing their actual hiring practices and inclusion policies. His argument is that such policies are unnecessary because prioritizing a workforce of diverse identities isn’t...

Woke, Inc. Summary How Do We Solve Wokenomics?

Ramaswamy believes the antidote to Wokenomics is a paradigm shift. He believes that Americans need to redefine strong values so that they cannot be influenced by wokeness or any other political ideology in the future. Ramaswamy paves the road to reclaiming our political power with five actionable solutions.

Solution 1: Revise Section 230

Ramaswamy argues that if we don’t limit the unique privileges granted to tech companies, those companies will essentially function as a shadow government ruling over the free speech of American citizens. To do this, he says we should restructure The Common Decency Act (CDA), which was established in 1996 to prevent minors from accessing pornographic material on the internet but has ended up giving tech companies unusual powers of censorship in addition to unusual freedom from liability.

Under Section 230 of the CDA, if a user posts explicit content on social media, the tech provider for that website can neither be held liable for the post nor sued for removing it. This protection gives them enormous power: They can both permit and remove content as they like with no repercussions. Ramaswamy argues that this gives tech...

Shortform Exercise: Use Your Money for Social Good

Ramaswamy claims that a growing number of corporations are participating in Wokenomics. Think of a time you noticed a company publicizing a progressive stance on a social issue.

Did the company’s advertised social engagement affect your decision to purchase from them (or not)? Have you ever switched to a socially responsible company from its competitor because of its progressive messaging?