You might have heard about or seen the controversial so-called "woke" CIA recruitment ad. If you haven't, here's the ad: https://www.youtube.com/...pl9dyxiqVvqV&index=4


I think the ad is quite well done. She does a great job basically bearing her soul to the whole world. Some people don't like the ad because they prefer everyone who works for the CIA to be "pale, male, and Yale," even if only in a metaphorical sense. The only real problem with the ad is that it doesn't talk much about the agency's mission. But the ad obviously takes it as a given that people attracted by the ad are already interested in working for the CIA. On its face, the ad is indeed too woke. However on a deeper level, it's not that woke, ironically, for the very reason that the CIA is NOT woke as a general rule. Because there might be some people who are interested in working for the CIA but believe that they themselves are too woke or "different" to feel at home in the CIA. This is exactly what the CIA analyst in the ad means when she says that she used to have "imposter syndrome." She must have thought that she wasn't worthy or deserving to be at the CIA, especially due to her "intersectionality" (I realize intersectionality is a very woke thing).

Now it is true that many older people may objectively feel that the ad is terrible. But older people are obviously not the ad's targeted demographic or audience. Millennials and "Zoomers," especially those more comfortable with "woke" language, are the targeted demographic or audience. Another criticism of the ad that I've seen on social media is that "woke" language is too American or Western for intelligence agencies spying on non-Western cultures and governments. This criticism may have some merit. However, I'm sure to some extent "wokeness" is spreading fast to Westernized urban middle class people all over the world. And woke people might be more willing to spy on unwoke regimes for Western intelligence agencies.

Edited by user Tuesday, May 11, 2021 1:30:37 AM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Appreciate you broaching this topic, Rebels8. Honestly, watching the ads has made me less enthusiastic about joining CIA than I was before, and I'm glad I'm not the only one with concerns here.

When I applied, I did it because I wanted to serve my country. I wanted to be involved in upholding U.S. national security. I, as an individual, didn't matter because I was supporting a mission larger than myself. And I was fine with living under the radar in order to do it because the job was not about me. It was about the mission.

But these ads? They suggest that the individual matters above all. One joins CIA because of the Agency places identity at the center of everything it does, and the Agency creates an environment to nurture egotism rather than outwardly-focused quiet service.

I wanted into CIA as a final bastion of merit in our society. A place divorced from political narratives because threats to our nation require critical, objective thought to address. Sadly, it seems the Agency is skewing away from this.

Between the long wait for an EOD and the increasingly ideological climate, CIA has lost its luster for me. I still love the idea of what CIA has historically stood for, but I'm worried that the job might not match up to that expectation.

Anybody else with insights into whether these ads are representative of what one can expect post-EOD?

Man I couldn’t agree more...and was a bit of a turnoff to me too. Diversity of thought and varying experience are building blocks for solid intelligence... but check the rest of that drama at the door... the emphasis should be on how we apply “out of many, one.” My opinion.