Will Shetterly's Blog, page 155

understanding 1984 and Animal Farm: George Orwell and Homage to Catalonia

I just finished reading Orwell's Homage to Catalonia . I had thought 1984 and Animal Farm were inspired by an intellectual revulsion to Stalinism, but the disgust was actually extremely personal. I knew Orwell fought against Franco's fascists, but I hadn't known more than that. The anti-fascists were divided into several factions, and Orwell's was the victim of a purge by the side dominated by Stalinists—Orwell fled Spain in fear he would be arrested like his friends. He knew first-hand what h...

If your friends jump off a bridge, you'll probably jump too; rationalizing animal #8

A little more data for the fact that the rationalizing animal is most likely to do what the other rationalizing animals do. Social Network Sways Vaccine Compliance has strong numbers for people preferring their social group's advice to scientific advice. Referring to people who choose not to vaccinate their children as nonconformers, they note, "the most striking difference between the conformers' and nonconformers' people networks was that 72% of the nonconformers' network mem...

criticizing identitarianism from the left: a beginner's reading list

This blog has gotten a few hits recently from people looking for leftist critiques of identity politics. I suggest starting here:

"The limits of anti-racism" by Adolph Reed Jr."Why Anti-Racism Will Fail" by Rev. Thandeka"Race, class, and "whiteness theory"" by Sharon Smith"The Trouble With Diversity" by Walter Benn Michaels
While David Harvey doesn't have much to say on the topic in his book about neoliberalism, he does offer this:

Neoliberal rhetoric, with its foundational emphasis upon individ...

my little post at the New York Times about Brad Paisley and LL Cool J's "Accidental Racist"

 Why Elitists Hate the Brad Paisley and LL Cool J Duet - Room for Debate - NYTimes.com

After I posted unpacking outrage: why elitists hate "Accidental Racist" by Brad Paisley and LL Cool J, I got email from the Times editor asking if I'd like to do about 300 words on the subject for them. In some ways, I prefer my original post, but I did my best to make myself clear for Times readers in the space I had. Alas, making yourself clear in 300 words on a subject like race may be impossible. You can do...

Darius Rucker - Wagon Wheel

Darius Rucker - Wagon Wheel - YouTube:

my little post at the New York Times about Brad Paisley and LL Cool J's "Accidental Racist"

Why Elitists Hate the Brad Paisley and LL Cool J Duet - Room for Debate - NYTimes.com

After I posted unpacking outrage: why elitists hate "Accidental Racist" by Brad Paisley and LL Cool J, I got email from the Times editor asking if I'd like to do about 300 words on the subject for them. In some ways, I prefer my original post, but I did my best to make myself clear for Times readers in the space I had. Alas, making yourself clear in 300 years on a subject like race may be impossible. You...

unpacking outrage: why elitists hate "Accidental Racist" by Brad Paisley and LL Cool J

The outrage of the day is a country song with a rapper guest star. If you want to sample the twitterrage, #accidentalracist is your ticket, but all the usual identitarian sites are covering it, so you can easily google to learn how awful you're supposed to think this is.



1. "Accidental Racist" is about a white guy in a Confederate battle-flag T-shirt talking with a black guy in a do-rag, gold chains and sagging pants. These are not things that rich elitists, black or white, wear unless they're...

Tim O'Brien on war stories

“A true war story is never moral. It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue, nor suggest models of proper human behavior, nor restrain men from doing the things men have always done. If a story seems moral, do not believe it. If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste, then you have been made the victim of a very old and terrible lie. There is no rectitude whatsoever. There is no virtue. As a first r...

George Orwell on war

"... every war suffers a kind of progressive degradation with every month that it continues, because such things as individual liberty and a truthful press are simply not compatible with military efficiency." —George Orwell

Gospel of the Knife: ebook for only $2.99!

This is one of my books that divide readers—some love it, some hate it. It was a finalist for the World Fantasy Award, which pleases me. I don't think it's as good as Dogland or Elsewhere, but often, award nominations are apologies for missing an artist's better work, and while there are many things I would do differently, I'm very pleased with parts of it.

It's now available at...

Amazon.com: The Gospel of the Knife

Barnes & Noble: The Gospel of the Knife

Smashwords: The Gospe...