Will Shetterly's Blog, page 163

A bonus Christmas grab bag

I keep thinking Deborah Allen's "Rocking Little Christmas" should be more famous. I love it too much, probably because it really isn't about anything other than having fun with someone you especially like.



But for sensual secular Christmas songs, no one can top Eartha Kitt's "Santa Baby":



All I Want for Christmas Is... Jews -Faux Mariah Carey has a surprisingly profound insight: "They may have killed our savior; that's not the best behavior. That's okay, he rose three days later." Any Christian...

Herman Cain vs Adolph Reed Jr.

Adolph Reed Jr. is one of my favorite thinkers on race and class, maybe because he validated my more ignorant opinions on modern anti-racism and Hurricane Katrina. (And if that's proof I suffer from confirmation bias, well, who doesn't?)

But I was disappointed with The Puzzle of Black Republicans - NYTimes.com. I'd love to know if the Times encouraged him to downplay the class-based analysis I expect from him, of if he was simply focusing on a very narrow subject, so he wrote something t...

it is always the season to forgive

There are petty reasons to forgive people—if you want to annoy your enemies or look like you're better than them, forgive them first and unconditionally.

There are selfish reasons—whether hating people is bad for your soul depends on your faith, but medical science says stress and anger will shorten your life.

There are practical reasons—nursing a hatred distracts you from more important things.

And there are wonderful reasons—forgiveness opens the possibility of a better world for everyone.

Ther...

Chief Justice Roberts on the First Amendment and noblesse oblige

"The First Amendment protects against the Government; it does not leave us at the mercy of noblesse oblige." —Chief Justice John Roberts of the US Supreme Court

John Ralston Saul on the weakening of democracy

"Indeed you can usually tell when the concepts of democracy and citizenship are weakening. There is an increase in the role of charity and in the worship of volunteerism. These represent the élite citizen's imitation of noblesse oblige; that is, of pretending to be aristocrats or oligarchs, as opposed to being citizens."

when Spike Lee called Samuel L. Jackson a "house slave"

Tarantino's 'Django Unchained' Reignites Debate Over N-Word In Movies - The Hollywood Reporter:

In 1997, Spike Lee took issue with the heavy use of the term in Jackie Brown, which was Tarantino’s homage to the blaxploitation films, as well as in his earlier works. 

“I have a definitely problem with Quentin Tarantino’s excessive use of the N-Word. And let the record state that I never said that he cannot use that word - I’ve used that word in many of my films - but I think so...

One reason I love Sitting Bull

When Sitting Bull was touring with Buffalo Bill’s wild west show and talking to a crowd of visitors that included ragged adults and barefoot children, he said, "I know why your government hates me. I am their enemy. But why do they hate you?"

Upton Sinclair on art and propaganda

"All art is propaganda. It is universally and inescapably propaganda; sometimes unconsciously, but often deliberately, propaganda." —Upton Sinclair

Upton Sinclair's advice to socialists is still good

"The American People will take Socialism, but they won't take the label. I certainly proved it in the case of EPIC. Running on the Socialist ticket I got 60,000 votes, and running on the slogan to "End Poverty in California" I got 879,000. I think we simply have to recognize the fact that our enemies have succeeded in spreading the Big Lie. There is no use attacking it by a front attack, it is much better to out-flank them." —Letter to Norman Thomas (25 September 1951)

oppression vs exploitation, and the liberal limit on "classism"

From When we say "class", what are we talking about? | libcom.org: 

The resolution of problem of “classism” is essentially liberal. This isn’t necessarily a criticism. In the here and now, I don’t want gay people to be discriminated against. But I’m basically demanding that liberal democracy does what it says on the tin and treats everyone as equal, sovereign subjects. The same goes for racism, sexism, etc. The culmination of these politics is formal and informal equality as liberal...