Will Shetterly's Blog, page 34

On the earliest date for comics' Atomic Age, which falls between its Golden and Silver Ages

Caring about comic book continuity is crazy, but I was a hardcore fan for decades, so I know it's my kind of crazy. On one hand, I believe every writer in a shared universe creates a new alternate universe because any writer's version of a character has unique traits. Which means there are more comic book universes than there are comic book writers since many writers have written characters in

Things shared on Dec 5ths

I want a Basic Income that will cover our needs and a Job Guarantee that will cover our wants. - If you have to explain why what you're doing isn't censorship, it's probably censorship. When people do something that looks like censorship and try to explain why it’s not, they’re admitting it's censorship and trying to explain why they should be allowed to silence the rest of us. I have never

Things shared on Dec 4ths

Why you should never mention your diploma when you're in an argument: A diploma is what the Scarecrow got to make up for having no brain. - Why do some women assume most men must know who the abusers are? Do women tell each other about creepy and illegal things they do? - I won't be adopting the term "non-reformist reform", but I will think about a simpler way to express the idea that we

Things shared on Dec 3rds

People who don't know their belief system has a name are like goldfish who don't know they're swimming in a glass tank. - Tell me not to derail, and I will do my best to blow up the tracks. People who want to control the discourse are not taking part in a discussion; they are seeking submission or validation. - Trickle-down economics aren’t about wealth trickling down to the poor. They’re

Things shared on Dec 1sts

"perhaps we give a little to the poor If the generosity should seize us But if any one of us should interfere In the business of why they are poor They get the same as the rebel Jesus" —Jackson Browne, "The Rebel Jesus" - Hollywood, stop making stories where strange things happen and then the characters realize they’re in purgatory or hell. No one older than thirteen should use that shtick.

Why no major US politician supports open borders, but the Koch Bros. do

Like many leftists, I thought we could have open borders without hurting American workers. Then a friend told me to study the meatpacking industry. A little of what I learned: Workers’ Rights in U.S. Meat and Poultry Plants | HRW: For about forty years in the middle of the twentieth century, from the 1930s to the 1970s, meatpacking workers' pay and conditions improved. Master contracts

Things shared on Nov 30s

Monarchists are anarchists with servants. - When rich people of color have classist reactions to white workers who may be racist, I want to sympathize with the PoC, but that’s hard when their reaction says their complaint is they are not receiving all the privilege they feel their wealth entitles them to. - An inconsistency of the identity left: Calling for sympathy for people with mental

Things shared on Nov 29ths

I hate scrolling down to United States when I have to say where I'm from. We should change our name to the Armadillo States—our politics often involve armor, rolling into a ball, and peeing on ourselves. - On G+, Bernd Paysan used a phrase I adore: "Neoliberale Salonkommunisten". It translates to "neoliberal Salon communists." - "As a social party we receive the Negro and all other races upon

The New Deal wasn't inherently racist; it started the black voter shift to the Democrats

See the “Mythologizing the New Deal” section of What Black Life Actually Looks Like by Cedric Johnson And African Americans and the New Deal: A Look Back in History ETA:The New Deal Wasn’t Intrinsically Racist | The New Republicwhites were 74 percent of all the domestic and agricultural workers excluded from Social Security at its outset. That is, three white workers were excluded for every

Things I've said about Thanksgiving and Columbus Day

Happy Thanksgiving! It's the holiday when Americans with awful families and Americans with no families envy each other. Eat something good and do something you like, and dear God, be kind. - Happy Tryptophan Day! Today I am thankful for Addams Family Values. - Why it's right to celebrate Thanksgiving and change the name of Columbus Day Columbus's legend ignores the fact that the Americas