Will Shetterly's Blog, page 45

The heart of my universalism

"I am human, I consider nothing human alien to me." —Terence the Playwright, originally a slave from Roman Africa, but whose race no one knows because race didn't matter then. When I shared that on Facebook, someone commented, “Really? Where does barbarian derive from?“ I replied: Barbarian comes from a Greek word that meant “people who sound like they’re saying bar-bar”. It’s about culture,

Was Mark Twain the first to speak of white privilege?

From Following the Equator: January 30. What a spectacle the railway station was, at train-time! It was a very large station, yet when we arrived it seemed as if the whole world was present—half of it inside, the other half outside, and both halves, bearing mountainous head-loads of bedding and other freight, trying simultaneously to pass each other, in opposing floods, in one narrow door.

A few people who killed themselves after false accusations of rape—including the mother of a man falsely accused

Yes, some guilty people may kill themselves while claiming to be innocent. But there is no doubt in these cases that the accusations were false: Medical student cleared of raping woman whose earlier claim drove man to suicide - Telegraph: Some jurors broke down in tears when they heard the 21 year old woman had wrongly accused another man of rape which led to him killing himself. Forklift

Tidings of doubt and joy

On Facebook, I was telling a friend we should always be aware that any and every part of a memory may be false. He replied, You often bring doubt and discouragement to my days, Will, and yet I'm very glad I know you!  I quote the second part because what he meant would sound much bleaker without it. But it made me realize I need to work harder to bring doubt and joy. The greatest human mistake

Nazis were not socialists—the updated FAQ

1. Capitalists supported Hitler's rise to power. From Fritz Thyssen - Wikipedia: In 1923, Thyssen met former General Erich Ludendorff, who advised him to attend a speech given by Adolf Hitler, leader of the Nazi Party. Thyssen was impressed by Hitler and his bitter opposition to the Treaty of Versailles, and began to make large donations to the party, including 100,000 gold marks ($25,000) in

This old universalist admits he sometimes fears the identitarians are right

In a discussion with a socialist who has an identitarian streak, I left this comment: You haven’t seen people say that white privilege includes a lower risk of being killed by cops? I don’t feel like googling, but I’d swear I’ve seen that often. Maybe I’m wrong. Yes, if you ignore class, black people are statistically more likely to be killed by cops. The odds are only the same if you include

Addressing class reduces racism. Addressing race increases it.

Race reductionists say ending poverty won't cure racism. People who want to end poverty agree—some racists will be racists until they die. But there is evidence that ending economic inequality reduces racism. From Sons of Rich Black Families Fare No Better Than Sons of Working-Class Whites: The authors, including the Stanford economist Raj Chetty and two census researchers, Maggie R. Jones and

Private schools focus on race instead of class because it's cheaper

How Much Do You Pay for College? - The Chronicle Review - The Chronicle of Higher Education:  Addressing class inequality is more expensive than addressing racial and gender inequities because low-income students need financial aid, which may mean smaller budgets for libraries or faculty salaries. The Liberals Against Affirmative Action - NYTimes.com: The liberal critics of affirmative action

Which groups are more privileged than you? A handy list.

All numbers are for US median household income in US dollars, rounded to the nearest dollar. Note: Many people say education explains income. They fail to note that education is expensive, so it's easier for richer groups to get the education for jobs that pay well. The old observation applies: correlation is not always causation. The takeaway: Asian Americans, Jewish Americans, and Hindu

An update on the gentrification of fandom

Neil Gaiman shared this, making it one of my most popular tweets: In 1960, you could buy 10 comic books or three 35 cent paperback books for about $1, the minimum wage. Today, an hour's work at minimum wage, $7.25, will buy two comics or one paperback. When a few people noted that it's hard to find a paperback under $7.95, I added: To be precise, an hour's work at minimum wage will buy you a