Will Shetterly's Blog, page 66
February 27, 2017
Free speech, not street violence, ended Milo Yiannopoulos's career
At A Statement On Yiannopoulos and the Berkeley Protests, Ander told Steve Brust, I like your article, it was written thoughtfully and I’m happy to know you’re out there fighting for democractic socialism. MILO’s platform is ethnic cleansing. His LED billboard at the event read “Support Women and Homosexuals, Purge Your Local Illegals” and listed ICE’s phone number. He wanted to use federal
February 24, 2017
A cartoon and a comment about leftists who are friendly and leftists who mock
On Facebook, Jonas Kyratzes shared Things Are Not OK. In the comments, Jay Tholen mentioned his childhood growing up in poor neighborhoods and said, I was a Limbaugh-listening conservative at 18 and know how completely validating it is to see the liberal mainstream characterize you as a hateful idiot. It entrenched me in my belief that I was fighting against some elite star chamber. The only
Trotsky has my back on people misunderstanding wars that are called religious
"If this conflict had taken place toward the end of the Middle Ages, both sides in slaughtering each other would have cited the same text from the Bible. Formalist historians would afterwards have come to the conclusion that they were fighting about the correct interpretation of texts. The craftsmen and illiterate peasants of the Middle Ages had a strange passion, as is well known, for allowing
February 23, 2017
the ancient art of making the working class invisible
From A Frank Talk With Jessa Crispin About Why Modern-Day Feminism Is Full of Shit: There’s that Rebecca Traister book, All the Single Ladies. It’s all about this self-empowerment feminism—like “look at these brave women living their urban lives and chasing their dreams.” She talks about how the city can provide you the spousal care that a wife used to provide her husband—it can cook your food,
February 22, 2017
A few series that have good places to stop watching before the series actually ends (no spoilers)
This post isn't about shark-jumping, which is when a show has gone on too long. It's about when the important arcs have been resolved, and while what follows may have strong moments, the show is not as satisfying overall. Buffy the Vampire Slayer has two good endings. From a purely esthetic point of view, the third season, when she graduates, has the perfect ending. But the end of season five
February 20, 2017
On Milo Yiannopoulos and Samuel R. Delany, and why child pornography is a real crime, not a thought crime
Yiannopoulos and Delany have similar histories, but because their politics are different, some defenders of one will attack the other for his sexual views. Delany talked about his past here: a conversation with Samuel R. Delany about NAMBLA, sexuality, and consent. Yiannopoulos has responded to his critics here: Milo Yiannopoulos. So far as I know, they both respect our current laws. For me,
"Privilege" has been neoliberalized and "inequality" is next
The Ford Foundation made a vapid video that discusses inequality in identitarian terms, focusing on race and gender almost exclusively. Doug Henwood shared it on Facebook, where Michael Pollak left this comment: ...I'm sorry that this seems to make obsolete Branko Milankovic's great line that foundations love to talk about poverty, but not inequality, because the latter sounds to rich people
February 19, 2017
Tidying up: An apology for Julia Sparkymonster, Micole Coffeeandink, and Mary Dell
April 2015/February 2017 Dear Julia, Micole, and Mary, Like most artists, I try to keep track of online mentions of my name. Often the results are nice. Perhaps the nicest was when I saw someone praising my brother. I learned about two interesting people who are undoubtedly distant relatives that way, Margot Lee Shetterly and Robert Shetterly. But in 2015, I saw this tweet from Julia:
February 17, 2017
The Socialism of Fools, Part 2: The Logic of Antisemitism is the Logic of Identitarianism
Previously: The Socialism of Fools, Part 1: Antisemitism and Malcolm X, Derrick Bell, and Louis Farrakhan • “Antisemitism is the Socialism of fools.” —a saying of German social democrats at the end of the 19th century, attributed by August Bebel to Ferdinand Kronawetter Third wave feminists and antiracists believe white Americans are privileged because they are on average wealthier than
February 16, 2017
The Socialism of Fools, Part 1: Antisemitism and Malcolm X, Derrick Bell, and Louis Farrakhan
Malcolm X accepted the antisemitism of Elijah Muhammad's Nation of Islam when he was with them. Forward, a Yiddish newspaper, wrote in 1963: When Malcolm X was asked whether the Black Muslims are anti-Semitic, he replied: “Many Jews have guilt feelings when people talk about ‘exploitation.’ This is because they know that they control 90 percent of the businesses in black communities, from the
