Will Shetterly's Blog, page 70
January 3, 2017
For people who say Nazis were socialists, a sort-of FAQ
1. The Nazis imprisoned communists, not capitalists. 2. The "socialism" in "National Socialism" is like the "democratic" in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, aka North Korea: it's meant to sound good. Socialism was very popular in the Weimar Republic. 3. Capitalists like Henry Ford loved Nazis. AlfriedKrupp was a member of the SS. 4. Hitler loved capitalists like Henry Ford. From
December 29, 2016
The simplest test for whether a society is Marxist or MINO
Karl Marx wrote inThe German Ideology, In communist society, where nobody has one exclusive sphere of activity but each can become accomplished in any branch he wishes, society regulates the general production and thus makes it possible for me to do one thing today and another tomorrow, to hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, rear cattle in the evening, criticise after dinner, just as I
The simplest test for whether a society is Marxist or a MINO
Karl Marx wrote inThe German Ideology, In communist society, where nobody has one exclusive sphere of activity but each can become accomplished in any branch he wishes, society regulates the general production and thus makes it possible for me to do one thing today and another tomorrow, to hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, rear cattle in the evening, criticise after dinner, just as I
December 24, 2016
December 22, 2016
On privileged black women and the middle class taking aid meant for the poor
For most of my life, my greatest sympathy was for black women. I didn't have the language of intersectionality to explain why, but like anyone who wasn't a sexist racist imbecile, I knew they took flak for being female and for being black—"intersectionality" just gave academics a polysyllabic way to talk about that. My sympathy is undoubtedly why the Feminist SF Wiki said my “work features
December 20, 2016
What one atheist doesn't understand about the Golden Rule
On Facebook, I shared this: When an atheist objected, I googled, foundRefuting the Golden Rule,and commented: Amusingly, the first hit for"atheism golden rule" is an atheist who doesn’t get it. Specifically, he thinks it’s about reciprocity, and it’s not. It’s about hypocrisy and understanding that good people uphold the standards they expect of others. Meaning it’s not about reciprocity
December 16, 2016
Walter Benn Michaels on identity politics as a form of class politics
What Is the Left Without Identity Politics? | The Nation: Adolph Reed and I have been arguing that identity politics is not an alternative to class politics but a form of it: It’s the politics of an upper class that has no problem with seeing people being left behind as long as they haven’t been left behind because of their race or sex. That’s why elite institutions like universities make an
Thomas Paine explains the problem with inheritance
"Hereditary succession has no claim. For all men being originally equals, no one by birth could have the right to set up his own family in perpetual preference to all others for ever, and tho' himself might deserve some decent degree of honours of his contemporaries, yet his descendants might be far too unworthy to inherit them." —Thomas Paine
