Will Shetterly's Blog, page 87
January 18, 2016
Beulah McFee pages 31-33: the conclusion
If you want to read the complete story: Part 1:The Ballad of Beulah McFee #1: "Me and Robert and the Devil" - the beginning Part 2:The Ballad of Beulah McFee #1: "Me and Robert and the Devil" - the end
If you haven't seen Searching for Sugar Man, this post has no spoilers for you
A friend recommendedSearching for Sugar Manand said it was best if I knew nothing about it, so if you know nothing about it, don't click that link. Just know that it won an Academy Award for best documentary, a fact I had missed, so I was watching the first ten minutes or so wondering if this was a mockumentary, because I kept thinking I should know something about this if it was true. Okay,
Today we remember America's greatest socialist, Martin Luther King
I love to quote this: “Call it democracy, or call it democratic socialism, but there must be a better distribution of wealth within this country for all of God’s children.” -Martin Luther King Today I came across this, which is much more blunt: “If America does not use her vast resources of wealth to end poverty and make it possible for all of God’s children to have the basic necessities of
January 14, 2016
On cartoon speed lines, cultural imperialism, and misreading Charlie Hebdo
Some of the people I admire most in the world think Charlie Hebdo is racist because they believe anyone can look at an image and know what it means. If you want commentary by people who know more about French culture than I do to explain why outsiders misread Charlie Hebdo, follow the links atFor anyone who thinks Charlie Hebdo is a racist magazine. Today I'd prefer to focus on the notion that
January 13, 2016
Three tragic and very American things about the police killing a 12-year-old girl during her family's eviction
Three thoughts after reading12-year-old girl fatally shot during family’s eviction from Pennsylvania home: 1. The US has more than enough homes for everyone, yet people are still driven from their homes. 2. The police know dispossessed people will be desperate, yet they go into these situations ready to kill rather than negotiate. 3. To the people who prefer #BlackLivesMatter to #
January 12, 2016
January 11, 2016
A short rant about "if you're white, you're racist because you grew up in a racist society"
By this logic, human progress is impossible—we are all shaped by society and there are no rebels. You cannot be an atheist if you grew up in a theistic society. Sorry, Voltaire and Mark Twain. You cannot be a democrat if you grew up in a feudalist society. Sorry, Thomas Paine and Prince Kropotkin. You cannot be a feminist if you grew up in a sexist society. Sorry, Charles Fourier. You cannot
January 10, 2016
January 9, 2016
Ross Wolfe defines identitarianism
Today I went looking for definitions of identitarianism. Though Walter Benn Michaels seems to have been the first to use it in its most modern sense, and he and Adolph Reed Jr. have both used it to make brilliant observations about capitalism in general and neoliberalism in particular, the best definition may be this: Ross Wolfe inOn the term “identitarian”: Now we come to the critique of “
