Will Shetterly's Blog, page 96
October 10, 2015
Thank you, bicycle helmet!
Was just in a bicycle accident, going over the handlebars braking fast for a car that turned left right in front of me and probably never even saw me. My right arm isn't happy, so I may go into the ER tomorrow. I'm pretty sure it's not broken, but it is, at the very least, suffering from tissue damage. Chipped a tooth and the front of my helmet is a bit crunched, which could've been my face. So I
October 2, 2015
On idenitarians and people who kill strangers because of their identity
Welcome to America, where it seems like every week, a lonely, disturbed individual with a troubled childhood kills strangers and then everyone with a political agenda uses those killings to promote their cause. The latest killer, who I will not name, was mixed-race and his main targets were either religious people generally or Christians specifically. Had he been white, identitarians would use
October 1, 2015
The greatest danger in talking about privilege instead of rights
I'm thinking again about privilege because I got into a discussion on Facebook that, no surprise, went nowhere. A friend said, "Every African American person I know doesn't ever use the term privilege in association with wealth." A black friend of hers agreed. I thought they had a limited set of friends, but then, most people do, so I didn't say that. I simply asked how they discussed economic
September 30, 2015
An Orwell quote about nationalists that could be said of identitarians
"The nationalist not only does not disapprove of atrocities committed by his own side, but he has a remarkable capacity for not even hearing about them." -George Orwell, "Notes on Nationalism"
September 28, 2015
A little about Iroquois women, wealth, and power.
When making my previous post, I realized it's hard for 21st century Americans to think of a society with any division based on sex as egalitarian, so here's a bit from Female of the Species by M. Kay Martin and Barbara Voorhies for people who think women weren't equals in Iroquois society: Brown (1970) argues convincingly that the key to elevated status for Iroquois women lay in their
September 23, 2015
Class trumps race in the US—a link fest
I often meet race reductionists (people who focus exclusively on race) who insist they're intersectionalists (people who believe different forms of social oppression like racism and sexism are unrelated and only "intersect" when someone is, for example, black and female). Now, I'm not in either group—I'm a universalist who thinks all social oppression is interrelated and springs from the social
September 21, 2015
My father, Bob Shetterly, died last night
No need to offer condolences. Dad lived life on his own terms and came very close to dying under them. While I have some regrets, I'm generally content.
He had wanted to die on his farm and had a bottle of pills on hand that he intended to take if he ever thought he could no longer live unassisted, but a neighbor found him after a heart attack. He spent his last weeks at the clinic in Tofield, where Mom died. He always hated hospitals and nursing homes, but if he couldn't die at home, that was p...September 18, 2015
Karl Marx on Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley
“The real difference between Byron and Shelley is this: those who understand them and love them rejoice that Byron died at thirty-six, because if he had lived he wouldhave becomea reactionary bourgeois; they grieve that Shelley died at twenty-nine, because he was essentially a revolutionist, and he would always have been one of the advanced guard of Socialism.” —Karl Marx Quoted inShelley and
September 16, 2015
Is "warrior" the worst metaphor for a believer in peace or justice?
Saw this recently: I commented, Fuck no! Warriors make war: they kill, destroy, and conquer. We could use a better metaphor. The poster replied, warrior for peace and love. I replied, That's like saying "Be a torturer for tolerance" or "Be an assassin for antiviolence." If the discussion continues, I'll make this point and then, I hope, drop out: If metaphors matter, that one is awful.
September 15, 2015
Liavek 3 is now available!
Booksellers: Amazon.com:Liavek3 Barnes & Noble:Liavek3 Smashwords:Liavek3 Details: Now available!Liavek3!
