Zachary Ricks's Blog, page 2
July 7, 2015
July 6, 2015
June 30, 2015
Books, Business, Tor Boycott
So, I took a look at my bookshelf, and particularly at my ebooks, and it turns out that in the past year, I’ve bought… two Tor books. (Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive books, which are GOOD.) And I’ve been thinking about the Tor boycott that was called for by Peter Grant.
I have a general rule that I don’t buy books from people who hate my guts. It’s not a new rule, it’s actually one I’ve had for a couple of years now when an author that I had a lot of admiration for, and whose blog I read on a very regular basis, went on this truly EPIC, profane rant against anyone who disagreed with his political views, calling them all kinds of names, and expressing his general displeasure with them in general. Prior to that rant, I’d bought this author’s books. Had engaged in email conversation. Seemed like a pretty decent guy. But then I saw what he thought about people who believe some of the things that I believe and have the principles I do, and I decided that I didn’t need to read anything else by him. No boycott. No calling for him to be cast out of society or castigated or punished. Just a personal decision that I wasn’t going to buy books from that guy, wasn’t going to read his blog, and was kind of just going to let him go his way, and I was going to go mine.
Now, that was someone attacking the nominally right wing from the nominally left wing, and a response. We had a similar thing occur a few weeks ago when one of Tor’s editors called people who supported the Sad Puppies campaign (trying to increase the engagement of SF fans, small f, in the Hugo awards, and boy howdy have they succeeded in that) “extreme right-wing to neo-nazi”, well, that kind of raised my eyebrows a bit. And I’ve been aware of things that other Tor employees have said about people who have a different political viewpoint from theirs.
Different viewpoints are fine. Calling people neo-nazis, not so much. Arguing for your side is perfectly acceptable. Calling people who believe differently names is going to leave a bad taste in people’s mouths. And if you’re saying horrible things about me and mine, you can’t expect me to support you financially, buy your products, etc.
And so, even though my personal impact is going to be minuscule in the wider scheme of things, I’ve decided that I’m no longer going to buy Tor books until I see some changes happen. At least not on the primary market. I’ll hit the used bookstores and the library. Bad timing, as Dan Wells’ fourth John Cleaver book just came out, and those are great. And who knows when Sanderson’s third Stormlight Archive book will be out, and all kinds of other things. I’ve been meaning to read John C. Wright’s Hermetic Millenia books.
They can wait.
Incidentally, two books from Tor, a ton from Baen (plus additional things from their free library), and a BUNCH from small press and indie authors. So it’s not like I’m going to run out of things to read any time soon. 
June 27, 2015
October 14, 2014
May 29, 2014
Fascism! HUH! Whoa-oh, what is it good for?
So, I’m on social media earlier this evening, and got into a discussion re: gun control. Someone posted this list that purports to be the twelve steps to fascism. And it’s an interesting list, I’ll grant you. But… I think it’s got some holes. Here it is, with my commentary added.
1. Make patriotism a virtue
Sigh. Patriotism can be a virtue without things going to fascism. Next you’ll be saying that lack of love for one’s country is a virtue.
2. Make them believe their rights endanger them
Like the right to keep and bear arms? (sorry, cheap shot, but I wasn’t the one who asserted the point.) And it was a discussion re: gun control. Just sayin’.
3. Identify scapegoats
Where blame is legitimate, blame should be placed. The trick is holding the claim of culpability up to a high standard. (Maybe that’s just the lawyer in me, but that’s me). Meanwhile blaming things on… say… the Jews, the NRA, the Liberal Media, talk radio, the Gay Mafia, Al Sharpton, GWB, etc… without a pretty frickin’ clear line of evidence? That’s scapegoating, playing on emotions, and yeah, is probably a step towards fascism. (Define fascism, btw. It’s like defining obscenity. I know it when I see it, but it can be different things to different people. I personally would say it has to do with increasing government control and regulation of both industry and the private lives of citizens, but I’m a crazy NRA member, so what do I know?)
4. Give the military lots of money
Also doesn’t necessarily lead to fascism. What I’d like to see is maybe routing more funds (or more oversight or something) to the VA, maybe?
5. Punish empathy
Hmmm. This needs a little unpacking, I think. For example, I know that there are cities in the US where it’s illegal to give meals to the homeless. Like Raleigh, NC. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-hug.... Maybe he’s saying that objectivists/Ayn Rand people are wrong about helping people. I’d agree with that. But if there’s any place where the government is making it harder for people to help each other, THAT is a bad sign. But I’d like to know what the list maker is asserting here.
6. Censor the media
That’s bad. Of course, when the media is a fellow-traveler, it’s also unnecessary. Maybe you could do things like, say, delegitimize the media that doesn’t agree with you. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/....
7. Spread fear
Plenty of that on both sides, and it only gets in the way of rational conversation. Not that social media is prone to rational conversation. I’m just sayin.
8. Claim God is on your side
And plenty of this on both sides of the debate. Unless you don’t believe in God. In which case, you claim that you’re on the “right side of history.”
9. Recruit corporations as allies
Ahem. https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/list....
10. Suppress labor unions
Disagree again. Unions are irrelevant to fascism.
11. Punish intellectuals
Well, punishing intellectuals WHO DISAGREE WITH YOU, absolutely. The Germans in WWII had a TON of intellectuals who agreed with them. Those who spoke out or disagreed? Toast, of course. Nowadays, people who think/say the wrong things are also punished for their lack of “political correctness”. Not that I’m saying that there’s some kind of right to speak to a graduation ceremony, but we’re not necessarily talking about government action here.
12. Empower the police
Well, maybe. I mean, how many federal agencies suddenly have SWAT teams? The EPA? The EPA has a SWAT team? Bureau of Land Management has a SWAT team? The IRS (not that they weren’t scary enough before) has a SWAT team?
13. Buy off the leaders
Yeah. Both sides. And it’s a definite problem.
14. Stage mock elections
Oh, I don’t think we’re here. Are there weird things that happen around elections? Sure. Fraud? It happens. But I don’t believe we’re anywhere near what I’d consider a “mock” election, despite that. But, again, who’s a crazy right winger? That’d be me. Also, I live in Texas, and we’ve just had a very very interesting primary season, so… *shrug*. Don’t think we’d have the slate of candidates we do now if it had been a mock election.
Anyway, just my thoughts.
December 18, 2013
Speech and Free Speech
Just a quick recap.
Phil Robertson, of Duck Dynasty, expressed an opinion. He wasn’t jailed or fined. So far, so good. That’s free speech. That opinion was unpopular with some people. They expressed themselves. Still free speech.
Phil’s “employer”, A&E TV, decided to take Phil off the show. That’s their right. They’re a private company, and have the right to employ or not whomever.
“Free” speech has never meant “consequence-free” speech. Given the Robertson’s faith, I think they’re okay with how this has gone down so far, but it’s still breaking and we’ll see what happens. But it’s not a violation of anyone’s free speech unless and until the gov’t gets involved. So far, as far as we know, they aren’t.
I’m just grateful to live in a country where I can express my own political and religious views without being jailed, taxed, or fined for the privilege. It may not be popular or trendy, and some people might get torqued off, decide not to buy my stories or books or whatever, but that’s okay.
It’s a free country.
