So everybody should go see Rogue One. Maybe twice.
Why? Some Trump supporters are calling for a boycott. The guy who started calling for this boycott also helped circulate the lies about the pizza place that got attacked in DC. I refuse to call that incident "Pizzagate."
Since his followers are going to make an enemy of Disney, which remember, owns LucasFilm and Marvel, you should also go see Dr. Strange and Moana. If you already have, go again.
But since a pack of racist, misogynist idiots already killed another movie this year, I'm going to tell all those bros out there three reasons why the new Ghostbusters is objectively better than classic.
1. All the Busters are Together by the End of Act One
I don't know about you, but I think Ernie Hudson is kind of awesome. And it kind of sucks that he doesn't get any screen time in that movie until nearly the end of act two. Especially since he has one of the funniest lines in the movie (at 1:50). Even in the abomination that is Ghostbusters 2, where he is introduced in the opening 15 minutes, he still gets markedly less screen time than his white team mates. The big conclusion of act one in that movie still just features Ramis, Aykroyd, and Murray busting ghosts.
It does kind of suck that the equally awesome Leslie Jones is introduced last, but once introduced she has more or less equal screen time. Most importantly, she's with them during the big ghostbust that concludes the first act. Where she gets one of the funniest lines (I know the video is terrible quality, but it's the only one I could find) in the movie! Overall, it leads to a much more satisfying final battle. The sense that these four women are a team is much more palpable.
2. We Actually Get to See Them Building and Testing Their Tech
I know the training montage gets a bad rap, but sometimes you just need it. The original has a one and done scene of Ray taking out another mortgage to fund the new business, followed by a brief moment where they do allude to being almost out of cash. Seconds before their first call comes in, and Venkman manages to con the hotel owner out of an outrageous fee because, at this point, our intrepid underdogs hold a monopoly. And during that first act concluding first case, they joke about the untested, unlicensed nuclear accelerators on their backs. You know the very thing the EPA is supposed to investigate!
But instead of those proton packs just appearing between scenes along with the guys somehow able to use them without training, we see Holtzmann doing her mad scientist thing along with interspersed scenes of them trying, and often hilariously failing, to use their gadgets. The heroes to zeroes thus seems like an active effort as opposed to a moment of pure luck.
3. It Actually has a Feminist Theme
Seriously, just read this article. Notice how every single entry on it is "Women want to be believed..." It's no accident that while skepticism about the paranormal is given lip service in the original, it doesn't really hinder the Ghostbusters.
But in the new one, every step of the way the team is hounded by skeptics and hostile unbelievers. Including Tywin Lannister just doing his best being a condescending jerk. Later, we have the most epic middle-finger giving ever captured on camera. Not to mention Bill Murray's cameo as being, well, just the opposite of Venkman, really.
Next, when the government does show up towards the end of the second act, they don't want to shut down the business: they want the girls to start working for them, but as part and parcel they need to recant their statements and start covering up evidence of the paranormal. You know. Lie. And, of course, the ending is the desperate cover-up that isn't working while New York declares it's love for the city's saviors.
Tuesday, December 13, 2016
Friday, December 9, 2016
Concern and Hope
Kyla brought my attention to this.
But earlier that same day, I read this.
What to watch out for, and a blueprint of how to fight it.
Also, keep an eye on this. Scary stuff. All you old Cold Warriors out there ought to be really concerned that the guy about to go into office (and I'm guessing more than some of you voted for) owes his position to Russia and an ex-KGB like Putin.
Lastly, I should clarify that I have disdain for mainstream news sources myself. Most of my adult life I've gotten my news from an optimistically angry super Jew, a man who built a career off of satirizing Bill O'Reilly, a wildly gesticulating British man, and a website specializing in penis jokes. So glass houses, thrown stones, and all that.
But, I am getting better. I first learned about Carrier from a piece in the Sierra Vista Herald. Read me, but support your local papers, readers! They'll be needing it more than ever.
But earlier that same day, I read this.
What to watch out for, and a blueprint of how to fight it.
Also, keep an eye on this. Scary stuff. All you old Cold Warriors out there ought to be really concerned that the guy about to go into office (and I'm guessing more than some of you voted for) owes his position to Russia and an ex-KGB like Putin.
Lastly, I should clarify that I have disdain for mainstream news sources myself. Most of my adult life I've gotten my news from an optimistically angry super Jew, a man who built a career off of satirizing Bill O'Reilly, a wildly gesticulating British man, and a website specializing in penis jokes. So glass houses, thrown stones, and all that.
But, I am getting better. I first learned about Carrier from a piece in the Sierra Vista Herald. Read me, but support your local papers, readers! They'll be needing it more than ever.
Thursday, December 8, 2016
The Culpability of the Media, a Personal Experience
The news isn't getting much better. Except that Trump seems like he doesn't really understand what being POTUS actually entails. And that he seems obsessed with making sure he can do as much of it as possible from Trump Tower in NYC. People in rural communities: you just voted for a jackass who would literally rather spend his time in that bastion of "the wicked city," than doing his job properly.
But I'm going to talk about something different. There's been a lot of bandying about the culpability of the media, and it's failure to properly educate the American public about just what kind of person they would be voting for. People also blame the way news is delivered on the Internet so that it creates an echo-chamber where we only see opinions we agree with.
Kyla showed me this: Edward R. Murrow warning of the dangers of radio and television news as a commercial and entertainment vector rather than an informative one. Some 20 years later, a film called Network would make a similar argument through cynical fiction. People forgot about it thanks to the Truman Show, but in high school I watched a film called EdTV, predicting how the constant surveillance of a reality show could ruin an ordinary person's life. And reality TV is the reason the POTUS elect was a household name.
I got to be on TV once. So far, all I've managed to find on the internet is a reference to the segment in this book. So, I'll tell you the full story from my perspective.
I have depression, and I sought it counseling for it at various times through out my life. I first sought it in high school, and my psychologist at the time called me one evening to let me know that ABC's News Magazine program 20/20 was doing a report on kids with mental illness and/or a history of bullying were able to overcome their problems. He wanted my permission to refer them to me as a possible subject because I was one of his most normal patients.
So a producer contacted me and met me for a series of interviews over the next several months. It eventually emerged that I was just going to be one subject for this segment; I was going to be the star. I'll admit it, my teenage-soaked brain was overwhelmed, and I felt pretty good.
That fall, they took some footage of me playing video games at home, walking in my school's hallway, and even acting in the school's fall play that year. Then, one night, after our dress rehearsal, I got to be interviewed by Chris Wallace. I'll admit, he was a charming enough man in person. Mostly, I remember eating mediocre room service and falling asleep on the couch in the hotel suite the producer had rented.
Everything wrapped and the producer let us know to wait a while. It ended up airing February 9, 2000. It was entitled Boy on the Brink. About an hour or two of interview time with me, a similar amount of time with my dad, the vice principal of my school, and some random kid that lived down the street from me was edited down to the worst and least flattering picture 20 minutes could paint. In short, it made it look like I was going to be the next Columbine shooter and that our school was just crawling with them.
There was a small, mostly local, outcry that lasted a few weeks afterward. It died down. No permanent damage was done to my reputation, my dad's, that kids, or that schools. So that's why we never sued for slander.
Why is this a big deal? There was a Simpsons episode that aired in 1994 that showed the same thing being done to Homer and played for laughs. People barely remember the outcry from Bill O'Reilly and other reporters lying about wartime correspondence. I guarantee by next week, people will forget how one meme made a brilliant, hilarious news commentator look like a jackass and a tragically stupid person look tragically stupid in the wrong way. Hell, I probably have to remind some of you that are old hats at internet about that time a writer for a website outed Stephen Glass.
It's the Broken Window Effect, but for journalism. We accept the little lies and half-truths and they snowball into bigger lies and half-truths. Even the truly colossal ones we'll rant about for 15 minutes, then everything goes back to business as usual.
No wonder conservatives have been so eager to believe absolute bullshit for decades. They see the small mistakes and the slaps on the wrist and nothing being done, so they assume the worst. Gee, kind of like police forces circling their wagons around their worst officers and how that angries up the blood of liberals, who sometimes also believe stupid things.
We have some hope. The Internet is finally taking some responsibility as a news source, in ways that even TV seems to have ignored. Google, Reddit, and Facebook are cracking down on abusive users and fake news.
Also, since I always like to remind those rural poor how truly conned you were, I've been keeping an eye on this Carrier Factory nonsense.
But I'm going to talk about something different. There's been a lot of bandying about the culpability of the media, and it's failure to properly educate the American public about just what kind of person they would be voting for. People also blame the way news is delivered on the Internet so that it creates an echo-chamber where we only see opinions we agree with.
Kyla showed me this: Edward R. Murrow warning of the dangers of radio and television news as a commercial and entertainment vector rather than an informative one. Some 20 years later, a film called Network would make a similar argument through cynical fiction. People forgot about it thanks to the Truman Show, but in high school I watched a film called EdTV, predicting how the constant surveillance of a reality show could ruin an ordinary person's life. And reality TV is the reason the POTUS elect was a household name.
I got to be on TV once. So far, all I've managed to find on the internet is a reference to the segment in this book. So, I'll tell you the full story from my perspective.
I have depression, and I sought it counseling for it at various times through out my life. I first sought it in high school, and my psychologist at the time called me one evening to let me know that ABC's News Magazine program 20/20 was doing a report on kids with mental illness and/or a history of bullying were able to overcome their problems. He wanted my permission to refer them to me as a possible subject because I was one of his most normal patients.
So a producer contacted me and met me for a series of interviews over the next several months. It eventually emerged that I was just going to be one subject for this segment; I was going to be the star. I'll admit it, my teenage-soaked brain was overwhelmed, and I felt pretty good.
That fall, they took some footage of me playing video games at home, walking in my school's hallway, and even acting in the school's fall play that year. Then, one night, after our dress rehearsal, I got to be interviewed by Chris Wallace. I'll admit, he was a charming enough man in person. Mostly, I remember eating mediocre room service and falling asleep on the couch in the hotel suite the producer had rented.
Everything wrapped and the producer let us know to wait a while. It ended up airing February 9, 2000. It was entitled Boy on the Brink. About an hour or two of interview time with me, a similar amount of time with my dad, the vice principal of my school, and some random kid that lived down the street from me was edited down to the worst and least flattering picture 20 minutes could paint. In short, it made it look like I was going to be the next Columbine shooter and that our school was just crawling with them.
There was a small, mostly local, outcry that lasted a few weeks afterward. It died down. No permanent damage was done to my reputation, my dad's, that kids, or that schools. So that's why we never sued for slander.
Why is this a big deal? There was a Simpsons episode that aired in 1994 that showed the same thing being done to Homer and played for laughs. People barely remember the outcry from Bill O'Reilly and other reporters lying about wartime correspondence. I guarantee by next week, people will forget how one meme made a brilliant, hilarious news commentator look like a jackass and a tragically stupid person look tragically stupid in the wrong way. Hell, I probably have to remind some of you that are old hats at internet about that time a writer for a website outed Stephen Glass.
It's the Broken Window Effect, but for journalism. We accept the little lies and half-truths and they snowball into bigger lies and half-truths. Even the truly colossal ones we'll rant about for 15 minutes, then everything goes back to business as usual.
No wonder conservatives have been so eager to believe absolute bullshit for decades. They see the small mistakes and the slaps on the wrist and nothing being done, so they assume the worst. Gee, kind of like police forces circling their wagons around their worst officers and how that angries up the blood of liberals, who sometimes also believe stupid things.
We have some hope. The Internet is finally taking some responsibility as a news source, in ways that even TV seems to have ignored. Google, Reddit, and Facebook are cracking down on abusive users and fake news.
Also, since I always like to remind those rural poor how truly conned you were, I've been keeping an eye on this Carrier Factory nonsense.
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
How the HUAC Almost Killed Star Trek
As promised, it's story time, kiddos.
The House Unamerican Activities Committee was a special committee to try and ferret out communist influence in America during the early years of the Cold War. It was supposed to look for spies and saboteurs.
Mostly, it went after artists, actors, writers, and film directors for not toeing a certain line when it came to their output. That line, of course, was borderline nationalistic and very pro-business, racist, and misogynist.
We won't go into all the lives the HUAC ruined with their shennanigans. We'll just look at one they tried to ruin. You may have heard of her. A comedian named Lucille Ball.
It's not an understatement to say that if you watched television anytime in the past 50 years, you have been influenced by her and her husband, Desi Arnaz's, work. I Love Lucy almost literally invented the modern television business model. Because Lucy and Desi lived on the west coast while most television broadcasting occurred on the east coast, they were forced to use a little trick to allow them to perform at reasonable hours: they recorded their show on film.
Shows, prior to that, if they were recorded at all, were recorded on a format called kinetoscope. These deteriorated quickly had low fidelity. But being filmed, I Love Lucy was one of the first television shows to last, as they say, for the ages. It also allowed other features that are now a staple of television: re-runs and flashback episodes. One year, during Lucy's pregnancy, they re-aired several episodes with wrap-around segments where the other characters starting off: "Remember that time when Lucy..." Not to mention that just about every sitcom since then has been using recordings of the I Love Lucy audience for their own laugh track!
So why did the HUAC come after America's favorite red-head? Probably a lot of reasons. The fact that the narrative focus of her show was the female character probably helped. The fact that she was openly an happily married to a Cuban immigrant probably contributed. But their ultimate excuse was that during the 30s, her grandfather joined the Communist Party and pressured her to join, too.
So, she was still technically a Communist. Of course, she wasn't spying or sabotaging anything. Public pressure and the support of her husband caused the HUAC to cave in this one instance and let her go. So she was free to continue changing television history.
Here's a lesser known story. Lucy owned a television studio, Deslilu in the 60s, and a script for a show pitched as "Wagon Train to the stars" came across her desk. She didn't understand it, but she somehow knew it had the potential to be great. So she gave the writer the go ahead to make it. Twice! That writer's name: Gene Roddenberry.
So, all you macho Kirk fans, you have a woman to thank for your franchise seeing the light of day. You also need to thank another woman, B-Jo Trimble, and her dedicated letter writing campaign, for keeping it on the air as long as it did.
There are lessons to learn from this story. I trust you, my audience to piece them together. But one I always take from it is going to be the most important as we go forward, and it's the basic message of Trek: Hope.
The House Unamerican Activities Committee was a special committee to try and ferret out communist influence in America during the early years of the Cold War. It was supposed to look for spies and saboteurs.
Mostly, it went after artists, actors, writers, and film directors for not toeing a certain line when it came to their output. That line, of course, was borderline nationalistic and very pro-business, racist, and misogynist.
We won't go into all the lives the HUAC ruined with their shennanigans. We'll just look at one they tried to ruin. You may have heard of her. A comedian named Lucille Ball.
It's not an understatement to say that if you watched television anytime in the past 50 years, you have been influenced by her and her husband, Desi Arnaz's, work. I Love Lucy almost literally invented the modern television business model. Because Lucy and Desi lived on the west coast while most television broadcasting occurred on the east coast, they were forced to use a little trick to allow them to perform at reasonable hours: they recorded their show on film.
Shows, prior to that, if they were recorded at all, were recorded on a format called kinetoscope. These deteriorated quickly had low fidelity. But being filmed, I Love Lucy was one of the first television shows to last, as they say, for the ages. It also allowed other features that are now a staple of television: re-runs and flashback episodes. One year, during Lucy's pregnancy, they re-aired several episodes with wrap-around segments where the other characters starting off: "Remember that time when Lucy..." Not to mention that just about every sitcom since then has been using recordings of the I Love Lucy audience for their own laugh track!
So why did the HUAC come after America's favorite red-head? Probably a lot of reasons. The fact that the narrative focus of her show was the female character probably helped. The fact that she was openly an happily married to a Cuban immigrant probably contributed. But their ultimate excuse was that during the 30s, her grandfather joined the Communist Party and pressured her to join, too.
So, she was still technically a Communist. Of course, she wasn't spying or sabotaging anything. Public pressure and the support of her husband caused the HUAC to cave in this one instance and let her go. So she was free to continue changing television history.
Here's a lesser known story. Lucy owned a television studio, Deslilu in the 60s, and a script for a show pitched as "Wagon Train to the stars" came across her desk. She didn't understand it, but she somehow knew it had the potential to be great. So she gave the writer the go ahead to make it. Twice! That writer's name: Gene Roddenberry.
So, all you macho Kirk fans, you have a woman to thank for your franchise seeing the light of day. You also need to thank another woman, B-Jo Trimble, and her dedicated letter writing campaign, for keeping it on the air as long as it did.
There are lessons to learn from this story. I trust you, my audience to piece them together. But one I always take from it is going to be the most important as we go forward, and it's the basic message of Trek: Hope.
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Draining the Swamp?
As I promised, I'm going to keep an eye on Trump.
News about his transition team and people he's meeting with is changing almost daily at the moment. For example: he recently met with critics and opponents like Tulsi Gabbard and Mitt Romney. Almost as if he's trying to appear reasonable. This should frighten people far more than if he was keeping up the vitriolic rhetoric that many of his followers are still partaking in.
For now, let's look at some close supporters, who, even if they don't get a cabinet post, are going to have some influence. That article is pretty old for the ridiculous 24/7 news cycle we're on these days, but let's look at some: Chris Christie, Rudy Giuliani, and Newt Gingrich.
Chris Christie. Some of you may know him as the Governor of New Jersey that got outed as a Dallas Cowboys fan. Bear in mind that people in New Jersey, depending on what part of the state they're from, tend to follow the New York teams or the Philadelphia teams. Those of you who pay attention to more substantial news may remember the time he just decided to quarantine a nurse in a parking lot during the Ebola scare. That first point just illustrates the contempt he has for his constituents in his own native state. That second bit should scare anyone who's ever uttered "executive over-reach." Last but not least, bear in mind, Rangers (this blog's term for the rural poor), this is a backeast politician from a highly urbanized state. Do you really think he has your best interests in mind?
Let's move on to another politician from that same mold: Rudy Giuliani. Former Mayor of New York City. "Cleaned up" Times Square. Just happened to be Mayor on 9/11/2001. Here is talking about how he'd make a great Attorney General. He is an experienced attorney, kind of pre-requisite for being an Attorney General. I don't know about you, but it is a little disturbing when he mentions wanting to persecute Hillary Clinton (give up on the fucking, e-mails, assholes!), then backpedals, slightly, when he realizes how dangerous it would be to politicize the job like that. Once again, rich, back east big shot. Do you really think he has your best interests in mind?
Another thing about Rudy, there has been a lot of abuse by law enforcement lately, a lot of it clearly racially motivated, and he sides with law enforcement. I'm not linking to any particular incident. There'll be a new one a day or a week right after I post this. Now, I prefer to believe the best in people. I trust law enforcement officials and advocates when they say, "This is not representative. This is the work of one or two bad apples." What bothers me, as it should bother any reasonable person, is that rather than disciplining or blacklisting these few bad apples, the other officers close ranks around them and protect them. Put a pin in that idea! I plan on coming back to it in a later post.
Last, we come to Newt Gingrich. While the evolving story seems to be that he doesn't really want a cabinet post, he is a close adviser to Trump. So let's look a little at his history. Career Washington politician infamous for partisanship and gridlock. Anyone that remembers the 90s will remember the story of Monica Lewinski. I'd rather not reopen any decades old wounds about it, but it was, at the heart of it all, a show trial about a President's sexual proclivities.
With that show trial in mind, don't think too hard about how he wants to form a new House Unamerican Activities Committee. Those were a dark chapter in our history. Some people think getting banned from Twitter or Facebook are violations of First Amendment rights. Those are junior league. (Especially considering that Twitter and Facebook are privately owned platforms; they can ban anyone they want.) The House Unamerican Activities Committee killed careers and, arguably, any shred of creativity or integrity Hollywood and the press had at that time.
I'm leaving you there, because when I come back, I plan to tell you the secret story of how the HUAC almost killed something near and dear to the heart of every geek and nerd out there: Star Trek.
Before I sign off, all progressives out there: meet Elizabeth Warren. Everything I've read and heard about her is encouraging.
News about his transition team and people he's meeting with is changing almost daily at the moment. For example: he recently met with critics and opponents like Tulsi Gabbard and Mitt Romney. Almost as if he's trying to appear reasonable. This should frighten people far more than if he was keeping up the vitriolic rhetoric that many of his followers are still partaking in.
For now, let's look at some close supporters, who, even if they don't get a cabinet post, are going to have some influence. That article is pretty old for the ridiculous 24/7 news cycle we're on these days, but let's look at some: Chris Christie, Rudy Giuliani, and Newt Gingrich.
Chris Christie. Some of you may know him as the Governor of New Jersey that got outed as a Dallas Cowboys fan. Bear in mind that people in New Jersey, depending on what part of the state they're from, tend to follow the New York teams or the Philadelphia teams. Those of you who pay attention to more substantial news may remember the time he just decided to quarantine a nurse in a parking lot during the Ebola scare. That first point just illustrates the contempt he has for his constituents in his own native state. That second bit should scare anyone who's ever uttered "executive over-reach." Last but not least, bear in mind, Rangers (this blog's term for the rural poor), this is a backeast politician from a highly urbanized state. Do you really think he has your best interests in mind?
Let's move on to another politician from that same mold: Rudy Giuliani. Former Mayor of New York City. "Cleaned up" Times Square. Just happened to be Mayor on 9/11/2001. Here is talking about how he'd make a great Attorney General. He is an experienced attorney, kind of pre-requisite for being an Attorney General. I don't know about you, but it is a little disturbing when he mentions wanting to persecute Hillary Clinton (give up on the fucking, e-mails, assholes!), then backpedals, slightly, when he realizes how dangerous it would be to politicize the job like that. Once again, rich, back east big shot. Do you really think he has your best interests in mind?
Another thing about Rudy, there has been a lot of abuse by law enforcement lately, a lot of it clearly racially motivated, and he sides with law enforcement. I'm not linking to any particular incident. There'll be a new one a day or a week right after I post this. Now, I prefer to believe the best in people. I trust law enforcement officials and advocates when they say, "This is not representative. This is the work of one or two bad apples." What bothers me, as it should bother any reasonable person, is that rather than disciplining or blacklisting these few bad apples, the other officers close ranks around them and protect them. Put a pin in that idea! I plan on coming back to it in a later post.
Last, we come to Newt Gingrich. While the evolving story seems to be that he doesn't really want a cabinet post, he is a close adviser to Trump. So let's look a little at his history. Career Washington politician infamous for partisanship and gridlock. Anyone that remembers the 90s will remember the story of Monica Lewinski. I'd rather not reopen any decades old wounds about it, but it was, at the heart of it all, a show trial about a President's sexual proclivities.
With that show trial in mind, don't think too hard about how he wants to form a new House Unamerican Activities Committee. Those were a dark chapter in our history. Some people think getting banned from Twitter or Facebook are violations of First Amendment rights. Those are junior league. (Especially considering that Twitter and Facebook are privately owned platforms; they can ban anyone they want.) The House Unamerican Activities Committee killed careers and, arguably, any shred of creativity or integrity Hollywood and the press had at that time.
I'm leaving you there, because when I come back, I plan to tell you the secret story of how the HUAC almost killed something near and dear to the heart of every geek and nerd out there: Star Trek.
Before I sign off, all progressives out there: meet Elizabeth Warren. Everything I've read and heard about her is encouraging.
Wednesday, November 16, 2016
Mission Statement
I have a table-top gaming blog. Last Wednesday, I wrote on there that I don't think geeking and politics should mix. I'm officially retracting that.
Why? Because last Tuesday a narcissistic pathological liar won the highest office in the United States of America on a platform of open racism and sexism. That's not 21st century America. It's 1930s Germany.
John Oliver told his audience before signing off on Sunday is that the worst thing we can let happen is to let that seem normal. I can't, and I won't.
This is a message to the poor, mostly rural whites that are mostly conservative but not as malicious as Trump's rhetoric makes you appear. It's also a message to urban liberals that aren't as condescending as the celebrities on TV make you look.
No More Bubbles
I'm white and well educated. I also live in a poor, rural community. I know the anger on both sides. Benson's job options are a few no-tell motels along the freeway, the city government, a hospital, a mental health facility, and a Walmart. So I know that anger.
But what has my college degree and secondary training in a writing and research intensive field gotten me? Jack all so far. Jobs at call centers? Fuck those. I'd rather work retail customer service and be able to look people in the eye. Either way, I have some expensive pieces of paper that say "Yay! I Did It!" and not a whole lot else. I know that anger.
And for those of you lucky enough to have never experienced it, or better yet, lucky enough to have moved on to a better place in your life and are forgetting that feeling, the anger is bone deep. A Rage, if you will. Something that wants to project outward to make enemies and tear down everything they hold dear. Especially since projecting it inward only tears you apart inside and only makes it harder to find a way to move on.
I'm tired of enemies. I can't alienate the rural poor people I work with. I can't alienate the literate, more urban circles that I'm a part of. I want to understand the anger both feel and channel it.
No More Lies
I lie to myself. I say that because I don't put on a white robe and burn crosses on peoples' lawns, I'm not a racist. I say that because I don't grope women or chant "No means yes. Yes means anal" I'm not sexist. I tell myself that because I'm not part of the problem, that I'm the solution. That's a lie.
Not being part of the problem matters, yes. But it's the first step. It's to say something when I see someone being racist, sexist, anti-semitic, or Islamaphobic. Even someone just passively accepting a line of thinking that's flawed. I've passively accepted it when I've seen it for too long. I can't anymore. The more I tell myself, "It'll change eventually," the more I forget that change needs to be fought for.
And I'm not just going to stop lying to myself. I will strive to research what the politicians on both sides of the aisle, local and national, are saying and catch them in lies. And not just politicians. Business leaders. NGO leaders. Media pundits. Anybody.
No More Dismissal
I know the anger. I know the lies. I can't dismiss the people for believing lies or feeling anger.
So I'm gonna do the best research I can. I have an agenda. Yeah, it's a socially and economically liberal one. I also have a particular voice. Since I started with blogging about table-top role-playing, I'll be couching this one in my familiar language. But if you have a problem with the agenda, if you have a problem with the voice, take a deep breath and CONSTRUCTIVELY tell me what you think and why. I don't want to dismiss you. Please return the favor.
I have a long slog ahead of me. We have a long slog ahead of us.
So the plan going forward?
First, I'm going to keep track of our President Elect as best I can and post as much of the truth about what he is doing as I can.
Second, sometimes I will dig into history and discuss times when politics and geekery mixed, and the tragedies and triumphs that came out of those.
And I'm going to conclude this post with a simple declaration:
Blacks, Hispanics, LGBTQ, Women, Jewish people, Muslims, anyone who isn't a white, Christian male: if the worst happens, and they come for you, they'll have to take me, too. Because I will be standing with you.
Why? Because last Tuesday a narcissistic pathological liar won the highest office in the United States of America on a platform of open racism and sexism. That's not 21st century America. It's 1930s Germany.
John Oliver told his audience before signing off on Sunday is that the worst thing we can let happen is to let that seem normal. I can't, and I won't.
This is a message to the poor, mostly rural whites that are mostly conservative but not as malicious as Trump's rhetoric makes you appear. It's also a message to urban liberals that aren't as condescending as the celebrities on TV make you look.
No More Bubbles
I'm white and well educated. I also live in a poor, rural community. I know the anger on both sides. Benson's job options are a few no-tell motels along the freeway, the city government, a hospital, a mental health facility, and a Walmart. So I know that anger.
But what has my college degree and secondary training in a writing and research intensive field gotten me? Jack all so far. Jobs at call centers? Fuck those. I'd rather work retail customer service and be able to look people in the eye. Either way, I have some expensive pieces of paper that say "Yay! I Did It!" and not a whole lot else. I know that anger.
And for those of you lucky enough to have never experienced it, or better yet, lucky enough to have moved on to a better place in your life and are forgetting that feeling, the anger is bone deep. A Rage, if you will. Something that wants to project outward to make enemies and tear down everything they hold dear. Especially since projecting it inward only tears you apart inside and only makes it harder to find a way to move on.
I'm tired of enemies. I can't alienate the rural poor people I work with. I can't alienate the literate, more urban circles that I'm a part of. I want to understand the anger both feel and channel it.
No More Lies
I lie to myself. I say that because I don't put on a white robe and burn crosses on peoples' lawns, I'm not a racist. I say that because I don't grope women or chant "No means yes. Yes means anal" I'm not sexist. I tell myself that because I'm not part of the problem, that I'm the solution. That's a lie.
Not being part of the problem matters, yes. But it's the first step. It's to say something when I see someone being racist, sexist, anti-semitic, or Islamaphobic. Even someone just passively accepting a line of thinking that's flawed. I've passively accepted it when I've seen it for too long. I can't anymore. The more I tell myself, "It'll change eventually," the more I forget that change needs to be fought for.
And I'm not just going to stop lying to myself. I will strive to research what the politicians on both sides of the aisle, local and national, are saying and catch them in lies. And not just politicians. Business leaders. NGO leaders. Media pundits. Anybody.
No More Dismissal
I know the anger. I know the lies. I can't dismiss the people for believing lies or feeling anger.
So I'm gonna do the best research I can. I have an agenda. Yeah, it's a socially and economically liberal one. I also have a particular voice. Since I started with blogging about table-top role-playing, I'll be couching this one in my familiar language. But if you have a problem with the agenda, if you have a problem with the voice, take a deep breath and CONSTRUCTIVELY tell me what you think and why. I don't want to dismiss you. Please return the favor.
I have a long slog ahead of me. We have a long slog ahead of us.
So the plan going forward?
First, I'm going to keep track of our President Elect as best I can and post as much of the truth about what he is doing as I can.
Second, sometimes I will dig into history and discuss times when politics and geekery mixed, and the tragedies and triumphs that came out of those.
And I'm going to conclude this post with a simple declaration:
Blacks, Hispanics, LGBTQ, Women, Jewish people, Muslims, anyone who isn't a white, Christian male: if the worst happens, and they come for you, they'll have to take me, too. Because I will be standing with you.
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