… Well, part of it, anyhow.
Bari Weiss — a liberal, urban, lesbian writer late of the New York Times* is saying not to respond to wokeism by groveling, hiding your real thoughts, apologizing, trying to change yourself to fit the latest weird ethic, or parroting the party line.
No, she says not only to SPEAK UP with your real opinions, but live your life well according to your own standards — which in her listicle of recommendations may not entirely be the standards of a Freedom Outlaw, but certainly rhyme with them. Bari Weiss is wonderful, anyhow. But this is the freedomista best I’ve seen from her.
Read and rejoice.
—–
* Yes, Weiss (brave woman) quit her job at the Times in protest against what has now become media mainstream. But this is still a long, long way for an NYT writer to come. And a real blessing to see an anti-woke mainstreamer do something other than list grievances and wring hands about how bad things are getting.
Each of us are and will be tested.
Standing for liberty has it costs, especially today.
But the cost of not standing are so much greater IMHO.
Maybe, just possibly, perhaps, some of “those” people aren’t really all that different than you, perhaps, maybe, just possibly, just as you’ve been lied to, and about, perhaps, maybe, just possibly those “others” have been too.
Perhaps, maybe, just possibly, those in power have been conning you, trying to divide and conquer all this time.
Nah
That’s just too far fetched, to cheer the government shooting them, because you know, reasons.
Oh, of course we’ve all been conned about each other. Good old divide and conquer as usual.
But my surprise isn’t to do with that. My surprise is that anybody, anywhere in the spectrum, is so beautifully advocating self-ownership and individual action to restore freedom. Most people — and certainly most mainstream writers — prefer simply to bitch. Or natter on about political solutions.
It’s refreshing hearing such a ringing cry for individual action, for being free in an unfree world, from a former NYT writer and from NYC of all places.
My surprise is that anybody, anywhere in the spectrum, is so beautifully advocating self-ownership and individual action to restore freedom. Most people — and certainly most mainstream writers — prefer simply to bitch. Or natter on about political solutions.
It’s refreshing hearing such a ringing cry for individual action, for being free in an unfree world, from a former NYT writer and from NYC of all places”
Perhaps there are a lot of people, yes, even in NYNY, or Oakland, Or LA, or Seattle who think and feel much the same way as MS Weiss, and perhaps they’re not being heard, or their message is being distorted.
I’m sure a lot of people these days are not being heard. However, In my XX years of experience, I’ve sadly learned that nearly everybody would rather bitch and/or wait for political solutions than to take their own life into their own hands when it comes to creating freedom.
To whatever extent this is changing because more people recognize that politics isn’t for “the people,” I applaud it — and them. But I don’t think there’s much evidence that a commitment to self-ownership and individual action for freedom is (or has been) widespread until now.
But then, maybe I’m just cynical.
It is hard not to be cynical.
Losing one’s faith in just about everything and everyone makes it even harder not being.
However a person can live in the past or a person can live in the here and now and realize what you actually have control of, yourself.
As my clan motto goes;
He Conquers, who Conquers himself.
Whatever comes we all must realize our real battleground lies within ourselves and in the end that will be the only battle that matters for each of us.
Reading that was great fun. Thanks for finding and sharing it.
I even feel like she would listen to my side on the points we disagree on– and that’s something rare.
She’s welcome at my fire.
Wokery: intellectual dane-geld. http://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/poems_danegeld.htm
So to update an old meme, a Fredomista is a liberal who has been canceled?
As I recall, it went something like:
After the 2016 election the PTB at the NYT said, “Oh, dear,* our projections were way out in Left field. There are a lot of people out there we aren’t listening to. Let’s hire an editor to bring their voices (the ones that we think are reasonable) onto our pages.”
So they hired Weiss, and she started to find new voices.
Predictably, the rest of the Woke newsroom felt threatened by those heresies, and they Mau-Maued her. The PTB caved, and let the cancelling proceed. Weiss took as much as she could stand, then went out in a blaze of glory. (I kept a copy of her letter.)
And the bubble closed once more around the Old Gray Lady.
Fast forward to 2020, when their predictions were out past the Left field fence in the weeds. But this time the PTB concluded it was all Trump’s fault. So business as usual.**
* Well, that’s not exactly the language they used, but this is Claire’s blog.
** I’m getting “Subscribe to the Times so you’ll know what’s happening around the U.S. and the world” email offers.
“Most people — and certainly most mainstream writers — prefer simply to bitch. Or natter on about political solutions.”
Some, but not that many, people may be forgiven for just bitching and nattering. Some people, like those who work multiple jobs every day just to survive, simply do not have the time, energy, or opportunity to follow some of Bari Weiss’ ten suggestions. Some people just do not have the mental capacity to do even very basic critical thinking before they bitch and natter. There are probably some others, as well.
It might be better if they did not bitch and natter, but these we can forgive.
“Mainstream writers” (and talking heads, etc) do not have these excuses. Their bitching and nattering must be considered completely conscious, premeditated, and intentional. They do not get the benefit of Hanlon’s Razor. They are a big part of the problem.
These we must not forgive. These we must hold to account for the damage they have done, and continue to do, to whatever extent that is possible.
Live your best life according to your own standards.
Some of the best advice ever given.
However there needs to be follow up.
It should read; live your best life according to your own standards, but don’t expect, much less demand, that anyone else support, or approve of your life, or any choice you make.
Some years ago, a letter appeared in MS. Jeanne Phillips’s, (also known as Abigail Van Buren, who has written Dear Abby for decades, she is the daughter of the original “Dear Abby”)
A woman wrote to the column, she was very upset, it seems her and her husband had moved to a new city. At first all was bliss, her husband and she were warmly welcomed into their new neighborhood, but soon enough trouble started, it turned out that there were two couples on this street of whom this woman and her husband took exception too, so when it was their turn to host a dinner party, they excluded these two couples.
After that, this woman and her husband found themselves being excluded from neighborhood events, yup the invitations dried up like an ice cube in a fire pit, and some of her neighbors stooped being nice to her, they didn’t do anything to harm them, just avoided them.
This woman wailed, cried, stamped her righteous little feet, SHE AND HER HUBS HAD A RIGHT TO THEIR VALUES, AND THEY HAD A RIGHT TO HAVE ANYONE IN THEIR HOUSE THEY WISHED!!!! This woman wailed.
Abby (AKA Jeanne Phillips) gave a reasonably serviceable answer, but not the best one, the best answer would have been;
“Of course you have every right to have anyone in, or exclude anyone from your home for any reason you wish, but so do each of your neighbors, and sweetie, they’re excluding you”
To quote Rosa Luxemburg; “Freedom, only for members of the government, only for members of the party, though they are quite numerous, is no freedom at all.”
So, yes people may “cancel” the Dixie Chicks, Kathy Griffin, Phil Donahue, Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, or whomever, rather than trying to force some business to give them a platform, (or you) hat is their right.
You can cry about “wokenss” or “Cancel Culture”
But why?
Your better option is to;
1. Remind yourself, right now, of the following truth: You are free. It’s true that we live in an upside-down time in which pressing the “like” button on the wrong thing can bring untold consequences. But giving in to those who seek to confine you only hurts you in the long run. Your loss of self is the most significant thing that could be taken away from you. Don’t give it up for anything.
2. Be honest. Do not say anything about yourself or others that you know is false. Absolutely refuse to let your mind be colonized. The first crazy thing someone asks you to believe or to profess, refuse. If you can, do so out loud. There is a good chance it will inspire others to speak up, too.
3. Stick to your principles. If you are a decent person, you know mob justice is never just. So never join a mob. Ever. Even if you agree with the mob. If you are a decent person, you know betraying friends is wrong. So if a friend or a colleague does something you disagree with, write them a private note. Don’t be a snitch. Any mob that comes for them will come for you.
4. Set an example for your kids and your community. That means being courageous. I understand that it’s hard. Really hard. But in other times and places, including in our own nation, people have made far greater sacrifices. (Think of those “honored dead” who “gave the last full measure of devotion.”) If enough people make the leap, we will achieve something like herd immunity. Jump.
5. If you don’t like it, leave it. A class in college, a job, anything. Get out and do your own thing. I fully understand the impulse to want to change things from within. And by all means: Try as hard as you can. But if the leopard is currently eating the face of the person at the cubicle next to yours, I promise it’s not going to refrain from eating yours if you post the black square on Instagram.
6. Become more self-reliant. If you can learn to use a power drill, do it. If you’ve always wanted an outdoor solar hot tub, make one. Learn to poach an egg or shoot a gun. Most importantly: Get it in your head that platforms are not neutral. If you don’t believe me, look at Parler and look at Robinhood. To the extent that you can build your life to be self-reliant and not 100 percent reliant on the Web, it’s a good thing. It will make you feel competent and powerful. Which you are.
7. Worship God more than Yale. In other words, do not lose sight of what is essential. Professional prestige is not essential. Being popular is not essential. Getting your child into an elite preschool is not essential. Doing the right thing is essential. Telling the truth is essential. Protecting your kids is essential.
8. Make like-minded friends. Then stand up for them. Two good tests: Are they willing to tell the truth even if it hurts their own side? And do they think that humor should never be a casualty, no matter how bleak the circumstances? These people are increasingly rare. When you find them, hold on tight.
9. Trust your own eyes and ears. Rely on firsthand information from people you trust rather than on media spin. When you hear someone making generalizations about a group of people, imagine they are talking about you and react accordingly. If people insist on spouting back headlines and talking points, make them prove it, in their own words.
10. Use your capital to build original, interesting and generative things right now. This minute. Every day I hear from those with means with children at private schools who are being brainwashed; people who run companies where they are scared of their own employees; people who donate to their alma mater even though it betrays their principles. Enough. You have the ability to build new things. If you don’t have the financial capital, you have the social or political capital. Or the ability to sweat.
Or put a shorter way:
Live your best life according to your own standards, but don’t expect, much less demand that anyone else support, or approve of your life, or any choice you make.
So, yes people may “cancel” the Dixie Chicks, Kathy Griffin, Phil Donahue, Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, or whomever, rather than trying to force some business to give them a platform, (or you) that is their right.
Amen. Cancel culture posts are free speech, and protected by the First Amendment, just like other hate speech.
What’s that? Cancel culture isn’t “hate speech?”
Posting on Twitter that you hate someone, and you want everyone else in the world to hate them, and you want people to do hateful things to them like firing them or ending their career, sure looks like “hate speech” to me. YMMV.
Meh
I’ve never liked the term “hate” speech, seems to me just another way separating out “acceptable” speech (and thoughts) from “unacceptable” speech (and thoughts)
if Colin Kaepernick wishes to kneel while they play some song worshipping the state, that’s his right, if no NFL franchise wants to hire him (hence “cancel” him and ending his career) that’s their right.
If you wish to “hate” that Kaepernick doesn’t stand to worship some graven image while some song exulting the state is played, that’s entirely your right, if some website bans you for expressing that opinion that’s their right, if your boss want’s to can you for not liking Kaepernick, well do you have a contract that prohibits that? If not, then out the door you go.
Simple as that
People are spooked enough that even the ones who mocked self-sufficiency are looking for ways to be more self-sufficient.
Seeds are flying off the shelves at a rate I never thought I’d see.
To me it like with animals they know when a real hard winter is before them and they prepare for it.
IMHO people guts are telling them to get prepared, they may not know what is coming but it ain’t good.
all these guns and ammo ain’t being bought to go hunting with, don’t ya know?
Myself – A quote I have always liked and tried to live by:
“Do what thy manhood bid thee do; from none but self expect applause.
He noblest lives and noblest dies, who makes and keeps his self made laws”
British explorer Sir Richard Burton
I tried to join your cabal a few weeks ago and answered the questions, but never got a response or account. Not sure why this is?
I never got your application. How strange. I’m very sorry — and now I wonder if this has happened to anybody else, too.
I’ll run a test on the questionnaire and see if my test answers come through. Then I’ll email you.
Thank you for alerting me to a possible problem, and I apologize for your trouble.
I’ve never liked the term “hate” speech, seems to me just another way separating out “acceptable” speech (and thoughts) from “unacceptable” speech (and thoughts)
Agreed, Myself. But communication can be more effective if you use the other side’s jargon.
(Isn’t it sad, though, that there are a few hundred loud people who sit on Twitter all day looking for people to hate, yet get taken seriously?)
Me? “Hate is always foolish. Love is always wise.” Dr. Who
Seems to me the Democrats are being excessively foolish right now. After all, they won. They hold the White House and both houses of Congress. So why are they in high dudgeon?
The slim majority in House of Representatives spent last week stripping committee assignments from a new member of the opposite party for statements she made years ago, which she has disavowed. That is unprecedented, and sets a president that will bite them back. The Senate, with the thinnest of majorities, will spend the next weeks unconstitutionally trying a former president they have little hope of convicting. Meanwhile, the current president is fundamentally remaking the country by executive fiat, in the process persecuting people who voted against him, and shafting people who voted for him. The new Secretary of Defense has announced he is going to “purge” the military of right-wing troops.
(Really? Political Science 101; Rule One: “Never ever piss on your praetorians.” The administration was already behind that power curve when they sent the National Guard to sleep in parking garages.)
And now we have the Time article bragging how all the “lies” President Trump and his supporters told about the election being stolen are true.
https://time.com/5936036/secret-2020-election-campaign/
Pardon, the election wasn’t “stolen,” it was “rescued” from the voters.
Still, I don’t hate them. I have better things to do.
Karma, however, is a bitch.
Larry it’s sad you see “sides” but that’s up to you, yes, sooner or latter TPTB will assign a new group to be in “charge” and they’ll go about sticking it to the “other side”, but in the end all that will mean will be less freedom for you
Claire- FWIW I applied to the cabal as well and have heard nothing. It was weeks ago.
I also applied for the cabal, and have heard nothing, either yea or nay. Until now I figured (hoped) it was probably just because you were busy, since an invitation might draw many responses. But since these comments indicate that there may be a system problem, I thought I should speak up, too.
Claire #metoo on the application.Figured you’d been inundated
Thank you for letting me know about the problem, guys. And I am terribly, terribly sorry you experienced it.
I didn’t expect to be inundated with applications, but I was hoping for a few. When I got none, I was disappointed and chalked it up to a lack of interest. So I’m delighted and relieved that you want to join, even as I’m chagrined at the mess.
I’ll be looking into it as ASAP. But those of you who regularly comment here will be IN, of course, without any need for an application. And anybody else … well, I’ll either get the application problems figured out or I’ll contact you via any valid email address you use for commenting.
I have also applied to join and received no answer.
Update: Nothing useful to report yet. I’ve determined that the problem is not at my email servers, where everything is working okay. The issue appears to be at CrowdSignal, where I created the application/survey. I don’t see much of a way to get help there, so I may have to re-construct the application on a different polling site.
Before I do that, though, I’ll contact all of you who’ve told me you’ve applied and not gotten through and start the process of getting you onto the forums.
ALSO, I realize now that this problem may have been going on for a long time. So if you applied even five or six months ago and never heard back, hang in there. Once I have a new app up, I’ll post its location and you can try anew.
If you’re already a familiar commentor at the blog or you have a knowable history commenting on some other blog or forum and can point me to it, please go ahead and bypass the application. Just email me at memberships-at-clairescabal-dot-com. I’ve tested the address and know it works.
Update #2: We now have three new forum members, one returning member, and one lost applicant I’m still hoping to hear from. All people who reported their apps lost. Whew.
I wasn’t able to fix the problem at CrowdSignal/Polldaddy or to find another satisfactory free site for the application. So for now, the application process is simply sending an email to memberships-at-clairescabal-dot-com and answering the questions I’ll email back. Again, if I know you from your comments here, no application is needed. Just email and tell me what username you want. I’ll set up a forum account.
It turns out that the application process may have broken as early as late last summer. So if you applied any time since last August or September and didn’t hear back, email!
2021 will have Red Pills to spare . . .
Ditto on the forum application for me as well . I sent it in two and a half weeks ago and just assumed the no response was a rejection. I kept a copy of my replies and can e-mail them to you if desired.
Thank you for letting me know, RR. I’ve just emailed you.
You already knew about my problem submitting the application, and have already approved my membership. But just so you know, this sounds like the same thing that happened to my application. As best I can remember, I probably did mine in about August.
I should have realized, or at least investigated the possibility, that something was wrong then. I wasn’t thinking clearly enough.
I wonder how many more apologies I owe, and how many lost forum members are out there.
I know this sounds paranoid, but I have to wonder if the problem with the forum membership application process was just a technical glitch, or some deliberate malicious hacking? The way so many non-politically correct voices are being silenced, de-platformed, censored, you never know.
Although I normally try to keep my paranoia level sufficiently high, I admit deliberate manipulation hadn’t occurred to me. Heaven knows, it’s possible, these crazy days.
CrowdSignal/Polldaddy has made a ton of technical changes since I first set up that application and it’s also possible, and seems more likely, that one of them broke the application. But then, I think, wouldn’t it have broken a lot of other forms and wouldn’t they have said something to users?.
I don’t know, Noah Body. Sigh. But whatever the cause, I should have realized long ago that if the forums weren’t getting any applications there was something wrong that I needed to look into.