This is what it looks like:
Markets in everything; every aspect of existence is monetized; it’s all a gamble; complete lawlessness, etc.
Author: Clarissa
Q&A: Talented Leftist Literature
I was asked in the Q&A to name some great writers with leftist sensibilities.
Rafael Chirbes is my absolute favorite. If you are not reading the gay Communist genius that he was, you should.
Juan Goytisolo was another gay Communist genius.
Gabriel García Márquez was, of course, famously and even obnoxiously leftist. The entirety of contemporary Latin American literature with the lonely exception of Mario Vargas Llosa is lefty. It’s great literature, and I sincerely recommend it. Of course, there are talentless Commie propagandists like Elena Poniatowska but there are also real geniuses like Carlos Fuentes.
None of this is very recent because there’s no longer any leftism in the sense that Chirbes or Goytisolo were leftist. That’s all gone. Now there’s only neoliberalism, which is leftism for sex-obsessed people. Almudena Grandes, Paulina Flores, Guillermo Arriaga, Sara Mesa. All mega talented. All writing about very neoliberal people with their extremely neoliberal problems.
If you want some Anglo names, you have Richard Russo, Barbara Kingsolver, Zadie Smith, Toni Morrison.
I’m not sure why this is an interesting question. Obviously, during Stalinism, it was easy to get published if you were a Stalinist. Establishment authors encounter no difficulties. Right-wing authors are working against the establishment. We have to scour the world for them because they are silenced and in hiding. Leftist writers are all on the awards lists and in the NYTimes book reviews.
It’s Not a Sandwich
Jeremy Carl couldn’t answer the question about how he defines white culture because he doesn’t want to live in fear for his life and for his family’s life. All of this insane prattle about fuzzy boundaries and complex definitions that the Right has been putting out for days now is extremely dishonest.
Carl is simply scared. Like everybody is of this subject. And instead of at least vanquishing the fear enough to point this out, we engage in a week of discussions of whether there is a clear definition of a sandwich. As if defining a sandwich led to the same devastating consequences as using the expression “white people” outside of an entirely negative context.
Reassigned
People are unhappy about getting reassigned to other departments. I’d murder to get reassigned. Not because I don’t love my colleagues at this department. I do. They are wonderful, lovely people. But I’d greatly enjoy some newness.
Endless Propaganda
The propaganda never ends:
The Power of Biology
This happened to N’s sister. She decided she was finally ready to have children, went to a clinic, and was told she’s in menopause. It’s tragic but it’s absolutely the result of cultural messaging that denies biology.
Human hubris wants to believe that there won’t be any limitations on its desires but reality always comes at it with a vengeance.
German Progress
To illustrate my progress in German, I want to share that I understand about 85% of this speech without looking at the captions.
Yes, it helps that he’s talking about Spain. It would be much harder if I didn’t know the facts he’s referring to. Plus, he’s speaking into a mic and trying to be understood.
Still, these are great results to attain completely from Duolingo. I don’t even have a German notebook and never take any notes because I have no time.
Where I’m failing is the pronunciation. What comes out of my mouth sounds like nothing similar to how this man speaks. I have to keep practicing.
Good Words
At Munich, Rubio delivered a great speech. Neither side believes a word of it but it’s a great speech. At least, somebody said the words, which is the most we can hope for at the present.
Paul Kingsnorth: A Different Kind of Conservatism
Paul Kingsnorth is a wonderful writer. Reading him is a great joy. His conservatism is not mine but variety is good within a movement.
The reason I say Kingsnorth’s conservatism is not mine is that he came to the movement from a very particular type of leftism. There used to be variety in leftism, too, but then it was all swallowed by the corporate HR style that is now the only flavor of leftism on offer. Before, though, there were all kinds, and Kingsnorth belonged to the hippy leftism that loved nature and wanted to live in a commune in the woods away from any form of capitalism and corporatism. These leftists were obsessed with feudal Europe which, for them, was the perfect model of society because it remained pre-capitalist. They hated capitalism and industrialization because those were bad for the nature and brought in mass society instead of small communities.
I hated these leftists and their hemp outfits even when I was still on the left. I was an industrialist, nation-state leftist, and all these feudal fantasies bored me.
Then, both my kind of left and Kingsnorth’s left were kicked out of the newly corporatized left. Now we are conservatives, and I feel for Kingsnorth the kind of tolerance that the left doesn’t foster. I find his enthusiasm for quoting Marx and his profound hatred of “the bourgeoisie” to be entertaining.
Can Right-wingers Create Art?
To clarify, Bothelford’s Gone is not what I refer to as a novel of conservative sensibility. It’s a straightforward right-wing novel. I have never read anything from this century that would be this right-wing in fictional form.
If you ever wondered whether it’s possible to write right-wing fiction, the answer is yes, it is. This author is not trying to be cute and coy about his right-winger state.
It’s interesting because in Spain we have authors who have not only right-wing but far-right beliefs. They express those in their non-fiction writings but their novels are politically as bland as anything. Juan Manuel de Prada is one example of this phenomenon.
Then all of a sudden an Englishman comes out with a hardcore rightist novel. Are Anglos ready to take back the lead? Let’s very much hope so.
Clarissa's Blog 