These are supposed to be the years of reckoning. I mean, apparently. A time when old injustices that have been hidden or accepted for years are called out for what they are, addressed so that we can move onto a more just world.
In practice a lot of the time this just means that people get mugged. So often, in fact, that you might wonder if that isn't the whole point.
Jesse Singal is a prime example. If the name doesn't mean a whole lot to you, don't worry. Until recently I'd heard/read the name but it hadn't made much of an impression on me. He seems to have started writing for The Boston Globe while I had a subscription, and I also probably read some of his articles for New York. To his credit, he doesn't seem to be a latecomer to the free speech for all cause.
Singal still gets some outside work, but he's also one of the writers and journalists who have found Substack more their speed lately since you can be your own boss. In addition he co-hosts a podcast with Katie Herzog, a veteran of Seattle's The Stranger, although I haven't heard it. (Whenever I try listening to podcasts I wind up fast forwarding to get to the good stuff like a jaded porn addict.)
The point is that he's found his own corner. If you like what he does you can read/listen and maybe donate. If not, his work is easy enough to avoid.
Which is apparently not good enough for everyone. He seems to have made some enemies over his covering trans issues from more than one angle, although it could be that if that weren't the triggering issue it would be something else. Some have called for him to lose his forum at Substack, although again, they're not his boss or at least they're not supposed to be. There's also been some rumormongering that would be comical in its ineptitude if it weren't so relentless. In response to one allegation, Herzog has taken up a large collection to be donated to the complainer's favorite charity if she can produce any evidence. Guess what?
As large swaths of it die off, the media industry seems to be getting more vicious. One question: which of these people are deluded enough to think that they're actually working for justice? Which ones, talking off the record, would admit they're just securing their own nest eggs?
2 comments:
Your post and the links you provided sent me all over the place today, mostly in regards to the trans issues Singal wrote about that got him cancelled in the first place. All of that is interesting and if I have concerns about gender dysphoria they are only in regard to children and adolescents. But that's a whole other subject.
Oddly enough Matt Taibbi, a Substack writer we support, also wrote about Jesse Singal and Katie Herzog today (I'll email you the article in case you feel like reading it). Glenn Greenwald has also written about censorship by the mainstream media - never mind being censored by the Intercept of which he was a founder.
We've had some long discussions about where all this negative energy is coming from and how it's being used. You're right that the media industry is getting more vicious as they lose large parts of their traditional readership (and viewers) to a disparate collection of alternate platforms. It's also true that there are hordes of self-promoters at ease with new tech who have been having a field day finding victims to attack. They've even begun virtual assaults on each other (a welcome entertainment).
You might like the article Pat Lang posted this weekend about how the Chinese feel about western SJWs. It's not flattering but it is funny.
I think true gender dysphoria is pretty rare. Other things may be mistaken for it. If an adult wants to transition to another sex for whatever reason then fine. It's a little different when you're talking about kids, though.
Probably good that I hadn't seen Taibbi's piece before you sent it to me, as it wouldn't have left me with much to contribute. Herzog, who has a sense of humor on her, sort of gets at it when she says "It's fucking QAnon." Except being associated with QAnon will keep everyone but fellow Qs from listening to you. So maybe you can get away with more when you don't name your insane theories.
You're right that there are a lot of self-promoters streaming into our homes due to the new technologies. Which makes me rather nostalgic for the relatively recent days when "famous for being famous" celebrities were just vapid and shallow rather than being actively harmful.
"Baizuo" is a pretty good word. In a way it's nice to know that the Chinese have a clearer view of our situation, even if their government is at the very least profiting from it.
Post a Comment