Another moving, important essay. This point: "But certain compromises sully the soul. They corrupt the heart. You can end up being complicit with evil." And this: "They don’t want us to see suffering. They don’t want us to feel it. They don’t want our blood to be moved by the horrors of our day. I have little interest in being complicit with that. And I don’t believe people committed to democracy should platform it." We can't look away from the suffering all around us. The suffering in Gaza. The suffering in the West Bank. The suffering in our concentration centers. The suffering in our prisons. Looking away from evil makes us as bad as the perpetrators of evil. Sometimes compromise is just pure cowardice.
I tear every day at the BS spewing from so many places, it's honestly hard sometimes to take it all in. And then you write something like this, and I feel -- well, comforted. I am always shooketh by what people will buy into but Gad Saad's BS needs to be taken seriously but put in some sort of context (as you have). Policing who gets empathy? Incredible. I honestly do not understand why people buy into this but they do... It's why we are here with the dumbass Trump as "President." People will believe anything that makes them feel better... even if it makes no real sense. Most people don't look into things that deeply, so they'll believe whoever is screaming loudest! There is no compromising here. No. Never.
Empathy is part of basic human decency, also under attack lately. I'm blessed to be surrounded by many caring, thoughtful people who are working for democracy. Thank you for your work!
💯 We shall not sully our souls by compromising or turning away from the horrors - and their horrors are incredibly horrible - of this maga slop calling themselves leaders. This particular instance reeks of the Muskrat-Thiel-esque squalor of holding lectures to call everyone else evil and the anti-christ, and declaring empathy a liability. Such ridiculous blasphemy. The proof was in the armed guard at the door of this event = purposeful provocation = zero empathy for its harm or optics = fanning the flames of racism. Life is most definitely too short to waste time and energy on engage racists whose souls are long lost and buried under their commitment to daily evils. No compromising with or for racists, ever. That's what makes the Paramount/WB "settlement deal" so egregious = can't ever trust Nazis.
I've had the joy and honor of participating in ten of the eleven Mississippi Book Festivals. It is the best Literary Lawn Party! The only issue I have with it moving to September is that Jackson State usually has a football game that day, so I now go to the MBF double-dressed: shirt for the MBF and pants for the game. Once my panel is completed, depending on the time, I change my shirt and head to the game. Yet, the MBF is always a wonderful time that showcases just how much Mississippi has contributed to the literary landscape.
Finally, you hit the bull's eye on the notion of compromising with evil. People like Gaad are merely the neo-David Dukes of the world, who learned how to dress their evil in business suits and scholarly rhetoric. As such, critical thinking is needed more than ever before so that people who want the truth can see that Gaad's ideas are the equivalent of a pig in the finest lipstick. So, while having folks like him platformed at the festival is the cost or tax of doing business (securing funding) under the current umbrella of the Neo-Confederacy, our job, as one of my mentors, Dr. Jerry Ward, once told me, is to out-research, out-think, and out-write them so that the people can be overwhelmed with the truth and no one can deny it.
Another moving, important essay. This point: "But certain compromises sully the soul. They corrupt the heart. You can end up being complicit with evil." And this: "They don’t want us to see suffering. They don’t want us to feel it. They don’t want our blood to be moved by the horrors of our day. I have little interest in being complicit with that. And I don’t believe people committed to democracy should platform it." We can't look away from the suffering all around us. The suffering in Gaza. The suffering in the West Bank. The suffering in our concentration centers. The suffering in our prisons. Looking away from evil makes us as bad as the perpetrators of evil. Sometimes compromise is just pure cowardice.
I tear every day at the BS spewing from so many places, it's honestly hard sometimes to take it all in. And then you write something like this, and I feel -- well, comforted. I am always shooketh by what people will buy into but Gad Saad's BS needs to be taken seriously but put in some sort of context (as you have). Policing who gets empathy? Incredible. I honestly do not understand why people buy into this but they do... It's why we are here with the dumbass Trump as "President." People will believe anything that makes them feel better... even if it makes no real sense. Most people don't look into things that deeply, so they'll believe whoever is screaming loudest! There is no compromising here. No. Never.
Empathy is part of basic human decency, also under attack lately. I'm blessed to be surrounded by many caring, thoughtful people who are working for democracy. Thank you for your work!
It was nice to meet you at the festival! Thanks for signing my book!
💯 We shall not sully our souls by compromising or turning away from the horrors - and their horrors are incredibly horrible - of this maga slop calling themselves leaders. This particular instance reeks of the Muskrat-Thiel-esque squalor of holding lectures to call everyone else evil and the anti-christ, and declaring empathy a liability. Such ridiculous blasphemy. The proof was in the armed guard at the door of this event = purposeful provocation = zero empathy for its harm or optics = fanning the flames of racism. Life is most definitely too short to waste time and energy on engage racists whose souls are long lost and buried under their commitment to daily evils. No compromising with or for racists, ever. That's what makes the Paramount/WB "settlement deal" so egregious = can't ever trust Nazis.
Thanks again, Eddie. 🙏🏼
Totally agree. This evil crap flourishes when we remain silent and we don’t push back; we definitely should not platform this.
Thank you professor!
I've had the joy and honor of participating in ten of the eleven Mississippi Book Festivals. It is the best Literary Lawn Party! The only issue I have with it moving to September is that Jackson State usually has a football game that day, so I now go to the MBF double-dressed: shirt for the MBF and pants for the game. Once my panel is completed, depending on the time, I change my shirt and head to the game. Yet, the MBF is always a wonderful time that showcases just how much Mississippi has contributed to the literary landscape.
Finally, you hit the bull's eye on the notion of compromising with evil. People like Gaad are merely the neo-David Dukes of the world, who learned how to dress their evil in business suits and scholarly rhetoric. As such, critical thinking is needed more than ever before so that people who want the truth can see that Gaad's ideas are the equivalent of a pig in the finest lipstick. So, while having folks like him platformed at the festival is the cost or tax of doing business (securing funding) under the current umbrella of the Neo-Confederacy, our job, as one of my mentors, Dr. Jerry Ward, once told me, is to out-research, out-think, and out-write them so that the people can be overwhelmed with the truth and no one can deny it.