The above image was made with stable diffusion using the prompt 'closeup of a mosquito.'
Today I sent out my latest Substack Newsletter, titled 'Predators and Parasites.' The piece combines stuff from a few Hive posts with new material. It gets into the thorny problem of preserving everyone's natural freedoms when some people inevitably use their freedom to cause trouble for others. There are no evident solutions here, but figuring out how to reduce the control regime's contribution to the problem seems like a good place to start.
I'm still figuring out how to write about politics as an anti-partisan. And I worry that my political stance may make people less likely to read my work. My favored presidential candidate is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Woody Harrelson is currently being canceled for the outrageous offense of wearing a Kennedy hat. Supporting Kennedy is probably the most mainstream thing about my politics. I also oppose war and question the basis for our whole way of life.
Fortunately, I'm protected from the wrath of Twitter by my obscurity. Being unpopular makes me much less likely to be canceled. As more people read my writing, some will probably object. In a perfect world, their objections could be addressed through civil dialog. But things don't always work that way.
I have a friend who is hopelessly addicted to books. He runs a hole-in-the-wall bookstore and has crammed the space with books from floor to ceiling. He's always buying books and scavenging books. Whenever he sees a book, he's compelled to add it to his horde.
One time, someone in the neighborhood took a picture of the book merchant removing books from a little free library. Crowds of people on social media branded him a thief stealing community resources for profit. As if there was any profit in the tiny bookstore. In reality, the merchant likely gave away whatever books he took from the little free library. He tries to make money from his endeavor, but mostly he just likes to read and handle and share books.
Before the little free library fiasco, there was a social media campaign to cancel this bookseller because he carried a book that had to do with Nazis somehow. He was branded an anti-Semite on Facebook, which wasn't an accurate characterization at all. He's just a guy that likes books. And his business was significantly harmed by haters.
This story illustrates one of the worst aspects of cancel culture. Cancellation is a mob punishing a person for being accused of some offense. Anyone can levy the accusation for any reason and the truth of the matter is unimportant to the digital mob. The whole point is for members of the mob to signal their virtue to each other.
Importantly, the mob can't process nuance. It's therefore unlikely that the ideas in my writing will ever be detected by their superficial surveillance of current events. And as things stand, if someone were to take great offense to my ideas, it wouldn't make me any less popular. It might even add to my audience.
Read my novels:
See my NFTs:
