If you read Seanan McGuire's post, it may have led you to this impassioned post by Kate Harding. The long thread that follows has some especially interesting discussion.
Does the original post overstate? Does it go too far with some of its rhetoric? Well, maybe. Yes ... and maybe not. I'd rather some passion be expressed than that this not be taken seriously. Kudos to Harding and McGuire for speaking up in such a forthright way about such a touchy issue. They've made a new fan, in my case, even though I haven't actually read their books or listened to McGuire's music, or whatever.
I'll now be watching out for them.
About Me
- Russell Blackford
- Australian philosopher, literary critic, legal scholar, and professional writer. Based in Newcastle, NSW. My latest books are THE TYRANNY OF OPINION: CONFORMITY AND THE FUTURE OF LIBERALISM (2019); AT THE DAWN OF A GREAT TRANSITION: THE QUESTION OF RADICAL ENHANCEMENT (2021); and HOW WE BECAME POST-LIBERAL: THE RISE AND FALL OF TOLERATION (2024).
1 comment:
As a 'weird kid' who was bullied pretty hard throughout school, I can identify with this post. Bullying made me a little too hard, and I still carry a chip on my shoulder about it.
My kids don't seem to be having the same problems I did though; thankfully. Overwhelmingly they are well liked by their peers and teachers. The only run-in with a bully that they've had--to my knowledge--so far seemed to be more taxing on me than it was on them, because it took a lot of restraint for me not to pummel the little shit when I found out he was giving my son a hard time. My son had a good perspective on it: he said, 'I feel really bad for that kid because I don't think he's very happy.'
I just finished reading 'The Moral Landscape', and was encouraged by the last chapter where Sam Harris rightfully notes that in spite of all of the stupid things we still do sometimes, on the whole we are progressing.
I think that understanding how best to maximize human well-being is the best thing we can do for our kids.
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