I was agreeing with you, to be clear.

I think a big part of growing up in the society of a neoimperial superpower kind of means that many of us have a lot of work to do in terms of getting over the ignorance we were taught to hold towards other societies and just completely dismantling the idea that the US is the centre of the world.

I’m from the US and honestly it runs deep.

A lot of people in the US just honestly have little knowledge or regard for the politics, history, or societies of other countries. Let alone actually integrate foreign policy and international human rights and development into their worldview.

The people who dive hard into these things and invest their identity and personality into them like to imagine that they are smarter than everyone else. That they have some kind of special insight possessed only by a select few.

And when it all comes crashing down, they move on to the next thing.

The lesson I draw from Lovecraft’s life is that hateful attitudes are taught, not inherent, and that being around the right (or wrong) people in life makes a huge difference in your personal development.

But at the end of the day, he did very clearly and undeniably hold deep-set hateful beliefs.

I was heretofore unaware of this. What positions did they each take about it? What attitudes, if any, did they have on the rise of fascism at the time?

I don’t hold out much hope just because I feel like when someone has shitty attitudes and an entire obsessive following of people who reinforce said attitudes at every turn, it becomes a borderline cult of personality that convinces said person they can do no wrong.

Lovecraft fits the profile of the kind of person who would absolutely get radicalised and fall down the far-right rabbit hole because the feminist conspiracy or trans people or whatever other group is out to get him and is somehow responsible for every misfortune in his life.

I personally don’t feel like they have much cultural staying power to be honest. The stories aren’t especially original or novel and don’t have the kind of timeless message that can be relevant to audiences of any era. They’re just bland and are likely to just be replaced and forgotten over time.

Lovecraft’s extreme and virulent racism was so out there that it was considered pronounced and strange even by his contemporaries.

If I recall, it actually convinced his friend Robert E. Howard to tone down the racist tropes in his own stories.

Lovecraft wasn’t just “of his time“, he was extreme.

Knowing what I do of Lovecraft and the antipathy with which he would likely view me (a white North American trans woman of Irish heritage) I honestly pity him.

It doesn’t mean his attitudes weren’t vile. But he seemed to be moving on from them and it is sad he did not get the chance to be better.

His marriage as well as his friendship with an anarchist and anti-racist activist named James Ferdinand Morton Jr. and living in a big, cosmopolitan city like New York rather than his horrid family in New England was probably the best chance for him to turn his life around and be a better person.

There were points where he seemed to be lessening his racist attitudes.

I suspect a lot of his thinking came from his extremely sheltered and repressive past.

People like his friend James Ferdinand Morton Jr., an anarchist and anti-racist activist, could have continued to influence him IMO.

I feel like the trajectory both of them had was radically different: Lovecraft was an obscure writer who struggled to achieve prominence during his lifetime. Rowling became massively successful and wealthy.

That kind of fame, and influence amplifies a person’s worst attitudes and qualities IMO.

This particular controversy is very revealing in that it shows us very clearly which trans allies actually act like allies vs. fake allies that get defensive and angry because they refuse to accept even minor inconvenience because we ask them not to support hateful creators.

It's not just the freedom, I think, but the confidence.

Transphobes and other reactionaries are deeply insecure people. They structure their lives around tearing down things and people that they hate. They can't imagine the idea of being happy and secure enough to not care how other people live.

Tree: Birch
Flower: Pride of Madeira
Season: Winter
Tea: Hot Black Tea with Milk
Coffee: Latte
Time of Day: Night
Genre: Fantasy
Dessert: Medovik (Russian Honey Cake)

IMO, the greatest issue with the concept of innate goodness is that the concept of being innately good is premised on the existence of people who are innately evil.

This is untrue. People are taught whether by purpose or example how to be. And moreover, they may also learn and grow.

"If people can be taught to hate, they can also be taught to love" is a classic quote of Nelson Mandela, if I am remembering the phrase correctly.

When people say they act well solely because of Christian teaching, that to me implies that such people only see kindness as something they are obliged to do because they will be rewarded and praised if they do, not because it's the right thing to do.

(Cont.) And it's important to understand these distinctions because many marginalised religious communities exist within the US and other Western countries that are directly discriminated against by the dominant religion or people whose cultural background is rooted in said dominant religion.

Also, there's a tendency among people in the US and other Western countries to assume that all "religion" behaves akin to right-wing North American Christianity.

It's a bizarre and frankly ignorant take to assume that the full complexity of human religious thought can be treated so reductively.

Oooh I love a beautiful fall and carrot cake is so delicious! I make a really tasty one with the classic cream cheese frosting. :}

This is very much a goal of mine one day! To look just as fiendish as I desire. :}

I just remember that Star Wars Bounty Hunter was a story about Jango Fett getting a job from Count Dooku to go hunt down a sinister Dark Force cult and have adventures in the galactic underworld and it was definitely out there but felt completely believable as something that could happen.

Digital illustration of a young man under green and orange neon lights at night. Blurred neon signs are behind him. He has shoulder-length blonde hair parted on the side, flowing as he walks, multiple face piercings, smokey eye make up, and is casually smoking a cigarette

Digital illustration depicting a one-armed french world war one soldier in a field of tall grass. He is ablaze as he smokes a cigarette and holds his rifle lanyard with his hand. In the background are church ruins in foggy weather. The tones are blue and orange.

Illustration depicting a terrifyingly skinny woman with long silver hair parted towards the front. The illustration depicts her from behind. She's missing an arm and has a damaged prothestic limb as replacement. She's holding a cutter pointed towards a bright red square in the centre of her spine

Digital painting of an abandoned barn and hanger by the train tracks on a stormy, orange day - the hanger has graffiti on it, and the small shack in the back has its door open out of which a red glow eminates

Hi everyone !

I’m going to have to open a few comms as as good as going back to school is, it’s rough financially

Do be advised that things might take a while on orders due to homework and lectures !

If you wish to support, here are my slots and my ko-Fi in general !

ko-fi.com/radinsky/com...

IMO far-right "debate" is mostly about controlling the narrative on a given issue. It's about establishing a given falsehood (i.e. "trans people are evil" or "peaceful protesters are actually far-left terrorists") and cementing it in far-right circles as a way to establish and normalise it.

Personally I think the idea that politics should be about "debate" is an incredibly toxic one anyway.

IMO it just encourages the idea that basic human rights and needs are something that can be haggled or bargained for rather than fundamental necessities that should be provided by government.

It's lovely! I've actually used a recipe to make some delightful cookies with it and it's really tasty. :}