This is and is not a news update.
I had a story coming out ten days ago.
Then I didn’t.
Some time, maybe I’ll write about contracts and negotiations and voices and motivations and the constant battle between Art and Commerce we all live under.
Today, I’m just happy not to have new fiction to promote.
Because, as I keep forgetting, as I keep being horrifically, mundanely, repeatedly, mind-numbingly reminded, while there is a place for poetry and allusions and escapism and Art that offers all the space in the world for free interpretation and engagement, there is also a desperate need for clarity. Honesty. Facts.
And since I write fiction that tries very hard not to tip into the extremities of didacticism, that explores ideas and invites readers to ask questions and think for themselves, rather than (I hope) presenting thin allegories and heavy-handed conclusions, I want to get a statement on record.
Most of my “nonfiction” writing ends up effectively subscription-gated (i.e., via newsletter) or on social media. In many cases, I’m more engaged with raising up voices more directly involved and educated on any given issue than commenting myself. (Again, fiction writer—I process my ideas sideways, inside-out, and open-ended through fun-house mirrors!)
But I’ve also been having very alarming conversations lately. Conversations where I assumed shared understandings about the world and was sadly mistaken.
So let’s get some things straight:
All people are created equal. All human lives have value and should be protected from violence and provided—at a bare minimum—with the necessities of life in a healthy society. As humans, we should all be in favour of human rights (and animal rights are worth a look, too…)
All people means all people. Even if your people historically didn’t like their people or their people hurt your people in the past. Even if you could make more money hating and/or exploiting them, or it will cost you something to defend their rights. Even if they personally annoy you. Even if you feel uncomfortable. Yes, even then. None of us are owed a frictionless existence, especially at the cost of another’s safety, wellness, or survival.
I’d rather not make a list here of every equity-deserving people group, but growing evidence suggests I’d better start with at least a short-list. Black Lives Matter. Palestinian lives do too. Ditto Indigenous & Asian folks. Trans and queer rights are human rights. Again, this isn’t about your or my personal tastes, preferences, beliefs or desires. Human rights for all humans are an inherent good. All humans drawing really clear lines about war crimes, genocide, etc., also good! Let’s all get on that page and stay on that page…
This is where it seems to get harder for many: Colonialism? Imperialism? Not good, actually. See also: authoritarianism, totalitarianism, facism, police states, extractive capitalism . . . I know this gets a lot of folks’ backs up. I know folks get scared/offended/enraged at the thought of all that they’ve sacrificed to the machine being for nothing, humiliated at swallowing all those lies they’ve been propagandized with their whole lives, despairing at the thought that no matter what else they sacrifice, they might never pull themselves up by their bootstraps into wealth and comfort and stability. Believe me, I know.
But we’re not “temporarily embarassed...
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