Comments on: Message to all writers who won’t write about the election

By: Joel Sparks

Joel Sparks — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 13:53:14 +0000

Kudos on this. Not all SF is about near future, like yours, but most SF posits a world grown out of the current one. Ignoring the state of the world means, if nothing else, getting the axioms wrong from which you derive your futures.

By: David Williams

David Williams — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 16:24:48 +0000

hey M- it’s a great point; and I agree, a lot of what folks object to in writers getting all political is when they preach to the converted and therefore dispense with logic (and often civility). And then after a while there’s no critical thinking going on on the site. That might be fine for something like Daily Kos, which is all about mobilization (and I respect that), but you’re right, it doesn’t work so well for this kind of blog.

In that regard, an interesting quote from the New Yorker I just came across:

“With the Internet, all of us were going to be content producers, but it’s become an echo chamber.”

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/10/13/081013fa_fact_packer?currentPage=all

By: Melinda

Melinda — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 15:46:08 +0000

Good post, Dave, and a lot of good thoughts, too.

In my opinion, writers blogging about politics or religion or what-have-you is all about execution. If I read a strong, carefully-thought, cogent argument by someone whose views I don’t share, I can still respect them. If I read a whining, screech-fest by someone I agree with, not only do I lose respect for them, I cringe at sharing their views.

I think there are a lot of fiction writers who forget that blogging is writing and requires the same careful attention as fiction. This includes putting yourself in the reader’s position and asking “How would I feel if I had voted for G.W. Bush and read this blog post that outright calls me a moron without backing up the writer’s opinions? Would I be likely to respect this person afterward?”

That’s the difference. There are fiction writers who emote all over their own blog space and then say, “I’ll never write about politics again. It makes people crazy.” There are writers (like you, for example, and the folks at Making Light) who make fact-based assertions that some people might find unpleasant without stooping to belittling, angry language that makes even people who agree with you cringe.

By: David Williams

David Williams — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 22:03:45 +0000

Leslie– it’s a great video, one that everyone should watch, and I’m posting it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XgkeTanCGI

fyi, Wolfe asserts that (a) at least some representatives were told last week that there’d be martial law if the bailout didn’t pass:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaG9d_4zij8

and that (b) a brigade has been moved from Iraq into the U.S. to deal with potential civil disorder:

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/09/army_homeland_090708w/

The former could (potentially) be construed as hyperbole. The latter’s just dangerous. The overall pattern is not a good one.

By: Leslie

Leslie — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 21:54:59 +0000

I feel much the same way Dave, as you know. This is no time to ignore what’s going on around us. The changes over the past eight years have hit me hard. There is an interview with Naomi Wolfe on You Tube called Give Me Liberty that’s been emailed to me twice this week that ‘s pretty scary. Hard to know what to do next.