Pavel Novel

It's worth going a little into why this way of talking about art is fascist. Fascists have a complicated relationship with freedom. On the one hand, they love to portray themselves as powerful, vigorous, tearing through opposition that seeks to hold them down and asserting themselves above all. On the other hand, they want to be told exactly what to do at all times. They want a cultural tradition enforced by violence that will guide every major decision of their lives down to their personal appearance and spiritual beliefs. Are these contradictory? Yes, to some extent, though it's worth remembering that fascists always imagine themselves as the ones in charge of the oppressive political violence, not, as they are much more likely to be, the ones subjected to it. With that in mind, they fit together a lot better. Now, apply that to art. On the one hand, art has to make you feel powerful and free. On the other hand, it can't actually come from a place of freedom. Artists can't be allowed to experiment and disagree. The artistic world must all speak with one aesthetic and one message, so that fascists can be led by it. It has to be their GPS, and it has to be shackled to a simple rhythm so that they are never confused by what it's telling them to do. The ball here is only ever so slightly hidden, as this person pretends to be okay with any art being produced so long as we reach total agreement on what art is good. But that's also impossible in an actual free world. People not only make different art but value art differently, and fascists can't stand that. It scares and disgusts them, and they have to pretend that there is a universal instinct underneath that difference that's been corrupted somehow. There isn't. Fascists like freedom as a catchphrase, but they hate it in practice, because freedom leads to variety and richness and exploration, and all of those things are against the fascist love of conformity, for movement in one single, lockstep forward motion. All of that leads them to this awful, sterile view of art, where art has to be always the same, always simple, and always flattering them for their fascism. If it was anything else, it would make them feel uncomfortable and they are too rigid and immature to feel uncomfortable.

when e.e. cummings said “i’ll live my life if it kills me”

when andrea gibson said “i suppose i love this life, in spite of my clenched fist.” & when ellen bass said “to love life, to love it even when you have no stomach for it”

when james baldwin said, “this is why one must say yes to life and embrace it wherever it is found-and it is found in terrible places; nevertheless, there it is;”

when Mary Oliver said “it is a serious thing / just to be alive / on this fresh morning / in this broken world”

When Walt Whitman said, “Answer: That you are here—that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse.”

beavers are one of those things you just accept without question as soon as adults tell you about it as a kid and then many years later in your adulthood you look up one day and go wait, what do you mean there exists a species of rodent hydrological engineer that knows how to build properly ventilated freestanding houses for itself, that doesn't make any sense

As a non-American I have always been just absolutely gobsmacked by the beaver. Like, I get why there is so much focus on the platypus being a weird experiment. But I feel that if people in North America weren't so used to the beaver they would also ask if some Creator had also been experimenting with the beaver....and perhaps gotten quite a bit further than just quirky design aesthetics.

breaking: guy with no more room on bookshelf bought 2 books today

the problem with buying food is after you eat it you have to go buy more food

just say you have an addiction

as a little baby you are happy with plain milk and just some sort of mono-coloured paste, but as you eat more and more that just doesn't cut it any more. you need more flavours, more textures, more extreme foods. that's how you can tell it's not harmless, it's frying your dopamine receptors. some sickos even eat foods that literally hurt to eat because they're so eager to chase their fix.

Anyway it's kinda funny how many americans refuse to believe that the status quo of global trade largely consists of the third world subsidizing their quality of life, and not the other way around.

official anti terf post