Don't leave a voicemail, seriously.

Oh god!

I've been away from the internet for a few days (mostly). This naturally means I've missed most of the most recent posts/updates in Racefail Infinity. I strolled into rydra_wong's link posts to see what's going on right now and JOHN SCALZI IS BEING A DICKHEAD.


Idiot opinions and remarks here

Because I am a human being, I said to myself "ok, maybe he's just a stupid white guy from Ohio and doesn't realize what he's saying because he's a blogger and not a lj citizen." But, because I had my suspicions, I schlepped over to the bookcase to see who his publisher is.

I'll give you one guess.

I also skimmed the follow up post to see if he apologized.

Dear John,

Listen, I get you think you're a gadfly and all that stuff. This is the thing, not all Very Important Discussions are alike. There is nuance in the world of ideas. You have picked the wrong thing to be edgy and controversial about. Your edginess is not more important than the basic humanity of your fellow human beings. You are an asshole.

Get a grip,
Fellow Tor Author

*

To everyone else--

I write for Tor. I think John Scalzi et al. are assholes. I also think that clustering and defending bad positions and bullying and racist comments is immoral, hurtful, damaging, and generally ill-advised. I would think this about people who write for DAW, for Penguin, or for Hustler. Currently, the people being loudest, the most ignorant, and the most insulting appear to be associated with a company I am as well. GREAT! I can't boycott myself. I will, however, not be reading John Scalzi anymore. I have several of his books sitting on top of my dresser that I guess will hit the recycling here in a moment.

I had been considering a post about my own ethnicity, passing, and intersectionality and how that leads to derailing--instead, I am posting a general this, stating that how when being edgy one should stop and think "are my opinions more important than the selfhood of my fellow man?" if the answer is YES, then you are an asshole. I'm a big believer in expressing my feelings through tossing my money/time at companies and people who I know to not be assholes.

If I end up blacklisted, I'm working on a tv pilot anyway. Blarg, fuck it.

One of the many things that *really* bothers me in this whole infernal breakdown of reason is writers being defended by fans and wannabe writers. Dudes, seriously, shouldn't you be asking people who write shit you like to read to be held to a HIGHER standard rather than a lower one? Isn't the idea that they're your role models? Why are you making excuses for them rather than demanding they act like decent people? Personally, I would prefer to learn that an author I like gives all their money to animal shelters or was in the Peace Corps rather than that they donate to Operation Rescue or that they're a religious fundamentalist. In other words, I would rather their morality be inline with my own. Every time someone defends someone who said something dehumanizing they are themselves saying to me they ALSO hold dehumanizing opinions. For every "you're taking this the wrong way," I read "I'd rather pretend racism doesn't exit" and that makes me think the person saying it is ignorant, blind, and disgusting. Stop setting the bar lower. Expect better from people who produce media you appreciate.

eta: Throughadoor's memo to the internet. She thinks I should go lay down and get off the internet, but I will link to this anyway.