Onward through the fog

Wait a second.

So the difference between a 'natural' and an 'unnatural' monopoly is that an unnatural one is openly elevated to its position by the state in a direct political act, whereas the natural one got there via such natural competitive acts as stealing from competitors, bribing politicians, generally breaking the law and getting away with it, and otherwise receiving political support that just isn't as well publicized? So the only real difference between 'natural' and 'unnatural' is how secret the politicians involved would like to keep their support.

Fuck that. Why draw the distinction at all? You're only helping cover somebody else's ass.

Global Political Economy. Next time, I'll start the argument in class.

This should be fun.

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

And so a man got on the Q train, and in loud and ponderous tones began to deliver his version of the word of Jesus Christ. I turned up my headphones and looked back down... at Dr. Who.

And what is the point of Dr. Who, if I don't stand up against what I see as wrong?

I looked around at my fellow passengers: headphone'd, or looking away. I looked at him: African-American, greying, advanced middle age. No bag or pack. I timed it such that I would have maybe half a minute, before Union Square. (Because I am a coward, and need escape routes.) And as he got to the bit about the One True Savior, I raised my voice.

"Please stop."

Four people looked up at me. The preacher did not detectably miss a beat.

"Please stop." I can be heard when I want to. "Please stop." He was still preaching to the other half of the car, but most of them were looking up now. "This is a public train. Please stop." He did a slow turn back to me, made eye contact, kept going. "We have a right to a public space without private religion. Please stop." By now the train was pulling in, and it was gratifying when so many stood up with me even though it was probably their station.

Once more, to them as much as him. "We have a right to a space without this."

As we left, a young man muttered to him, loud enough to hear, "dude, nobody cares."

I stopped at the train attendant's window, asked if anything could be done about the man preaching so upsettingly in the car ahead. "He's got free speech." I pointed out the bit about public transportation, and he said unconvincingly that he would call a police officer if he saw one. He was perfectly happy to let me on the next car down, though, so that was nice.

I'm still unpacking the non-confrontation, to myself. A bit of relevant context: I'm slim and white and young. I wear indie jewelry and black sneakers, and my haircut looks not far from Rachel Maddow's. It's not difficult to draw conclusions about my sexuality, and either way it's not difficult to imagine that my crowd support - such as it was - wasn't based completely on merit.

I still did it. I'd do it again. It didn't affect much, visibly. But it's a big deal to me.

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

Book review: Girl with a Dragon Tattoo

We've spent so much collective time, these last few years, poring over business news and picking apart front-page articles as we try to understand Our Ongoing Financial Crisis. The sheer attempt to understand, to pull out why our friends were laid off and our health plans stripped bare, is a real effort to peer into what seems a dim and twisted world.

( This is why the great advantage of The Girl With A Dragon Tattoo is its setting. )

Girl With A Dragon Tattoo! It's amazing. Read it. Be aware that it's not an escape. The only thing escapist about this novel is the way the woman achieves her victory: complete, brutal, and without compromise.

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

Tongues of Serpents turned out to be a very good book. Quite up to and exceeding Novik's usual standard; it grabbed me by the lapels and pulled right across a familiar and yet excitingly strange and new continent. Within two days. As ever.

( Great stuff. Mild spoilers. )

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

Guess what I'm in line for!

:D

Reading selection around me in the subway: Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead
Count of Monte Cristo
Some fashion mag that might then again be a photography journal
WW2 novel re: Korean emigres to Honolulu

Uh oh, now I can lj on this thing too?? Well shit.

( Read more... )