I just shared this post on Facebook: “Basically, Trump is what would happen if the comments section became a human and ran for President.”
Then I actually read the comments section on this excellent op/ed on racism and the death penalty in Delaware. Boy did it bring out the racists and the ignoramuses! Why was I stunned?
I study politics as a vocation, yet I am viscerally disgusted anew every time I read the hateful, racist bile that passes as commentary on social media. I guess that’s a good thing — my disgust, not the bile.
I am trying to focus on a new book project but there are too many issues. Time to reorganize the books! Cluttered shelves lead to cluttered minds! Right?
After putting a dozen boxes of books into storage, I reorganized my shelves into sections according to topic. I am certain that will lead to productive writing and was not just procrastination. Yeah, that’s it!
I began my reorganization with the books on working class whites and why they aren’t reliably progressive, followed by those on changes in the political economy, the rise of money in politics, and neo-liberalism. I have books on ideology, critical theory, popular culture — including both reality television and country music.
Then I have a whole set of books on the erotic appeal of violence and hierarchy, militarism, fascism, and gender.
There are books on the rise of the right-wing in the America, the Jim Crow South, the Christian Right, and the Tea Party, as well as books on why women embrace religious conservatism.
Of course there is The New Jim Crow and other books on race and racism.
There are shelves of books on political theory (primary and secondary), on democratic theory, deliberation, civic engagement, and civil society. There are books on Islam — definitely not the time to put those into storage.
Then there are my personal books — what I read when I am not working.
While I haven’t read every book on the shelves, I have read a lot, yet in my gut, I still just don’t get it — or rather, I get it; I just can’t accept it. Why are people so hateful?
How did we get to this place and how do we move towards a better world? That’s the topic of my next book — but I need to narrow it down!