<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: More Missing American History
Review: There are some truths too difficult to tell in a world of such diminished humanity, as is the case with American society. Yet, these men in their own inimical lonely way-with warts, flaws, inconsistencies and all--tell them anyway. Yes, this is the rewriting of American history through the self-validating juxtaposition of selective cases. Yet it is no less American history--a kind of "missing American history," like so many other missing parts to American history. And in this sense, it is either a great deal more, or a lot less, than meets the eye. What we do see here amidst raw, unvarnished, unalloyed truths is "living history" told by a handful of lost souls "paddling against a strong social current" in a veritable sea of orthodox evil called American culture. Theirs is an attempt to remain relevant by establishing "in place" a "counter hero system"-one in which the loss humanity of an entire nation can in some way be restored to a new level recognizable as normal by the rest of humanity. [These lonely white men then of course become super heroes in a much larger and more human system.] What these "lost souls"--choosing to "opt" out of the much-flawed "white male American hero system" show--if only in relief--is their own futility and the utter futility of trying to "buck in place" an evil and corruptly based system. Each man discovers in his own lonely but inevitable way that it can't be done; yet they persist as the sacrificial lambs they know themselves to be--because along the way there are truths to be told-and boy do they tell them: --To be human, something has to feed the soul. --Whiteness is an oppressive and expensive fiction that gives unearned privileges to some but does so at a very, very high price: by falsifying a much more complicated social reality and by robbing the society of its humanity. --Racism is above being personal; it is deeply social. --America is one big training camp for bigots. --Racism, sexism, and homophobia do not a culture make. --Poor white men are wounded, needy, powerless, and need to have their identities validated too. If they don't get it, they know how to act--even when they do not know how to "be". --The world over, young disenfranchised men are the catalysts for raising hell because being male means knowing how to be raise hell. These are just a just a few nuggets of a virtual book of undeniable but often, unseen truths. Yet there is so much more tragedy than hope in these little gems of this very heady tome: --You cannot withdraw from a bankrupt, corrupt "evil system" even if you try, because it is in fact a "system" and therein lies the rub: within it there is no other platform on which to stand and counter the evil it propagates. You either become a part of the system or you become irrelevant. --No one exits (or even coexists) within an evil system (even in one's own mind) without paying an unacceptable price-that is without being irreparable affected by its inconsistencies, its inhumanity and its corruption-in short without being consumed by it. --In the end reality is just consensual perceptions--a very low standard upon which to build a life-affirming humanity. Is the thought that we can get outside such a system mere denial at a much deeper (higher) level? Is it flawed thinking to imagine that a more human (less evil) "hero system" can be built "in place" inside an evil and already corrupt hero system? Is it just wishful thinking, to image that one's humanity can be restored by "pumping up" what remains of it in a bankrupt system? Do these 35 brave testimonies, by those who elect to live outside American social orthodoxy, have any meaning at all within it? Or is it like telling a Baptist why it is evil to be baptized? Or is this volume just more "liberal mind-massaging equally racist denial" cloaked in the perennial package of "doing good" for the community? Read the book and draw your own conclusions. No matter what conclusions you draw, your conscience will be shaken. Four stars.
Rating:
Summary: More Missing American History
Review: There are some truths too difficult to tell in a world of such diminished humanity, as is the case with American society. Yet, these men in their own inimical lonely way-with warts, flaws, inconsistencies and all--tell them anyway. Yes, this is the rewriting of American history through the self-validating juxtaposition of selective cases. Yet it is no less American history--a kind of "missing American history," like so many other missing parts to American history. And in this sense, it is either a great deal more, or a lot less, than meets the eye. What we do see here amidst raw, unvarnished, unalloyed truths is "living history" told by a handful of lost souls "paddling against a strong social current" in a veritable sea of orthodox evil called American culture. Theirs is an attempt to remain relevant by establishing "in place" a "counter hero system"-one in which the loss humanity of an entire nation can in some way be restored to a new level recognizable as normal by the rest of humanity. [These lonely white men then of course become super heroes in a much larger and more human system.] What these "lost souls"--choosing to "opt" out of the much-flawed "white male American hero system" show--if only in relief--is their own futility and the utter futility of trying to "buck in place" an evil and corruptly based system. Each man discovers in his own lonely but inevitable way that it can't be done; yet they persist as the sacrificial lambs they know themselves to be--because along the way there are truths to be told-and boy do they tell them: --To be human, something has to feed the soul. --Whiteness is an oppressive and expensive fiction that gives unearned privileges to some but does so at a very, very high price: by falsifying a much more complicated social reality and by robbing the society of its humanity. --Racism is above being personal; it is deeply social. --America is one big training camp for bigots. --Racism, sexism, and homophobia do not a culture make. --Poor white men are wounded, needy, powerless, and need to have their identities validated too. If they don't get it, they know how to act--even when they do not know how to "be". --The world over, young disenfranchised men are the catalysts for raising hell because being male means knowing how to be raise hell. These are just a just a few nuggets of a virtual book of undeniable but often, unseen truths. Yet there is so much more tragedy than hope in these little gems of this very heady tome: --You cannot withdraw from a bankrupt, corrupt "evil system" even if you try, because it is in fact a "system" and therein lies the rub: within it there is no other platform on which to stand and counter the evil it propagates. You either become a part of the system or you become irrelevant. --No one exits (or even coexists) within an evil system (even in one's own mind) without paying an unacceptable price-that is without being irreparable affected by its inconsistencies, its inhumanity and its corruption-in short without being consumed by it. --In the end reality is just consensual perceptions--a very low standard upon which to build a life-affirming humanity. Is the thought that we can get outside such a system mere denial at a much deeper (higher) level? Is it flawed thinking to imagine that a more human (less evil) "hero system" can be built "in place" inside an evil and already corrupt hero system? Is it just wishful thinking, to image that one's humanity can be restored by "pumping up" what remains of it in a bankrupt system? Do these 35 brave testimonies, by those who elect to live outside American social orthodoxy, have any meaning at all within it? Or is it like telling a Baptist why it is evil to be baptized? Or is this volume just more "liberal mind-massaging equally racist denial" cloaked in the perennial package of "doing good" for the community? Read the book and draw your own conclusions. No matter what conclusions you draw, your conscience will be shaken. Four stars.
<< 1 >>
| 
