“The woke worm has turned”
Piers Morgan
Before I get into this week’s material–which is nothing more than a segue to a recent discussion on culture and art between Piers Morgan and Ben Shapiro–I want to address the somewhat political nature of some of my recent essays.
To be clear, New Bayou Books is all about storytelling. My goal has always been to tell South Louisiana stories that involve characters you feel like you know (or sometimes wish you didn’t). Every character I invent has a specific way of talking . . . of thinking. And so, to tell the stories in an authentic way sometimes requires a pretty course vernacular.
I’m just barely out of the gate as an author, and already this commitment to authentically rendering my characters has cost me. I’ve been through two editors and I’ve lost out on more than one opportunity for publicity. Not because the content of any New Bayou book is particularly radioactive or scandalous . . . but because people are scared.
At the root of the issue is language and freedom of expression balanced against immense social pressure to conform to a new set of “sensitivity” rules that are about five minutes old. We still have freedom of speech in America, but the price you pay for exercising that right can be incredibly high. It can cost you your job, your friends, your reputation.
So, if my commentary seems to steer towards the political, or towards a specific ideology, please know that it’s because I believe the stakes are too high to remain silent. Also, please know that I don’t give a fuck about red or blue, right or left. In fact, I think the most boring people in the world are those whose opinions track neatly to one side of the other. I’m for independent, thoughtful weirdness . . . and you don’t get that from towing the party line.
As an emerging writer and as an ordinary citizen, I believe that freedom of speech and expression are fundamental to liberty. As I said last week, when you start to self-censor, the art suffers. Unfortunately, western culture has been trending in the wrong direction for a good while now.
Which leads to this video clip.
Andrew Breitbart is credited with the line “politics is downstream of culture.” If this is true, then it may be that the fever of the woke mind-virus is about ready to break. But don’t let me convince you . . . listen to an educated man with an English accent tell you about it in the context of the Roald Dahl controversy, which we talked about last week.
Until next week . . .
New Bayou Books 