I'm noticing a lot of people taking "you should read more about this, here are some book recommendations" as insulting their intelligence.
This is relevant because most USians lack a political education.
I'm noticing a lot of people taking "you should read more about this, here are some book recommendations" as insulting their intelligence.
This is relevant because most USians lack a political education.
i think half of people are obtuse on purpose. like it doesnt matter the context, if you tell Americans to educate themselves on anything they will take it as a personal attack and use any justification to defend their ignorance. especially people familiar with progressive sounding language.
[me sending a Black leftist reading list to my white liberal and supposedly progressive ex-right-libertarian friend]
Friend: "I'm not reading this."
Me: "Well, why not?"
Friend: "Because I'm not a leftist."
Me: "That is not a good reason but very well."
Friend: "Yeah, I know, I guess I'm just stubborn. It's just that I worry that I wouldn't get anything out of it."
Me: "Yeah, when I first read Wretched of the Earth I had to look up what 'lumpenproletariat' meant since I read it before Marx, but I honestly feel like needing to look up a few things here and there doesn't make it not worthwhile to challenge one's worldviews and listen to the perspectives of some of the most influential Black thinkers and activists of the past century."
[friend still does not want to look at the Black leftist reading list]
is it wrong to want to throw books at white people? screams "you will never understand the black perspective and history without reading black authors and that always includes lefist" throws the wretched of the earth then sister outsider and many more at head / joking
Haha, you had me laughing (as opposed to breathing heavily out of my nose) with that first sentence.
reorder the list and title it "books for liberals to be better liberals"
I have had almost this same convo so many times.