I’m Growing A Little Uneasy

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I have a very conservative, very partisan Traditionalist relative who is still enraged over what happened with COVID policy. He has totally bought into simplistic Right Wing podcast talking points to an absurd level. The more I think about it, the more I realize it’s not COVID that he’s angry about.

His rage comes from being a white Christian male who, on a macro level, is flabbergasted at the rise of women’s economic power as well as some of the more exotic policy demands of the “woke cancel culture mob.” Things are moving too fast for him on a social level and because we have non-functioning politics he stews in his juices.

He’s a well meaning person who is not being served by the conservative agenda. If Republicans would do what parties in their situation typically do, he would be fed new, more popular talking points on Right Wing podcasts instead of believing that the United States is a “constitutional republic” not a democracy and fuck you, lib.

But the point is — I’m growing alarmed at how easy it would be for people to being to believe all these people dying a relatively young age has something to do with the COVID vaccine. All it would take is one study that somehow, someway “proved” that and…oh boy. People like my relative who grab a pitchfork and charge the Capitol.

I think some of my concern comes from the innate need to make connections, to see patterns. So, hopefully, we won’t have to have The Debate about how “right” the fucking Right wing nutjobs were about the safety of vaccines. I mean, millions of people have taken the COVID vaccines and nothing has happened to them. They’re safer, in real terms, than The Pill.

But because of hyper partisanship and negative partisanship, even a hint that some of these younger middle age people dying are dying because of the COVID vaccine will be enough to potentially cause violence.

Class Is A Very Corrosive Social Issue

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

It’s very interesting how in America we’re so busy talking about racism that we are pretty oblivious to another prejudice: class. I can usually fake a similar class as the smug asshole Twitter liberals who want to sell me MeUndies on their podcast. That is, until, of course, my natural bonkers kookiness comes out and they dismiss me.

Also, I’m just too poor — at the moment — for smug Blue Check liberals to accept me in any real way, no matter how much they probably would like me if they got to know me.

And that, my friend, is why class sucks.

I could win the $1.1 billion Mega Millions jackpot and it wouldn’t change how old I am and it wouldn’t change my class background. I have a relative who is far more successful than I am who acts like he’s some salt of the earth red neck when, in fact, if we both went to a cocktail party with snooty wealthy people they would definitely gravitate towards him in the end.

I would, however, probably get drunk in such a situation and have very loud, very interesting conversations with the best looking woman at the party. That’s just sort of my thing.

Anyway, the older I get the more I understand the invisible power of class. When I was an expat in South Korea, there was a regular communist utopia going on because everyone was getting paid about the same amount and everyone was doing pretty much the same thing for a living. The only real differences were one of origin, which is why you often get asked, “Where you from?” when you saddle up to a bar and find yourself talking to someone new.

As I approach my 50th birthday, I’m feeling a lot of existential angst because no matter what happens to me there are some things I just can’t change because of my dissipated, squandered youth.

The ‘Woke Cancel Culture Mob’ is Driving Traditionalists Into The Arms Of Fascism

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Let me be clear — I’m well aware that to be a “centrist” these days is to be complicit in the rise of fascism. Pick a side, or a side will be chosen for you against your will.

Having said that, I continue to grow more and more alarmed at how my Traditionalist relatives are primed and ready to give up their American birthright of democracy because of how much they fear their lives being ruined by the “woke cancel culture mob” just because they don’t agree with the established narrative on a variety of cultural issues.

In short, we’re pretty fucked.

On a macro level, America has kind of given up even trying when it comes to having any sort of debate about the major issues of the day. And, as such there are two major possible outcomes — civil war or autocracy. At the moment, it definitely seems as though we’re just going to slip peacefully into autocracy under a DeSantis presidency.

American democracy will die not with a civil war, but with a whimper. We’ll just shrug and wake up in 20 years to President DeSantis invading Canada for some weird reason.

But, I have to admit that I’m always wrong, so who knows. Anything could happen, I suppose. And, yet, America really does have a serious fascism problem — fascism is extremely popular in the US at the moment — and something gotta give sooner rather than later.

Once More, With Vigor

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

So. I spent all morning fleshing out an outline AGAIN. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again — having an obsessive personality sure does help whenever you want to be creative. Roughly 10 days after my deadline of January 1st, 2023, I find myself pretty much at ground zero with the second draft of this novel.

My dream title for my first novel.

Having said that, things continue to improve with this novel in leaps and bounds. I’m growing in confidence on a structural and character development basis. My two concerns at the moment are how long the first act is scene wise and how long it’s going to take me to finish this second draft.

The first act is a little bit too long at the moment, at least from a scene count point of view. But the third act is a little bit short, so I’m hoping that won’t be that big a deal. Also, I’m determined to save up for an editor after the beta reader process is completed so that might be how I figure out how to get closer to the 100,000 word sweetspot for a first novel.

As for how long all of this is taking — I’ve resigned myself to querying not in fall 2023, but early 2024. I hope to start a few other novels between now and then so when the potentially long process of querying begins I’ll have something to while I wait.

To do all of that, however, I’m going to have to give my life a lot more structure than it currently has. I can’t just keep drifting through life forever. I need to give myself some self-imposed metrics that I have to meet on a daily basis so I can actually squeeze out a first novel before I drop dead — or am so old that it’s just silly.

Because age isn’t just a number. Being old sucks and the sooner I come to grips with how being old limits my ability to do what I always though I could do, the better. As such, I really, really need to be querying my first novel no later than around a year from now.

My Views On The Trans Movement

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

In general, I’m completely blase about the Trans movement. I just don’t care. Live and let live, as they say. And I saw a very interesting Tik-Tok that really explained to me that on an even a biological basis, the issue of “What is a woman?” is not nearly as cut-and-dried as one might think.

But.

My issue is not with Trans people or the Trans movement. My issue is with the very strict orthodoxy that has arisen around the issue among some on the Left, to the point that there can’t be any debate at all. I fucking hate orthodoxy of any sort because it limits one’s ability to think freely. And, besides, I’m generally too laid back to be partisan enough to be able to care about an orthodoxy in the first place.

The reason why the Trans orthodoxy is so troubling to me is its existence plays right into the hands of MAGA cocksuckers who see the opportunity to demagogue the issues surrounding the Trans movement. That, in turn, plays into the rise of fascism in America. I spend most of my time when I debate my Traditionalist relatives having to get past their belief that the “woke cancel culture mob” is going to destroy their Christian lives because they believe being gay is “a sin.”

If America had a functioning political system, we would sort out — in a way that pleased no one totally — what to do with the Trans movement. That’s how democracies are supposed to work. But just from my personal experience, I can tell you that there is a vast amount of disinformation flowing out of the Right Wing podcast echochamber. All kinds of conflated bullshit is bouncing around that echochamber, being warped and magnified along the way.

The whole situation is fucked up. While I don’t agree with my Traditionalist relatives, who I think suffer from a bad case of “gay scare,” I do understand where they’re coming from. And seeing them grow more fascist and radicalized because of the touchy nature of the Trans movement is very alarming to me. I really would rather not live in a fascist state because the people who would otherwise be the bedrock of any functioning democracy — Traditionalists — are being driven into the arms of fascists.

A DeSantis Presidency Would Mean The End Of American Democracy

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The Republican Party, on an existential basis, no longer believes in traditional American democracy. They’re fascists and, as such, the moment they gain the presidency again, that’s it, the end. It’s not like Republicans hide this cold hard, fact, either — they won’t shut up about how they think the United States is a “constitutional republic” and NOT a democracy.

So, the clock is ticking. It definitely seems as though America has two choices as the moment — either we peacefully side into autocracy under Ron DeSantis or things grow far, far more interesting on a historical basis if Trump happens to win a second term. With DeSantis, the general autocratic drift of American politics will happen in a rather blase manner.

If DeSantis can’t get around Trump for the Republican nomination, then Trump, unto himself, could cause a National Divorce and, as such, a Second American Civil War.

But we have to take seriously the DeSantis threat. Form follows function so, once we’re an autocracy there’s every reason to believe that DeSantis will consolidate power just like every other autocrat and pretty much be in power for the rest of his life.

Things may not change for the average American at first but once the process of becoming an autocratic state begins in force, the question becomes do we stop around Hungary or Turkey or do we continue down the path of autocracy towards something around Nazi Germany or Putin’s Russia? At the moment, I honestly can’t tell you one way or another. Though, I do fear that because of America’s original sin of race that we could endup settling around Nazi Germany and then things get REALLY DARK.

Of course, it doesn’t help that too many center-Left people want to debate how many pronouns can dance on the head of a pin instead of taking practical, real world steps to stop the rise of autocratic fascism in the United States.

I don’t have any ready answers for you. But I do fear that things could be pretty bonkers between now and spring 2025.

What Am I Getting Wrong About A Possible Second American Civil War Starting In Late 2024, Early 2025?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Now that we’re in 2023, I find myself thinking about how likely it is that we may, in fact, have a Second American Civil War because of the passions of the 2024 presidential cycle. I continue to wrack my mind as to what I could possibly be getting wrong about the various dystopian hellscape scenarios that I’ve managed to come up with.

I continue to believe that if a 2ACW happens, it’s going to happen because Blue States refuse to bend a knee to ascendant Red States. As much as Reds want to murder people like me in cold blood using the rules of war, not law, in the end, they really don’t have any reason to start a civil war — they’re going to get everything they want via regular old dysfunctional politics.

It seems to me there are a number of milestones we still have to reach before we have a better sense of how things are going to sort out in late 2024, early 2025 between Election Day and Certification Day. We still don’t know if Trump is going to ever be held legally accountable for his massive, on-going crime spree. If he is indicted, then likelihood that he will be the 2024 Republican nominee grows significantly.

Additionally, there is the issue of how SCOTUS will rule on the “Independent Legislature” concept. If they give individual states significantly more leeway when it comes to the practical administration of elections that could very well be the United States striking an iceberg. It won’t be obvious at first, but when the time comes, the MAGA state legislatures of swing states might feel like they could step in and appoint their own electors, damn the will of the people. We’re not a democracy after all, right you fucking MAGA cocksuckers?

The last issue, the one that could really decide America’s fate is that of the debt ceiling. If MAGA Republicans in the House push America in to its first-ever default, then, well, the conditions are there for MAGA — and Trump — to come roaring back in 2024. They won’t even have to cheat to win, but Trump’s second term agenda will be so fucking radical that that, unto itself, could force the hand of Blue States and provoke a National Divorce, which, in turn would cause a Second American Civil War.

Then, of course, there are a few wildcards that I simply can’t game out one way or another. The issue of how old Biden is weighs on my mind a great deal. Harris is very untested and it would be a massive clusterfuck if Biden shuffled off this mortal coil at just the wrong moment in the post-election process. You thought 2020 was bad with the “Stop The Steal” bullshit, just imagine Biden’s Electors being up for grabs and Trump (or someone like him) ranting about how they should vote for him “for the sake of the nation.”

Anyway, I’m always wrong. It’s very possible that we’ll somehow muddle through the 2024 election and all my doom and gloom will look very foolish. But even if that is the case, there continue to be some significant tectonic issues with the American political system that we’re going to be confronted with sooner or later.

The Fucking Woke Hypocrisy of FilmTok Gets On My Nerves

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Ok, I got beef with the film reviewing community of Tik-Tok. Too often, they go out of their fucking woke way to shit on movies like Avatar — Way of Water for some bullshit woke reason.

Fuck this test.

And, yet, they liked Babylon?

I don’t get it. I really liked Babylon, too, but you would think the tender hearted people of woke FilmTok would not be able to bear how gratuitous and over the top the movie was. I’m reminded of the one time I used Twitter clone Mastodon, only to be driven off the service by fucking woke cocksuckers who jumped on me the moment I didn’t follow their strict woke orthodoxy. They, too, did not see the contradiction when they told me they like Dave Chappelle and Richard Pryor.

It’s because of bullshit like that that we’re probably going to lose our democracy. When “cultural Leftists” have such a strict orthodoxy that they attack anyone who doesn’t know the ends and outs of their “woke” agenda that the efforts to keep America a democracy falls into serious, serious trouble.

I just had to get that out of my system. I fucking hate the woke orthodoxy because of how dangerous it is for democracy. Sometimes you want to tell a story that will “trigger” people — because that’s the whole point! The issue should be telling a great story, not if two women have a conversation about something other than a man.

Fuck that.

My frustration with the “woke” agenda grows the better my first novel gets. Given how much representation there is in this novel — and who I am as a CIS white male — half the readership will think I’m too woke and half its audience will think I’m an evil representative ogre of the patriarchy because I’m writing from a non-white, non-male POV at times. (Ok, maybe a lot.)

But that’s my vision and I’m willing to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune over it.

What Is The Deal With Tech Bro David Sacks?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I really enjoy listening to the All-In podcast because it challenges me, forces me to listen to people I generally don’t agree with politically. They are interesting, intelligent people who just so happen to find fascism way, way, too palatable. When your metrics for assessing something miss the issue of what is morally right, your politics are all fucked up.

Because, literally, the exact same reasoning that several people on the All-In podcast give for various degrees of support for Trump and MAGA could have been used by German industrialists in the 1930s.

But it’s David Sacks who shocks me with his consistently bad hot takes. His politics are identical to a relative of mine and so it is useful to listen to his bullshit for the next time I find myself debating politics with said relative. Sacks is “all in” with being a fifth columnist who supports Russia over Ukraine and the United States.

He is very intense and seems to have a huge fucking chip on his shoulder. It’s all very weird. But he’s cogent enough in his terrible hot takes that you find yourself listening to him and weighing different counter-arguments you might use to point out his hypocrisy.

Anyway, the point is — I’m growing very alarmed at the recent shift in politics among Tech Bros. They are very receptive to America’s new brand of fascism and, in the end, when we maybe need their support to stop the last seizure of power by fascists, they won’t be there for us.

Why The ‘Canceling’ of ‘TERF’ JK Rowling Makes Me Nervous

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

While I’m aware that JK Rowling has gone out of her way to aggravate things with her fans over her strident anti-trans views, I still find myself becoming a little nervous over the whole situation.

LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 13: J.K Rowling attends the UK Premiere of “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald” at Cineworld Leicester Square on November 13, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Samir Hussein/WireImage)

What’s happened with her and Dave Chappelle is an example of an orthodoxy that has developed on the Left that is going to do democracy no favors as we careening towards a dark future in late 2024, early 2025.

I just want to tell an interesting story to millions of people, but I also know that I’m something of a drunk kook who doesn’t always follow the media narrative on issues of the day. As such, I mull over all the things I done with my life — especially in South Korea — and I wince. It’s way too easy to think of various ways someone might be aghast at this or that thing I did then or, hell, now and feel an urge to “cancel” me.

I’m just not perfect. I’m made a lot mistakes in my life — usually with alcohol involved — and now I find myself full of angst about how I’m going to explain all that if I ever “make it big.” (Not that there is any reason, at the moment, to think that is going to happen.)

I know I’m overthinking things a great deal. And, yet, I like to make my abstract fears concrete and worrying about being “canceled” when no one really cares about me at all right now is part of that.

I really struggle with the JK Rowling thing because she’s an example of someone being “canceled” that my Traditionalist relatives can point to when they essentially decide they want to vote for autocratic fascism on Election Day 2024. It doesn’t matter the extenuating circumstances, they just think “famous author life ruined because of the radical gay agenda of the woke cancel culture mob and it could happen to ME.”

That’s literally what they will think when they vote away America’s democratic birthright. Literally. How do you fix that issue?