Page 77 of 110

In The Dream House

May 7, 2020 / baseblogger

I get a feeling of uncanny accuracy when I read In the Dream House. Not because I’ve ever been in an abusive relationship. I haven’t, and I hope things stay that way forever. It’s because the road – both geographical and description of place – looks so familiar and yet so far away.

Carmen Maria Machado wrote the book, and she wrote it about her relationship with an abuser who’s part of writing communities in Iowa City. Their relationship spans the U.S., but it mostly spans the distance between Iowa City, Iowa and Bloomington, Indiana.

I live in Iowa City, and I used to live in Bloomington. 6 years of the former followed by 12 years – and counting! – of the latter. Setting aside a year in Minneapolis, I’ve lived half my life in these two places.

Syria Policy 101

May 4, 2020 / baseblogger

A possible war with Syria rarely dominates the headlines, but it just as rarely strays too far from them. The situation has persisted since the Syrian civil war began in 2011. How did this happen, and where will it lead?

I’ll briefly review the history before diving into the policy details. The U.S.’s Syria policy fits well into the bipartisan foreign policy consensus, but it also reveals fault lines between Donald Trump and the Democrats, among other areas.

garden of eden tree of the knowledge of good and evil

Work and the Garden of Eden

April 30, 2020 / baseblogger

We don’t have a state religion in the U.S. But if we did, it would probably be the Protestant Work Ethic. Or so Max Weber would argue. Most Americans think they should work hard to succeed, even if they don’t. And yet there’s an alternative attitude from within the same Christian traditions. We can find it in the Bible, in the Garden of Eden story.

Isaac Asimov, Science Fiction, and Harassment

April 27, 2020 / baseblogger

Here’s an experience most of us had during the #MeToo movement: a cherished cultural figure – a favorite musician, filmmaker, author, actor, et al. – did bad things. The victims of those actions came forward. These events provoked in us as many reactions as it did experiences – from revulsion to condemnation to indifference to defensiveness or even apologism. Some of the cultural figures I love were a part of this, including Isaac Asimov.

As Alec Nevala-Lee documents, Asimov had a reputation as a harasser, and the science fiction community knew all about it. Asimov exemplified for Nevala-Lee a certain type of harasser: the awkward, nerdy boy who, through his intellectual efforts and outputs, gained social power with which to lord over women who wouldn’t otherwise attend to him.

Here are some thoughts on Asimov: what his work meant to me, how I see that work now, and how harassment locks people – especially women – out of spaces.

rich people anti-social lighting cigar $100 bill

Are Rich People Anti-Social?

April 23, 2020 / baseblogger

I’m sure you know the stereotype of the rich asshole: wealthy guy, probably a business person, cares little for other people’s needs. The world revolves around him, his ideas and his needs. He’s an anti-social guy. And sometimes he even rides it all the way to the White House.

That’s the pop culture image, but let’s talk about the social science for a bit. Social psychologists study the phenomenon. So, are rich people anti-social? Does it mean working class people are pro-social? If so, why? What does social psychology say about these things?

Base and Superstructure

Page 77 of 110

In The Dream House

Syria Policy 101

Work and the Garden of Eden

Isaac Asimov, Science Fiction, and Harassment

Are Rich People Anti-Social?

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