Sometimes the fallow times for a writer/creative proceeds the most productive of times. Don't push and don't feel guilty. Nothing in nature blooms all the time.
I liked the memes very much. You mentioned diplomacy. The last years have made me extremely tired of some things. I'm starting to see links between diplomacy and hypocrisy. I like truth, even when it burns a little.
Not surprised with so much going on in Texas recently, that you’ve curled up for a bit. So much punch in all of your posters & I love the opening pic of you two on the sofa. If this is an accurate representation of who you really are, as individuals & as a couple, you’ve got something very special going on.
The only poster I’d invite you to consider further is the one about communism. I imagine you’re referencing contemporary communist states & what’s being done under this system, but it would be worth, for myself as well, to go back & read Karl Marx’s 1848 text ‘The Communist Manifesto’ & consider it in the socio-economic & political context at that time, particularly in England, where I think it was written.
Charles Dickens’s novels are also critiques of what was happening in England at the time, with the fallout & human cost to ordinary people who’d moved out of agricultural villages to overcrowded, dirty cities for work, following the industrial revolution. Australia had already been reinvented as a one way ticket to penal colonies to deal with Britain’s overflowing prisons.
The USA for longstanding reasons I’m not clear about, although I’m sure it’s linked to laissez-faire economics, has a particular downer on communism/socialism as an alternative social system. And it’s been really extreme at times - just think back to McCathyism. And the Oscar winning role Ronald Reagan played in toeing the line on that one, when he wasn’t promoting cigarettes for Big Tobacco.
Australia has also toed the USA line by fueling the flame of fear re Communism at different times, with dossiers of card carrying Communist members apparently being held by secret government services. But we’ve also been strongly influenced by leftwing British Labour rights which stand up for working class people. And rightwing Tory politics for that matter. And various Church denominations.
I’m certain that Marx’s manifesto has a lot of merit & contemporary relevance, just like the Bible. It’s how these texts get interpreted & used by dominant interests & agendas, that’s where things go pearshaped. And let’s face it, you don’t have to look very far back to see how invaders & conquerors, from Romans & Mongolians to Vikings & Nazis have left their scars on communities & landscapes. The texts might be relatively recent & indeed the Gutenberg printing press, a gamechanger for the written word, hasn’t been around that long in the great scheme of things.
But aggressive human behaviour, which I think probably became more entrenched once tribes started settling in one place & growing stuff, rather than moving on. That takes more unpacking, analysis & action using socio-political cultural & most importantly historical perspectives, to shift things along.
Y’all have a nice day now & enjoy a nice cold beer or two on the sofa, from Erika Down Under. xx
The reason the US "has a downer" about communism and socialism is very, very simple: the US is founded on individual liberty, which is the only path to prosperity and well-being.
Communism leads to mass graves. Always.
Also, it does not work, and it _cannot_ work, as economist Ludwig von Mises explained in 1920:
It is literally impossible for communism to function.
Or, as P.J. O'Rourke put it, the scary thing about communism is not that it took over half the planet in less than seventy years. The SCARY thing about communism is that it turned a nation full of Germans into a poor country.
Hi Kamas, yes I’m curious about that too & I don’t know enough about it. That’s why it would be interesting to go back to Karl Marx’s original text & even read it in German if possible, to consider what he was actually proposing & critiquing, as a precursor to analysing the communist regimes that followed in the 20th century.
To me, as an historian, understanding the socio-political & cultural context in which Karl Marx was writing is really important. There’s a difference between what someone writes & how others interpret & apply it. If anything, my view is that social democractic structures, like those in Scandinavia, offer viable contemporary alternatives.
"Most of them aren’t particularly diplomatic, but what can I say?"
But they are. The Retief School of Diplomacy that is.
Only when things go VERY bad.
It was reading the Retief stories that made me realize that Laumer had spent some time in Asia. He GOT Asian culture, in a way most writers don't.
To quote the late, great Jack Clemmons, the Corbin Dallas School of Diplomacy.
These memes have the advantage - or the unmitigated gall - to be HONEST. I like em!
Sometimes the fallow times for a writer/creative proceeds the most productive of times. Don't push and don't feel guilty. Nothing in nature blooms all the time.
I liked the memes very much. You mentioned diplomacy. The last years have made me extremely tired of some things. I'm starting to see links between diplomacy and hypocrisy. I like truth, even when it burns a little.
Excellent
Hey Ian, I thought these were hilarious. When will we know what the schedule looks like for Rac Press for the coming year
Good morning Ian & Rita.
Not surprised with so much going on in Texas recently, that you’ve curled up for a bit. So much punch in all of your posters & I love the opening pic of you two on the sofa. If this is an accurate representation of who you really are, as individuals & as a couple, you’ve got something very special going on.
The only poster I’d invite you to consider further is the one about communism. I imagine you’re referencing contemporary communist states & what’s being done under this system, but it would be worth, for myself as well, to go back & read Karl Marx’s 1848 text ‘The Communist Manifesto’ & consider it in the socio-economic & political context at that time, particularly in England, where I think it was written.
Charles Dickens’s novels are also critiques of what was happening in England at the time, with the fallout & human cost to ordinary people who’d moved out of agricultural villages to overcrowded, dirty cities for work, following the industrial revolution. Australia had already been reinvented as a one way ticket to penal colonies to deal with Britain’s overflowing prisons.
The USA for longstanding reasons I’m not clear about, although I’m sure it’s linked to laissez-faire economics, has a particular downer on communism/socialism as an alternative social system. And it’s been really extreme at times - just think back to McCathyism. And the Oscar winning role Ronald Reagan played in toeing the line on that one, when he wasn’t promoting cigarettes for Big Tobacco.
Australia has also toed the USA line by fueling the flame of fear re Communism at different times, with dossiers of card carrying Communist members apparently being held by secret government services. But we’ve also been strongly influenced by leftwing British Labour rights which stand up for working class people. And rightwing Tory politics for that matter. And various Church denominations.
I’m certain that Marx’s manifesto has a lot of merit & contemporary relevance, just like the Bible. It’s how these texts get interpreted & used by dominant interests & agendas, that’s where things go pearshaped. And let’s face it, you don’t have to look very far back to see how invaders & conquerors, from Romans & Mongolians to Vikings & Nazis have left their scars on communities & landscapes. The texts might be relatively recent & indeed the Gutenberg printing press, a gamechanger for the written word, hasn’t been around that long in the great scheme of things.
But aggressive human behaviour, which I think probably became more entrenched once tribes started settling in one place & growing stuff, rather than moving on. That takes more unpacking, analysis & action using socio-political cultural & most importantly historical perspectives, to shift things along.
Y’all have a nice day now & enjoy a nice cold beer or two on the sofa, from Erika Down Under. xx
The reason the US "has a downer" about communism and socialism is very, very simple: the US is founded on individual liberty, which is the only path to prosperity and well-being.
Communism leads to mass graves. Always.
Also, it does not work, and it _cannot_ work, as economist Ludwig von Mises explained in 1920:
https://mises.org/library/book/economic-calculation-socialist-commonwealth
It is literally impossible for communism to function.
Or, as P.J. O'Rourke put it, the scary thing about communism is not that it took over half the planet in less than seventy years. The SCARY thing about communism is that it turned a nation full of Germans into a poor country.
Thanks Mr Fleming, it’s always valuable to hear other perspectives & I’ll look into the link you’ve attached. Ciao for now. E
I'm curious to know where you think any part of communism has ever worked.
Hi Kamas, yes I’m curious about that too & I don’t know enough about it. That’s why it would be interesting to go back to Karl Marx’s original text & even read it in German if possible, to consider what he was actually proposing & critiquing, as a precursor to analysing the communist regimes that followed in the 20th century.
To me, as an historian, understanding the socio-political & cultural context in which Karl Marx was writing is really important. There’s a difference between what someone writes & how others interpret & apply it. If anything, my view is that social democractic structures, like those in Scandinavia, offer viable contemporary alternatives.
I would suggest to start reading Thomas Sowell, Ludwig von Mises, and Milton Friedman. From there you can expand outward how you like.
Thank you, I’ll check them out. E