That last book review, 😥. Thank you. And thanks for the book suggestions (I was halfway through your essay and planning to ask for suggestions). We started reading some Roald Dahl to our girls a year or so ago, and didn’t read more because of the language but I do hope as they get a little older they will dive into his world which I loved (Henry Sugar was my favourite). We’ve since then had several entertaining conversations with them regarding bad language (Dada says stupid, mama says F**k) and when and when it’s not appropriate (never JC in front of Lola). This was prompted by my daughter telling me that the priest at mass one time when they got taken along said the bad word (JC)!
Hi Peter, I appreciate this article. It's a great reminder that business isn't about politics, it's about profit. True, some people who are considered right are blaming "The Left" for the changes, yet I think what's going on is something more. Business capitalizes on the offense of the right (and left), not the other way around. I believe the culture wars are far more about business than they are about genuine ideology. It really serves capitalism to have us divided around left and right, to fight each other rather than noticing our shared humanity. Profit drives the culture wars. Individuals expressing strident and provocative opinions (on both sides) are rewarded with profit - increased audience and attention etc. And profit driven algorithms then amplify such voices and divide us even more.
I think we can extend your point farther and suggest that the capitalism created culture war itself has created the book banning/revisionist actions happening right now (not just with Roald Dahl), which then feeds into that same culture war and exacerbates it. The profit driven culture war amplifies the voices that want to take a certain approach to language and speech (banning and revisionism, which again both right wing and left wing voices have called for, albeit about different topics). Then capitalism sees an opportunity for profit - or fears over loss of profit due to boycotts - and exploits it, censoring, revising, or promoting works of art accordingly. Then we all respond to the actions of business by again blaming each other - the Right or the Left - rather than focussing on the problematic economic model.
A few years ago I would have said I was a member of "The Left" and would have thrown around "The Right" as my enemy without a second thought - I am familiar with both creating an imaginary category of people called "The Right" and then demonizing them. I don't see myself that way anymore, nor do I I consider myself a member of the Right, and I am personally trying to step outside of the culture wars. Yet even so I can easily fall prey to them if I'm not watching myself - it's just my tendency now is to criticize "The Left" rather than "The Right" the way I used to. So I did feel tempted to blame "the left" when I heard about the Roald Dahl revisions. Your article was a great wake-up that made me notice that I was falling for the profit driven culture war narrative. I just think the focus on The Right as the problem here misses an opportunity to bring everyone together over more important issues (censorship, revisionism, the value of art in society, etc etc) no matter where they place themselves on the political spectrum. Thanks so much for your thoughtful writing!
I certainly think businesses have more power in shaping and framing different controversies than regular people on the internet with their opinions. But I also think the Right and Left aren't symmetrical and have a different relationship with ideology. And I think that while profit is a necessary condition for powerful institutions, power is not exclusively expressed through the extraction of profit. This is something I go into a little in a newsletter in December, https://petergelderloos.substack.com/p/did-musk-and-xi-forget-about-the
Also, the idea of division is complicated for me, because those in power certainly want us to be divided against one another, but that doesn't mean that unity is real or desirable. There are differences that can be navigated through solidarity rather than either antagonism or forced unification. As for the idea that we're all humans, I worry about that, considering how important white supremacy, colonialism, enclosure of the commons, patriarchy, and industrial organization have been in creating the dominant ideas around humanity. Does that make sense or does it feel jargony?
I agree that forced unification is unlikely, and anything forced doesn't seem to be a good idea. The unity I speak about comes from my own personal experience, where I know I used to reject out of hand a lot of people, I didn't listen to what they said but just assumed I knew what they meant, and I also assumed they had negative motivations. And the people I'm referring to were labelled Right Wing. Now I simply don't see the right and left the same way I did before. think it is possible to have much more compassion, and for our division on ideas to not result in us being divided as enemies. Speaking about this in the abstract is somewhat difficult. It's more of a philosophical position that makes me want to move away from dividing people according to whether they are left or right wing. I don't believe one side is morally superior than the other so I'm not sure I agree with your statement about the asymmetry between the two. But I appreciate reading a different pov than my own! And thank you so much for your reply!
Very interesting!
Thanks!
That last book review, 😥. Thank you. And thanks for the book suggestions (I was halfway through your essay and planning to ask for suggestions). We started reading some Roald Dahl to our girls a year or so ago, and didn’t read more because of the language but I do hope as they get a little older they will dive into his world which I loved (Henry Sugar was my favourite). We’ve since then had several entertaining conversations with them regarding bad language (Dada says stupid, mama says F**k) and when and when it’s not appropriate (never JC in front of Lola). This was prompted by my daughter telling me that the priest at mass one time when they got taken along said the bad word (JC)!
Thanks for sharing, this is really sweet!
Hi Peter, I appreciate this article. It's a great reminder that business isn't about politics, it's about profit. True, some people who are considered right are blaming "The Left" for the changes, yet I think what's going on is something more. Business capitalizes on the offense of the right (and left), not the other way around. I believe the culture wars are far more about business than they are about genuine ideology. It really serves capitalism to have us divided around left and right, to fight each other rather than noticing our shared humanity. Profit drives the culture wars. Individuals expressing strident and provocative opinions (on both sides) are rewarded with profit - increased audience and attention etc. And profit driven algorithms then amplify such voices and divide us even more.
I think we can extend your point farther and suggest that the capitalism created culture war itself has created the book banning/revisionist actions happening right now (not just with Roald Dahl), which then feeds into that same culture war and exacerbates it. The profit driven culture war amplifies the voices that want to take a certain approach to language and speech (banning and revisionism, which again both right wing and left wing voices have called for, albeit about different topics). Then capitalism sees an opportunity for profit - or fears over loss of profit due to boycotts - and exploits it, censoring, revising, or promoting works of art accordingly. Then we all respond to the actions of business by again blaming each other - the Right or the Left - rather than focussing on the problematic economic model.
A few years ago I would have said I was a member of "The Left" and would have thrown around "The Right" as my enemy without a second thought - I am familiar with both creating an imaginary category of people called "The Right" and then demonizing them. I don't see myself that way anymore, nor do I I consider myself a member of the Right, and I am personally trying to step outside of the culture wars. Yet even so I can easily fall prey to them if I'm not watching myself - it's just my tendency now is to criticize "The Left" rather than "The Right" the way I used to. So I did feel tempted to blame "the left" when I heard about the Roald Dahl revisions. Your article was a great wake-up that made me notice that I was falling for the profit driven culture war narrative. I just think the focus on The Right as the problem here misses an opportunity to bring everyone together over more important issues (censorship, revisionism, the value of art in society, etc etc) no matter where they place themselves on the political spectrum. Thanks so much for your thoughtful writing!
Hi Sarah!
I certainly think businesses have more power in shaping and framing different controversies than regular people on the internet with their opinions. But I also think the Right and Left aren't symmetrical and have a different relationship with ideology. And I think that while profit is a necessary condition for powerful institutions, power is not exclusively expressed through the extraction of profit. This is something I go into a little in a newsletter in December, https://petergelderloos.substack.com/p/did-musk-and-xi-forget-about-the
Also, the idea of division is complicated for me, because those in power certainly want us to be divided against one another, but that doesn't mean that unity is real or desirable. There are differences that can be navigated through solidarity rather than either antagonism or forced unification. As for the idea that we're all humans, I worry about that, considering how important white supremacy, colonialism, enclosure of the commons, patriarchy, and industrial organization have been in creating the dominant ideas around humanity. Does that make sense or does it feel jargony?
I agree that forced unification is unlikely, and anything forced doesn't seem to be a good idea. The unity I speak about comes from my own personal experience, where I know I used to reject out of hand a lot of people, I didn't listen to what they said but just assumed I knew what they meant, and I also assumed they had negative motivations. And the people I'm referring to were labelled Right Wing. Now I simply don't see the right and left the same way I did before. think it is possible to have much more compassion, and for our division on ideas to not result in us being divided as enemies. Speaking about this in the abstract is somewhat difficult. It's more of a philosophical position that makes me want to move away from dividing people according to whether they are left or right wing. I don't believe one side is morally superior than the other so I'm not sure I agree with your statement about the asymmetry between the two. But I appreciate reading a different pov than my own! And thank you so much for your reply!