Posted by
Icarus on Monday, April 09, 2007 12:33:58 AM
Browsing the shelves at a nearby bookstore, I came across a title by John Shirley. It was a book titled
Demons. What drew me to the work was the blurb, on the back cover, by Tim Powers (the edition linked here, does not include said blurb).
Furthermore, I was fascinated by the book's premise:
"Nightmarish demons terrorize the world ... A young artist from
San Francisco witnesses the demons' arrival and the world's
response -- panic, denial, and even cooperation in the slaughter. He
joins a group of people who believe that human action brought the
demons into the world and that the power of human
consciousness--awareness of one's true self--is the only defense
against them. Then nine years later, in the face of a new threat, the
group must overcome conspiracy and the world's disbelief to battle
demons once again."
While "Demons" may have been written some years ago, this premise certainly seems to have some relevance to the world we face today. A great many people today deny Evil's existence especially as it takes form in Islamo-fascism. An overwhelming majority of these 'Evil deniers' live in San Francisco.
I searched, via the 'net, my local library's stacks and discovered a copy on their shelves. Great, I thought. I'll pop in and pick it up. I kept browsing the 'net when I learned that some of the work in Shirley's short story collection "
Really, Really, Really, Really Weird Stories" first appeared online. Maybe I can sample some of his work.
Then I found his blog. Needless to say, my interest in Shirley's work took a definite downturn.
Here are a few sample headlines:
"DID KARL ROVE AND ATTORNEY GENERAL STOP PROSECUTION OF A PEDOPHILE RING FOR POLITICAL REASONS?"
"UNDERCOVER AGENTS UNDERMINE ANTIWAR MOVEMENT?"
"GOP CONGRESSMEN IGNORANT OF CONSTITUTIONAL LAW?"
"BUSH'S IRAQ GOVT ENDORSES MASS MURDER OF GAYS"
(Notice the weaselly use of question marks in the headlines above. He isn't actually asserting this nonsense. He's just raising "questions".)
Then there was this obscene rant on Population Control:
"The reason to control and radically reduce the
number of human beings on the planet is quite different. The reason is
human beings; is nature itself. And it's the odds. If you have 6
billion people you have 6 billion imponderables. You have 6 billion
behavioral X factors.
"The human race, implicitly or explicitly, has
an overall goal: harmony. An end to wars, an end to brutal
exploitation, the creation of a thriving, sustainable society that
doesn't constantly undermine its place in the biosphere.
"What are the chances of doing it with ten
billion people--whom we expect by the end of the century, latest? Ten
billion people of ten billion selfish points of view, thousands of
conflicting philosophies, many hundreds (at least) religions...billions
of agendas. We'll have ten billion members of a race prone to
succumbing to cults of personality; ten billion members of a race that
followed Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot. We're capable of anything...anything!
And at ten billion, 12 billion, 15 billion strong...the odds that we'll
reach our goal, build an intelligent, sustainable society, are, to say
the least...long! At ten billion strong we've got far more mentally
deficient, ignorant, brain damaged, genetically compromised (inherited
mental illness, etc) people than ever before...and they'll have
children."
Billions of people decrease the likelihood that everyone will go along with the "One True" agenda. Therefore we must control population growth. In fact, population should be reduced to a more manageable size.
Shirley has no idea how in sync his thinking is with the likes of Stalin, Mao and Hitler. However, taking shots at Shirley politics (and obscene views on population control) really isn't the reason for this post. That's nothing more than shooting fish in a barrel.
John Shirley is a perfect example of the Leftist artist. I am quite certain that Shirley never gave it a moments thought that his Leftist ranting might affect his sales or readership. Leftists believe that everyone thinks like they do because they don't actually know any conservatives. Their conversations are only with other Leftists. Their news comes only from Leftist sources. The films and television they watch feed back to them their own biases. They are surrounded, 24/7, by people and information that differs not one whit from their own preconceived notions. Therefore, when they become artists they produce for only audience they know.
With this in mind, writers, and other entertainers, are not going to think that producing bile stating how we should control population because billions of people represent "billions
of agendas" and increase the likelihood of "far more mentally
deficient, ignorant, brain damaged, genetically compromised ... people than ever before...and they'll have
children" is not going to insult anyone who reads their work. At least it isn't going to insult the "smart" people, who should be reading their work.
Despite the sense I get from his blog, that John Shirley thinks I am "mentally
deficient, ignorant, brain damaged [and] genetically compromised", and that he longs for "
some sort of "Judgment Day with justice" that would allow the human race to start over—without, ah, certain people? [translation: Neocons and the GOP]" I'll read his work. If nothing else it will give me yet another glimpse into the Leftist brain's addled nature.