“For a decade Americans have been steeped in the rhetoric of "zero tolerance" and the faith that virtually all problems from drug addiction to lousy teaching can be solved by pouring on the punishment. Even without a Commander in Chief who pledges to rid the world of evildoers, smoke them out of their holes and the like, we would be vulnerable to the temptation to brush aside frustrating complexities and relieve intolerable fear (at least for the moment) by settling on one or more scapegoats to crush. To imagine that trauma casts out fantasy is a dangerous mistake.” WorldHas BeensMomentsProblemWould BeMistakeFantasyImagineTeachingDangerousDrugAddictionCastsTraumaDecadesTolerancePunishmentHolesTemptationVulnerableChiefsSmokeSettlingComplexityCrushZeroImagine ThatRhetoricBrushesFrustratingCommandersPledgePouringDrug AddictionDrug AddictCommander In ChiefScapegoatZero Tolerance Author:Ellen Willis
“It was apparent to me that religion was an invented thing, a wish-fulfillment thing, a fantasy thing. It was much more real, dangerous, to accept that mortality was the end for you as an individual. As an atheist, I don't believe in an afterlife, so if you're thinking of murder, if your subject is murder, then that's a physical act of absolute destruction because you're ending something, a body, that is unique. That person never existed before, will never exist again, will not be karmically recycled, will not go to heaven, therefore I take it seriously.” IfsThinkingBelievePersonsRealEndsBodyIndividualHeavenWishAcceptingFantasySubjectsDangerousUniqueDestructionMurderAbsolutesDon't BelieveAtheistFulfillmentMortalityAfterlifeRecycled Author:David Cronenberg
“Dragons are more dangerous, and a good deal commoner, than bears. Fantasy is nearer to poetry, to mysticism, and to insanity than naturalistic fiction is. It is a real wilderness, and those who go there should not feel too safe.” FeelsShouldRealDealsFictionFantasyDangerousBearsSafeInsanityDragonsWildernessMysticismCommoners Book:The Language of the Night: Essays on Fantasy and Science Fiction Source: The Language of the Night: Essays on Fantasy and Science Fiction
“[The media's] fantasy of an America bristling with racists allows them to portray any criticism of our massively incompetent and dangerous president as just another sad episode of oh-so-typical white racism.” AmericaPresidentWhiteFantasyMediaDangerousRacismCriticismRacistEpisodesTypicalIncompetentUs PresidentWhite Racism Author:Ann Coulter