Touché

By Rori O'Keeffe

In the probably vain hope that I can progress as a writer, I've turned my critical eye inward and produced two poems that sum up why I live in sludge. It's easy to analyze others and see their defects of character and be scandalized by their bad habits and misdeeds, but it's another thing entirely to skewer yourself the same way. Readers don't really like to see the author as a cruddy person, as it conflicts with the myth that there is a noble spirit behind writing. I have been a self-conscious writer for the most part, trying to keep up the appearance of a noble author. No more of that, starting now.
In the end, I've discovered, it's the lies I've told (and believed) that have done the most harm. The truth can hurt, but it is in the truth that genuine creativity can blossom, and so I offer evidence of what has really been in my narcissus heart all these years.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rori O'Keeffe
• Release date: Aug 27, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005289904

Rori O'Keeffe

[e-mail] thought for my fellow journeyers:The new narrative of the right, I've noticed, is downright scary. Is the following an accurate characterization of the new right, or is it satire?"Women have been oppressing men. People of colour have been oppressing white people. LGBTQ people are oppressing straight people. Political correctness is nothing more than a concerted effort to advance those people's agendas. If democracy leads to rule by the weak, stupid and perverted, then to hell with it. Dictatorship is the best and surest way of enshrining the status of the the male, the white, the straight."I wish I could say it's just satire, but observing the multitudes of right-wing voices on social media, as well as paying close attention to the American GOP's ultimate fulfillment of Reagan's dream, it's obvious that Americans are flirting with catastrophe. Beware modern conservatism: It's nothing but authoritarianism, pure and simple.How long will it be before Canadian conservatism becomes infected with this virus? Not too long, I don't think. The same well-moneyed forces are at work here as in the U.S. Expect a sharp shift further to the right if the Republican party takes control of both chambers in the next U.S. midterms.What are whites, men and straight people afraid of? I think the common denominator of their fears is the challenge of having to compete for jobs and status in an inclusive society. Most are insecure because they are woefully unprepared psychologically to compete on a level playing field, having been sheltered by generations of unearned privilege. Soothe them, don't make them feel worse about themselves (think of Hillary's poorly-considered reference to the "basket full of deplorables." That comment may have cost her the election. It proved to many that liberals just hate the uneducated and mostly poor white people of the country.)Whatever you do, don't try to make them feel inferior. That is central to their fears about themselves in an increasingly inclusive social environment. It's important, because if the U.S. goes down to dictatorship, then most or all the other democracies will as well, and civilization will expire in a global Orwellian nightmare. There are so many scathing things I could say about these democracies, but they are almost paradises compared to what a future of dictatorships would be like.Please be kind, unwind.Peace.

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