“This is something I read. It’s…interesting.
While Jim Goad makes some good points, he also makes a lot of points I disagree with. Reading this confirms for me that I’m pretty middle of the road.
My personal values:
1. I’m very against censorship.
2. I’m very pro-speech.
3. I’m very anti-violence.
4. I’m very anti-shaming (SUPER recommend Jon Ronson’s So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed).
I’m somewhat disappointed politically because I’ve felt increasingly that the left isn’t the home for me. After reading this, I’m sure the right is obviously not the right home for me, and their foundation values are not ones that I share. However, the left is also not as much aligned with my values as it once was (or perhaps as I felt it was), but I think the ways in which I disagree with the left has more to do with fringe, highly vocal elements of the left as opposed to core values and the median or average tone.
3 stars because, well, it’s not a GREAT book for me, but I did get something out of it. It’s probably the first thing I’ve read that’s right of where I stand, and it’s helpful to read something so different from myself. Reading Jim Goad’s views helped me better understand my own position on the spectrum, and while I’m talking about this as a right-y book, I’m doubtful that Jim Goad would call himself right wing, and he’s kind of all over the map when it comes to central issues. He’s an individual, and I was curious to read the views of an individual (Stephen King’s essay Guns is similar in that he’s lefty and pro-gun-ish, which makes for interesting reading).
I also give this some extra credit because while I don’t necessarily agree with the text, I’m glad we are in a world where something like this exists. I want to live in a world where stuff that differs from my views, sometimes in borderline-horrendous ways, is able to exist. And I do think that it’s a good thing for people to think aloud and think on the page and for imperfect things to come into the world as part of a discussion.
In case you’re wondering, I want to say that it’s possible to read something with different views and emerge mostly unchanged. Like I said, this book really crystallized more of who I am than it changed who I am. Part of why I read this was because it felt a little dangerous, like some people might think me a monster for even viewing this material. I debated about reviewing it or not, but I think people shouldn’t feel afraid to say they’ve read/viewed/experienced something that is taboo or outside the acceptable discourse. It doesn’t make you a bad person, it turns out. “