Annual round-up
This is 2017 as I experienced and blogged about it:January
My first post of the year was rather late, but was a round-up of the year as I had experienced it. The biggest story of the month was my victory over the reputation-wrecking troll, who continued his activities well into July, trying to shame me on Techdirt. He failed. My next posts were about Donald Trump's presidency beginning under the shadow of his scandals. I noted that the failure to address the ideological divide was only going to make things worse and predicted that
Meanwhile, divisions will deepen and conservatism will become a parody of itself while America turns into a cartoon and slides into international oblivion. This process will take a while but it will be noticeable this year. - 2017 - Fear, Uncertainty, And Doubt, by Wendy Cockcroft for On t'Internet
This totally happened, people! The zenith of America's Stan Smith-ification was reached as a "friendship party" was planned by American ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, as a response to her failure to get the other nations on board with Trump's plan to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. I shouldn't get too excited about this, though; who didn't see this coming?
I also blogged about exceptionalism and the dangers thereof. Basically, don't be cocky: nobody's all that. Besides, it harms our society by deepening divisions.
I believe that if paranoia, dishonesty, cruelty, and violence are endemic to your culture, it's the wrong culture. - How Exceptionalism Destroys Democracy, by Wendy Cockcroft for On t'Internet
Meanwhile, Donald Trump was sworn in as US president and had a hissy fit over the size of the crowds attending his inauguration. Our Glorious Leader
February
February was a quiet month blogging-wise but I got the commission to design the leaflet for our church retreat. Go me! I couldn't resist the opportunity to use the title for a blog post, though.
A few days ago I decided to tackle the binary angle head on by challenging the underlying assumptions about what what it really means to be a liberal socialist. tl;dr: a centrist. There, I've saved you a sixteen minute read. If, however, you are so inclined to work your way through that post you may find it helps to illuminate this one. There are three things I'd like to feel more positive about: faith, hope, and charity. - To Dream Again, by Wendy Cockcroft for On t'Internet
I've been using my Medium blog post, What Is A "Liberal Socialist?," to educate Americans about what that term actually means. It's generally used to insult anyone who doesn't toe the right wing line.
Meanwhile, Conservative reactionary responses to postmodernism continued to ripple through the news throughout the year as students kicked off about safe spaces, micro-aggressions, and the right to not be confronted by anything that might offend someone. What nobody seemed to be paying attention to was that the alt-right was being characterised as conservative. The politics of hate is normal, mainstream conservatism now. And yes, it has its mate on the left. And, of course, the new ideology is just like the old one. Expect more Kansas since these people are incapable of learning from their mistakes.
Over in Techland, Techdirt started an "I support journalism" fund to pay its legal bills for the bogus SLAPP suit against it by Shiva Ayyadurai.
March
My one post was all about freedom of speech. This is a noisy battleground currently dominated by protected groups armed with feelz. I'm not even joking about this:
To have a blind spot is but human. Does this mean we leave the damn eyepatch on when our error is exposed? I'd have chuckled and let it go but blogger Roy Schestowitz brought it up again, criticising Richard "two cents an hour" Epstein for characterising a rambunctious protest as censorship. Libertarians can be the biggest hypocrites, a point I've made before but this takes the cake: Milo Yiannopoulos, who wants to ban Muslim student organisations, is complaining about being banned from assorted campuses. - Schrödinger's Freedom: Let The Feelz Decide What We Can Say, by Wendy Cockcroft for On t'Internet
This is a subject that comes up again and again. In the blue corner are the special snowflakes wanting to protect others from the possibility that they might be offended, while in the red corner are the special snowflakes wanting to intimidate others into silence. I get called a fundamentalist for advocating for freedom of speech, even when it's unwanted but there's a hell of a difference between wanting to stop someone speaking at all and telling them you don't want to hear it where you're at.
Meanwhile, Our Glorious Leaders responded to the UN's report on the shameful treatment of disabled people with a point-by-point rebuttal that fails the laugh test. It's a bit weird that you can be found fit to work only to croak it a few months later, isn't it? Read some of the heartbreaking stories here. Now read the rebuttal again. Can you see why I thought we might end up with a Labour government in June?
In Trumpistan, the President's attempts to ban Muslims from certain countries (the ones he doesn't have hotels in) from entering America via executive order were causing havoc; lawyers were volunteering to help stranded Muslim travelers at airports — again — and Silicon Valley was having none of it. I should point out that America relies on foreign talent because its own education is a bit patchy, to say the least. Basically, they don't do enough to train up their own citizens in an increasingly market-driven society. Result: well-trained, educated foreigners are taking the best jobs. There's little in the way of political will to address this. STEM would have a higher take-up if not for the prevailing anti-intellectualism and where that's not the case there's a drive to drop Humanities degrees on the grounds that they're not useful.
April
April was nuts — I wrote ten posts. The main themes were Trump, Brexit, and freedom of speech. I decried the pandering to populism that is harming my adopted country, chortled at the jingoistic response to Spain's singeing of the Queen of England's hair, gleefully noted the anti-Trump sentiment in his own party, and grimly mentioned the fact that the neocons are slithering back into positions of power in American institutions. My most popular post, Ignorance, Stupidity, And Greed Are Not Conservative Values, got 125 views, which is very good for me.
This is what conservatism ought to be about: solving problems in a way that encourages personal responsibility, not laughing behind our hands at those less fortunate than ourselves. Now how are we going to get it there? - Ignorance, Stupidity, And Greed Are Not Conservative Values, by Wendy Cockcroft for On t'Internet
In Political Correctness Implodes: When Free Speech And Feminism Collide, I had a laugh at the TERF wars, then asked how GE2016 would affect Brexit. Badly, as it happens: May's crew are clueless. Result: she's reliant on the right-wing DUP to support her teetering government. In
Can Speech Ever Really Be Free? Five Factors To Consider I had a constructive interaction with Dr. Janice Duffy, who explained she has been trolled hard with death threats, etc. We agreed to disagree on the issue but we ended the conversation on friendly terms. I had one more dig at Trump and the way his actions are making formerly outré behaviours and attitudes acceptable. GW Bush and Mitt Romney are now the voices of reason, people! After that I asked my readers what sort of world we wanted to live in after GE2016.
May
My first post in May was about denialism, which has intensified since then, along with goalpost-moving and reliance on the feelz. I also wrote my most successful post to date, Who Has A Lock On Morality — The Left, The Liberals, Or The Right?
The way morality is addressed on both sides of the aisle is a matter of the individual V the public, in which the public is 'othered' to the point where it is perceived as a threat on the right, and 'our friends and neighbours' on the left. How did it come to this? - Who Has A Lock On Morality — The Left, The Liberals, Or The Right? by Wendy Cockcroft for On t'Internet
I also complained that "conservatives" have abandoned the rule of law in favour of mob justice, e.g. that time the National Review's David French called for the bombing of the countries the terrorists who carried out the Manchester Bombing came from. Erm, they came from Britain.
Look again at David French's thread where he calls for vengeance on the bombers; he gets little support because his views are not conservative, they border on the downright Satanic. - How The Right Subverts Conservatism: Traditional Values And Rule Of Law Are Anathema Now, by Wendy Cockcroft for On t'Internet
Meanwhile, across the Pond, the Net Neutrality debate was kicking off in earnest and Techdirt's case was heard in court. Back on this side, the Manchester Arena Bombing took the lives of 23 people, including the bomber himself. Needless to say, May blamed the internet, refusing to see how her "limited government" cuts had actually contributed to the problem by reducing the number of people available to keep actual terrorists under surveillance. Needless to say, Manchester did itself proud as people from a range of faith groups banded together to show solidarity in the midst of the horror and grief.
June
My four posts in June were dominated by politics; I had two posts on the general election, one on the Grenfell Tower disaster and one asking why we can't all just get along. The answer is:
There is a vacuum on the right that needs filling with a sensible, public-spirited person. Unfortunately, as I pointed out, public-spiritedness is anathema on the right on the grounds that it takes other people's money - Why Can't We All Just Get Along? by Wendy Cockcroft for On t'Internet
I honestly believed we had reached peak Tory with their complete denialism over the benefits sanctions and NHS cuts death toll, their complete disregard for the impact of Brexit on the people who have lived and worked in this country for decades, and May holding hands with Trump, but no; people swing right when they're scared and the anti-Corbyn movement (basically Red Scare politics) had done its job a bit too well. Result: a hung Parliament with the DUP propping up the weakened May regime. None of my predictions have come true: May is still in power since the press fears the alternatives.
Meanwhile, we suffered terrorist attacks including the car-as-weapon attack on London Bridge, and predictably our Glorious Leader Theresa May was wibbling on about taxing, censoring, and regulating the internet again. These people don't learn.
July
Brexit was the major theme of this month's six posts as I gleefully contemplated the breakup of Brexit. Never underestimate the stubborn, pig-headed stupidity of Brexiters. They're rabid.
In my most popular post that month, Why We Need A Broad Political Spectrum, I pointed out that our current 2D see-saw system shuts out nuance and forces people to take sides. This is actually getting worse because people are increasingly taking sides and characterising those who disagree with them as the enemy. I wasn't that keen on the Repeal Bill for the same reasons. The role of government came up as a topic for debate as I outlined the reasons for austerity: to end tax-funded services for good in the name of saving money. Although Trump was visibly losing support in America, he still managed to cling to power as the darling of the alt-right. In a country where far-right positions are now mainstream anyone who dares oppose him is a leftist. Time will tell as to whether or not creating more "leftists" is a good idea. My post, The Right Is Collapsing. What Will Fill The Vacuum? asked a simple question. The vacuum remains. Finally, it seemed that Brexit might be breaking up. Sadly, if it is, it's doing it too slowly to be noticeable.
Meanwhile, the comments section of Mike's Youtube video of him complaining about the SLAPP suit against Techdirt was crowded by pro-copyright trolls, etc. It's worth watching to see the toll nuisance litigation takes on people.
August
I finally took on the right-wing trope over Venezuela when I saw an Abi Wilkinson article about it, then gave the free speech horse another flogging with discussions on the resurgent American Nazi movement (it's the ideological endgame of the GOP) and the intensifying debate on the limits of freedom of speech. Basically, it's not a simple, cut-and-dried matter.
Meanwhile, across the Pond, Malware Tech, AKA Marcus Hutchins, was arrested on cyber-crime charges after being feted for stopping the Wannacry ransomware. The case is ongoing, and as usual, nothing is quite what it first appears to be. In other news, "Mattress Girl" got a hammering in the National Review for making up the attack she claimed had ruined her life. If that were true, why send flirtatious messages to her alleged attacker? This is why due process for all should apply: anonymity for both until the facts of the case have been examined to ensure the veracity of the reports from both sides. Liars should be punished. Emma Sulkowicz was not. Over here, the EU Commission was planning to screw the public over copyright — then their plans were leaked. They're still planning to screw us.
September
The four posts I wrote in September were a mixed bag. My post Dotcom, Copyright, And What Went Wrong was by far the most popular for that month due to being referenced by other blogs. Techdirt won its case but I focused on the announcement that Shiva Ayyadurai plans to appeal the ruling. I'm still using my anti-Brexit talking points to debate Brexiters; they don't like being told that we could have had control of our borders at any time but weren't really bothered about that. Finally I asked the question that no one else seemed to be asking, Would Censorship Save Us from Hitler 2.0? The answer is, of course, no. One person's protected group is another's threat.
Meanwhile, the Equifax data breach was heating up the headlines and the Monkey Selfie case was settled.
October
There were only two posts for October. I was all excira and delira over the prospect of giving the EU a bloody nose only for them to change the date of the damn vote, but that was due to the pressure we were putting on them. I also made it clear that Brexit is a disaster and urged readers to stop it.
Over on Medium, I wrote a post on reproductive rights. I'm not a mad abortion on demand supporter but the Pro-Life crowd are such hypocrites they're making me all evangelistic about it.
As predicted, Shiva Ayyadurai appealed his SLAPP suit loss against Techdirt.
November
The scourge of Rape Culture dominated my three November posts. Basically, neither the Left nor the Right can claim the moral high ground here; they both let us down. Meanwhile the Brexit brigade were continuing to make a hash of the job and I called them out for it. It's noteworthy that my post slagging off the left for supporting effnick minori'ies who rape and abuse on the grounds that they're Oppressed Masses got the most views.
There were no posts for December.
Predictions
Trump's knuckle-dragging will continue to drag American down. China will flex its muscles and will dominate the news, filling the power void left by America's neglect. The right will either pretend it's not happening or find a scapegoat to blame.
Surveillance and control will increase, as will austerity, and the EU will be blamed for all of this.
Copyright/IPR rent-seeking will continue to increase in scope and application.
Right-wing-ery will continue to be normalised until it reaches a point where backlash is inevitable. This will come from the most surprising places.
Brexit will continue apace, punctuated by doom-saying on one side and Dunkirk can-do spirit on the other. Society will continue to polarise. However, a movement to sweep up the middle-grounders will take in a range of people who usually disagree with each other in an effort to repair the damage.
As the tax breaks come in to bite America will fall out of love with Trump, who may well be impeached. I'd been making fun of the Russia thing but now that it's been proven true expect a backlash. The May government will experience a series of setbacks that might even trigger another election.
Well that's it for now, folks. Good luck!
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