You're the hoss, Kris. I agree 100%. Hive mentality and political overstimulation are threatening to burn down the horror genre. At least there are a few us still willing to piss on the flames.
Ok, then. Guess we'll give a shit for you. I don't suppose you're a bit of a prepper for nothing. You're really oversimplifying and failing to understand the stakes of the present moment. If you don't read the news or "give a shit" about politics in favor of total solipsism (a word I learned from A Cold Evening in Hell, btw), knock yourself out. When it starts to directly affect them, suddenly people give a shit, though. Maybe it will never affect you. If so, that's fantastic for you. But a lot of us are being targeted for our shitty social media posts that you think is just a bunch of whiny crap. For daring to need social services of any kind in the US right now. For being poor or disabled.
That you are none of those things, apparently, can be a cold comfort to you while others literally suffer and die for the policies you shun even hearing about from "social media activists" caught up in the "hive mind." Again, a base oversimplification and a deliberate obfuscation. Justify not standing up for what's not even political but simply right and wrong all you want. But I give a shit about human suffering. I can't just watch people die. And people WILL die. That's not hyperbole. You know, I honestly envy your solipsism (there's that word again). Do you know how easy my life would be if I could embrace such a worldview?
Unfortunately, my son relies on public education. My daughter is disabled - autistic, not caused by vaccines - and receives support services funded by Medicaid. She is LGBTQ. She is in community college and receives financial aid from the federal government. My son, when he graduates in a few years, probably will not even have FAFSA to pay for college. Even student loans will likely be off the table. She is waiting to receive social security benefits. I am disabled and my job is funded by Medicaid. My husband is a union member. The economy is crashing. Recession is looming. Layoffs in the trades are coming. 60% chance now.
We all take psych meds that we need to function. Do you know that it has seriously been suggested by someone who could actually create the policy, that we be sent to "wellness camps" instead of being medicated? I'm pretty sure The Ruin Season starkly illustrated how bad that could be for us. This is eugenics, plain and simple. We are literally under attack simply for existing, for being disabled, for not being useful to capitalists. Again, this is NOT hyperbole. It's real. It's happening. It's terrifying.
Do you think we can (literally) afford to bury our heads in the sand and wait to see who saves us? Because help isn't coming. I guess one less book sale won't matter to you, though. So go off on how "I really don't care, do u?" Embrace your solipsism. Embrace deliberately looking away.
I mean, are you that guy? Really? If so your books are fantastic but you are failing as a human to even have a basic understanding of why we are fighting, why we are keyboard activist, why there are protests, why there's such a deep divide. There's a class war going on and you can't even see that? I'm fucking pissed off at anyone who is ignoring this moment, who chooses willful ignorance. I'm sorry, but fuck you, Kris.
Thank you for providing a perfect example of the sanctimonious petulance I was talking about. It really benefits the article, which you clearly missed the point of. You're judging me without knowing me and projecting your personal issues onto something I wrote about forming one's own opinions. You don't know what my life has been like, how I help others or who they are, or what charities I work with. Ranting at strangers online is not going to gain you allies. If anything, it will turn people against your causes. No wonder you disliked this article decrying online bullies—you are one. I sincerely wish you peace, Angie, but I'm not here to take your verbal abuse, so if you want to say "fuck you" to me, ditto.
Hey…. Um, I just finally saw this reply. So, in the best tradition of not giving a shit, you probably dgaf about anything else I have to say. That would be a good instinct. You're right, though. About sanctimony, judging and projecting. 100% correct. I owe you a full throated apology.
I went back and reread your piece. I clearly did miss the point and then I argued in bad faith. I have no qualifications to judge you. That was way out of line.
I can't defend what I said. I'd really just like to delete what I said and go fuck off back underneath my rock. I'm not going to dirty delete though. I can handle people knowing I'm a bad actor who argued in bad faith, I guess.
I am terminally online, yes, but I feel superior to people because I'm usually on SubStack and Reddit, which clearly gives me an intellectual advantage. Right? No the fuck it doesn't.
In my defense, which is very, very poor, I am scared. There's this guy who wants to put my family on a registry. He thinks if he takes away my meds (clearly a bad, bad idea) and sends me to a “wellness camp” (his words), I will be better off.
My favorite book of yours is The Ruin Season. Cause the guy stops taking his meds and thinks he's doing the right things for the right reasons but he slowly loses his shit. He ends up completely losing his grip on reality and losing the person who dearly loves him. That's, like, my worst nightmare. Way worse than any of the EH you've written.
So I am scared and I lashed out at you. It was 100% projection. I'm actually really envious of people who refuse to engage with social media like I do. People who kind of tune out all the noise. I wish I could do that. Instead, I'm an autistic person with an overweening sense of social justice but I am powerless to stop horrible things from happening to me or anyone else. So when I read about people who don't give a shit about being online like I am, it's triggering because I open myself up to too much of the shit going on in the world. I'm Ms. Keyboard Activist in the flesh because it's the only power I have in the world. It's pretty much useless though, except in times like these when I'm out here showing my whole ass and it ain't pretty.
If you're reading this, I really appreciate you taking the time. I want you to know that sometimes people want to be accountable for being huge douchebags to people they have no right to say shitty things about. I want to be a better person than I was yesterday. I deserved to get blasted and I deserved everything you said and you were right. Except, I actually really thought about what you said a lot. I realized this was not an example of the kind of person I want to be.
I'm sorry, Kris.
I'll be ordering a signed hardback copy of your new book. I've always supported your work and I will continue to do that because I enjoy your writing very much. I promise to stay in my lane as a devoted reader and no more. I hope you have a really good life. I don't know much about you, true, but I'm pretty sure you deserve that.
By the way, I'm not inviting you to debate anything. I simply want you to understand that there are real threats to real people. Just because the wolves arent at your door, you think you have the leisure to talk shit but I'm telling you, people are afraid because this is not a difference of opinions.
Institutions you have known your whole life are being destroyed. Really. Honestly. If you don't know that these things are happening, that's a huge part of the problem and again, good for you. But dismissing my fear? No bueno. You are confidently incorrect in this opinion of yours.
This isn't a debate. It's about our way of life, everything we rely on, being obliterated. It would be better if we All Died Screaming. At least it would be over quickly instead of us bleeding out while you refuse to dignify us by at least paying attention. Jesus.
I barely gave enough of a shit to finish this post!
Seriously, though: great job as always.
And a-fucken-men.
Thanks, Sonny! Rock on
Thank you SO much for saying this. Really. Not that you give a shit, but I feel this so much.
Thank you so much, Lisa!And I DO give a shit about this (and many other things, haha). So glad it resonated with you. Rock on!
You're the hoss, Kris. I agree 100%. Hive mentality and political overstimulation are threatening to burn down the horror genre. At least there are a few us still willing to piss on the flames.
Amen, brother! Thank you so much. I'm so glad to hear you say that.
His lil' Rambo! 🤣 Excellent post by the way!
Amen
Ok, then. Guess we'll give a shit for you. I don't suppose you're a bit of a prepper for nothing. You're really oversimplifying and failing to understand the stakes of the present moment. If you don't read the news or "give a shit" about politics in favor of total solipsism (a word I learned from A Cold Evening in Hell, btw), knock yourself out. When it starts to directly affect them, suddenly people give a shit, though. Maybe it will never affect you. If so, that's fantastic for you. But a lot of us are being targeted for our shitty social media posts that you think is just a bunch of whiny crap. For daring to need social services of any kind in the US right now. For being poor or disabled.
That you are none of those things, apparently, can be a cold comfort to you while others literally suffer and die for the policies you shun even hearing about from "social media activists" caught up in the "hive mind." Again, a base oversimplification and a deliberate obfuscation. Justify not standing up for what's not even political but simply right and wrong all you want. But I give a shit about human suffering. I can't just watch people die. And people WILL die. That's not hyperbole. You know, I honestly envy your solipsism (there's that word again). Do you know how easy my life would be if I could embrace such a worldview?
Unfortunately, my son relies on public education. My daughter is disabled - autistic, not caused by vaccines - and receives support services funded by Medicaid. She is LGBTQ. She is in community college and receives financial aid from the federal government. My son, when he graduates in a few years, probably will not even have FAFSA to pay for college. Even student loans will likely be off the table. She is waiting to receive social security benefits. I am disabled and my job is funded by Medicaid. My husband is a union member. The economy is crashing. Recession is looming. Layoffs in the trades are coming. 60% chance now.
We all take psych meds that we need to function. Do you know that it has seriously been suggested by someone who could actually create the policy, that we be sent to "wellness camps" instead of being medicated? I'm pretty sure The Ruin Season starkly illustrated how bad that could be for us. This is eugenics, plain and simple. We are literally under attack simply for existing, for being disabled, for not being useful to capitalists. Again, this is NOT hyperbole. It's real. It's happening. It's terrifying.
Do you think we can (literally) afford to bury our heads in the sand and wait to see who saves us? Because help isn't coming. I guess one less book sale won't matter to you, though. So go off on how "I really don't care, do u?" Embrace your solipsism. Embrace deliberately looking away.
I mean, are you that guy? Really? If so your books are fantastic but you are failing as a human to even have a basic understanding of why we are fighting, why we are keyboard activist, why there are protests, why there's such a deep divide. There's a class war going on and you can't even see that? I'm fucking pissed off at anyone who is ignoring this moment, who chooses willful ignorance. I'm sorry, but fuck you, Kris.
Thank you for providing a perfect example of the sanctimonious petulance I was talking about. It really benefits the article, which you clearly missed the point of. You're judging me without knowing me and projecting your personal issues onto something I wrote about forming one's own opinions. You don't know what my life has been like, how I help others or who they are, or what charities I work with. Ranting at strangers online is not going to gain you allies. If anything, it will turn people against your causes. No wonder you disliked this article decrying online bullies—you are one. I sincerely wish you peace, Angie, but I'm not here to take your verbal abuse, so if you want to say "fuck you" to me, ditto.
Hey…. Um, I just finally saw this reply. So, in the best tradition of not giving a shit, you probably dgaf about anything else I have to say. That would be a good instinct. You're right, though. About sanctimony, judging and projecting. 100% correct. I owe you a full throated apology.
I went back and reread your piece. I clearly did miss the point and then I argued in bad faith. I have no qualifications to judge you. That was way out of line.
I can't defend what I said. I'd really just like to delete what I said and go fuck off back underneath my rock. I'm not going to dirty delete though. I can handle people knowing I'm a bad actor who argued in bad faith, I guess.
I am terminally online, yes, but I feel superior to people because I'm usually on SubStack and Reddit, which clearly gives me an intellectual advantage. Right? No the fuck it doesn't.
In my defense, which is very, very poor, I am scared. There's this guy who wants to put my family on a registry. He thinks if he takes away my meds (clearly a bad, bad idea) and sends me to a “wellness camp” (his words), I will be better off.
My favorite book of yours is The Ruin Season. Cause the guy stops taking his meds and thinks he's doing the right things for the right reasons but he slowly loses his shit. He ends up completely losing his grip on reality and losing the person who dearly loves him. That's, like, my worst nightmare. Way worse than any of the EH you've written.
So I am scared and I lashed out at you. It was 100% projection. I'm actually really envious of people who refuse to engage with social media like I do. People who kind of tune out all the noise. I wish I could do that. Instead, I'm an autistic person with an overweening sense of social justice but I am powerless to stop horrible things from happening to me or anyone else. So when I read about people who don't give a shit about being online like I am, it's triggering because I open myself up to too much of the shit going on in the world. I'm Ms. Keyboard Activist in the flesh because it's the only power I have in the world. It's pretty much useless though, except in times like these when I'm out here showing my whole ass and it ain't pretty.
If you're reading this, I really appreciate you taking the time. I want you to know that sometimes people want to be accountable for being huge douchebags to people they have no right to say shitty things about. I want to be a better person than I was yesterday. I deserved to get blasted and I deserved everything you said and you were right. Except, I actually really thought about what you said a lot. I realized this was not an example of the kind of person I want to be.
I'm sorry, Kris.
I'll be ordering a signed hardback copy of your new book. I've always supported your work and I will continue to do that because I enjoy your writing very much. I promise to stay in my lane as a devoted reader and no more. I hope you have a really good life. I don't know much about you, true, but I'm pretty sure you deserve that.
By the way, I'm not inviting you to debate anything. I simply want you to understand that there are real threats to real people. Just because the wolves arent at your door, you think you have the leisure to talk shit but I'm telling you, people are afraid because this is not a difference of opinions.
Institutions you have known your whole life are being destroyed. Really. Honestly. If you don't know that these things are happening, that's a huge part of the problem and again, good for you. But dismissing my fear? No bueno. You are confidently incorrect in this opinion of yours.
This isn't a debate. It's about our way of life, everything we rely on, being obliterated. It would be better if we All Died Screaming. At least it would be over quickly instead of us bleeding out while you refuse to dignify us by at least paying attention. Jesus.