Alternate history means never having to say you're sorry

[shunn]

Another reader of Science Fiction Weekly has plenty to say about C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America, without ever having seen it.

Comments

[bobhowe.livejournal.com]

I think Calhoun's letter is a classic example of the tendency toward intellectual smallness in the genre. You hit the nail right on the head with your reply: Calhoun (and his ilk) would much rather revel in the details of 19th Century cannon manufacturing than confront the ugly historical reality of slavery. Forest: trees.

By the way, apropos of your musical choice, my first memory of you is standing in our respective doorways at Clarion and chatting. You were wearing a Pat Metheny Group tee shirt.

[shunn.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's some memory you've got there. I think this was probably the T-shirt?

[bobhowe.livejournal.com]

Well, you made a big impression. For some reason I think the shirt was dark, though: blue?

[markbourne.livejournal.com]

I can but sputter. What is it that can drive a person to not only say "I haven't seen it but I can criticize it," but also to defend that position with a prideful and arrogant stance? Honestly, I'm at a loss here.

Is this a phenomenon that's on the upswing in our culture -- from the White House to religious institutions all the way down to Charles Krauthammer and even the pages of Science Fiction Weekly, where I'd like to think the readers are better than that? We've gone from the Age of Enlightenment to the Era of Absolutism: You're Either For It Or You're Against It, haven't we?

Christ. Okay, I can see the appeal. I've never met Jeff Calhoun or Wil Aygarn, but I don't need to to know that they're dicks. There. Hey, yeah, that feels pretty good....

[nihilistic-kid.livejournal.com]

Those Irish immigrants were so cool with ending slavery to protect free labor that they rioted and killed dozens of blacks in 1863 in New York!

Ah, nothing beats "history done right" like pretending that the labor market wouldn't remain segmented even after the end of the slavery, leading of many white riots in the later 19th century.