Reviews and Comments

this was thought provoking & there's some great stuff in there but the freudian stuff was kind of weird also when she says that "gay men arent just chicks with dicks" and then uses the term "biological women" i cant tell if she's trying to challenge the notion that gay men are basically like women OR if she's being weirdly transphobic

I might not fully agree with this book. But it's hard to argue or not sympathize with his cynical view of ideology as a whole. All ideologies have failed us in some way. He seems to suggest that social ills are both an inevitable part of life & re-enforced by our dogmatic allegiance to ridding of them.

The bit about the coal breaker boys in the 1900s was an interesting & haunting one. He ends it by saying to be thankful for the present since modern machines have made this job obsolete. However I can't help but think of how Congolese kids are mining for lithium right now as we speak. Hopefully, this practice will become obsolete too. But I'm worried about what will take its place.

For some reason, I keep reading this book in youtuber brutalmoose's voice.

apparently the audiobook channel i used didnt upload all the chapters so i'm continuing this

I didn't entirely agreed with every argument against veganism in this. Quite frankly the "murder isnt hierarchical." argument is just weird as hell. However the main one I agree on & even thought about myself was the consumerist savior approach to animal liberation. I still don't think eating meat is moral. But I also don't think avoiding animal products does much to liberate them when things like faux-fur & chemical fertilizers contribute to environmental collapse. Plus it's hard to consistently boycott animal products if you have meat-eating pets.

I sympathize with his hatred of bologna. It tastes like rubber meat.

I'm listening to chapter 3 right now. I have mixed feelings about it. But the things he says come off as racist even if it was still better than most europeans at the time. It's a bit uncomfortable to sit through.

My fav character in this is the grandma. She is a little silly & mischievous.