Scan barcode
A review by laurarmz
The Free People's Village by Sim Kern
4.0
Loved how various topics were discussed. Like, between the “war” on climate change, the conflict between different ideological groups, and the links between political ideologies, race and sex were ufff. Lots of food for thought (although, sometimes, discourse gets so ideological and conceptual, it’s not even practical anymore). The ending made me choke up, not gonna lie. Plus, the character arc was awesomely planted.
I wish I could befriend Gestas just for the sake of having any conversation with him.
Notes on the text (more as a way to keep my thoughts than criticism):
I don’t mean to diminish any of the social theories they have going on in the book, but it does feel like people use their vulnerability to attack others (“you’re not black /queer so you whatever your struggles are they’re not as valid or hard as ours”). Of course there’s privilege, but there are also many ways to go about it; good intentions, however misleading as they might end up being, should count for something. It’s about people truly working together, not repeating patterns with different players in power… maybe it’s because I’m not from the US, but the way racial issues were utilized as a tool to justify certain actions just seemed over-reaching for me (Maddie having to “make-up” for being a colonizer and having white privilege… of course with great power and access, comes great accountability but blaming her like that seemed like too much; she couldn’t help being white yk).
Halfway through the book, in the conversation about indigenous people, I just thought that re-contextualizing history to fit current paradigms seemed super reductive. Like the whole ancestors’ power thing is a bit much considering the time passed, and the whole appropriation concept… at this point, their discussion sounded like people trying to connect to something now that they stopped believing in the dominant religion (and to reinforce their current moral / societal beliefs). I think Red sounded disrespectful but did have a point… who decides when it’s hypocritical? Sure, it’s about the dominant system, but is that really the line we’re gonna draw? Whatever’s mainstream is oppressive?
White people being the most radicalized… makes sense. People doing radical things for non-movement related motives sounds just about right too.
Not doing illegal things doesn’t make you a coward. And of course there are consequences to not fighting back, but the consequences to fighting back can also affect you; at the end of the day, it’s about how much power the dominant party lets you have… movements within the “accepted” level of resistance are great, but people uncomfortable positions will not be belong to listen to something that might jeopardize that’s position — and why should violence only be valid when it happens at the hands of the state?
It’s very tragic that when movements go huge, their cause dyes gets dissolved among many others.
But, whether I agreed or disagreed with the characters and their messages, they really made me think, and I loved that. And also Shayna and her everybody-makes-their-own-decisions-within-inescapable-circumstances speech <3
I wish I could befriend Gestas just for the sake of having any conversation with him.
Notes on the text (more as a way to keep my thoughts than criticism):
I don’t mean to diminish any of the social theories they have going on in the book, but it does feel like people use their vulnerability to attack others (“you’re not black /queer so you whatever your struggles are they’re not as valid or hard as ours”). Of course there’s privilege, but there are also many ways to go about it; good intentions, however misleading as they might end up being, should count for something. It’s about people truly working together, not repeating patterns with different players in power… maybe it’s because I’m not from the US, but the way racial issues were utilized as a tool to justify certain actions just seemed over-reaching for me (Maddie having to “make-up” for being a colonizer and having white privilege… of course with great power and access, comes great accountability but blaming her like that seemed like too much; she couldn’t help being white yk).
Halfway through the book, in the conversation about indigenous people, I just thought that re-contextualizing history to fit current paradigms seemed super reductive. Like the whole ancestors’ power thing is a bit much considering the time passed, and the whole appropriation concept… at this point, their discussion sounded like people trying to connect to something now that they stopped believing in the dominant religion (and to reinforce their current moral / societal beliefs). I think Red sounded disrespectful but did have a point… who decides when it’s hypocritical? Sure, it’s about the dominant system, but is that really the line we’re gonna draw? Whatever’s mainstream is oppressive?
White people being the most radicalized… makes sense. People doing radical things for non-movement related motives sounds just about right too.
Not doing illegal things doesn’t make you a coward. And of course there are consequences to not fighting back, but the consequences to fighting back can also affect you; at the end of the day, it’s about how much power the dominant party lets you have… movements within the “accepted” level of resistance are great, but people uncomfortable positions will not be belong to listen to something that might jeopardize that’s position — and why should violence only be valid when it happens at the hands of the state?
It’s very tragic that when movements go huge, their cause dyes gets dissolved among many others.
But, whether I agreed or disagreed with the characters and their messages, they really made me think, and I loved that. And also Shayna and her everybody-makes-their-own-decisions-within-inescapable-circumstances speech <3