Wow, I’m going to attempt to swim against the tide here and give you some elder aunt advice. You have a viewpoint and writing style worth following. That’s why I’m here. Video, however, is not your natural strength. You know that, so you asked for the critique by your friend. He was harsh in his assessment. And, yes the message, the arrest of journalist Don Lemon, was the main point that he seemed to miss. But, you were asking for his opinion of your performance, not, the content, weren’t you?
Your friend understands something we often eschew in our high mindedness’s. The medium is part of the message, visuals matter, unspoken cues evade conscious thought and go straight to the amygdala. If you want your videos to succeed, you will need to take all of this into account. So watch your videos with a critic’s eye and see for your yourself what is and isn’t supporting your message. One of the hardest lessons in journalism is editing out whatever doesn’t focus on the essentials: who, where, when and why.
Now for the love of all that matters, GET SOME SLEEP.
This right here. I think it would have been much more productive said the way you said it. I didn’t hear you say give up. I’m kinda hesitant to even mention this but my archives, particularly the first couple of weeks, and particularly the first notes I put out there were pretty bad. There were some flashes of potential that even I could see as I am my harshest critic. I almost gave up and went back to writing in isolation with no eyes on the work but mine. The character, George Mcfly, from Back To The Future just came to mind. I guess I said all that to say it ain’t gonna get better until the following:
*Have enough self awareness to know you suck
*Have enough persistence to keep going despite failure
*Have an almost delusional belief in yourself
My friend’s advice amounts to telling someone who is bad at driving to tell them to get from out the car, go inside, and play grand theft auto on PlayStation to get better. The Army has a phrase that’s relevant here. If it ain’t rainin you ain’t training. I’ve seen it all throughout my career. Recruits who can’t shoot get put under more intensive immersion shooting exercises under close supervision of course in order to get their skills up to an acceptable level of performance. They don’t take away the gun and give them a simulated one. Patrol officers who got in a spate of accidents whether they were at fault or not went back to the driving courses and get a day of supervised immersion into high pursuit driving techniques. They don’t take away the car and go look at videos in a classroom all day.
My point with this essay was not “how dare he throw shade on my performance.” The point was that if his mindset was my friend sucks lemme put him up on game then he would have watched the entire video not just 5 minutes. No. His mindset is the mainstream media mindset we loathe. His mindset was “I’ve been to the mountaintop and sat and communed with gods. Look at these mere mortals trying to be like the gods I communed with. How dare they!” He scoffed at the term I used, Indie Media, as if it was some profane word or something. Look it was bad Diane. So bad me and my wife had a whole discussion about it. The first words out of my wife to my wife was that I agreed with him yeah it was bad and I intend to get better not by giving up and watching tutorials but by gradually improving. She sensed something was off about him. Look I held back on my criticism of him out of respect and instead attempted to frame it as a mainstream mindset that stands in the way of truth.
It’s why readers would rather read Dr. Heather Cox Richardson’s take on current events then watch MS NOW. Dare I say they’d rather read my take than read WashPost. I’ll be referencing some points made here in this reply in……….drumroll everybody……….gasp……my upcoming video. (The George Mcfly in me is already going quit quit quit!)
I think I’m preaching to the choir here. You know this I suspect but it’s important to provide context by giving you my state of mind on this and providing a lil bit of encouragement to the random passersby or 2 who happens to come across this thread.
One more thing, your “friend” behaved like an a**. There is feedback and there’s sabotage; they are diametrically opposed. Your gut knew the difference, thank goodness.
Thank you for this clarity Xavier. Your success has become important to many of us. Your passion and perspective are essential for these times.
I watched the whole video, by the way, and my primary critique is that the message was somehow buried in lots of peripheral messages and asides. Perhaps this is a hold over from your essays where meandering works better because the reader can skim when they choose.
The fact that you share your personal feelings and concerns is not a failing, it’s one of your more endearing qualities. But, perhaps you could just make a quick personal aside and move on. It’s not a criticism of content, but, of pacing in order to hold attention in an audience that’s had its attention span badly damaged.
And I think we are all relearning how to stay informed. Newscasts are superficial; local newspapers are gone or shrunk to mere skeletons; major newspapers answer to corporate interests; magazines like the Atlantic or Nation can’t help us understand the day to day news. Finding our trusted journalists in Substack has become the preferred medium for those of us who want the truth. But, it’s become a big tent requiring more effort to find an audience.
So keep plugging away, be honest with yourself without being abusive. We believe in you, surely you can feel that. Find what’s useful in other’s critiques, including mine, and throw the rest away.
And I was serious. Please get some real sleep. We’re in a long battle for the soul of our country and need to keep our strength up for the long haul. Than you for your extraordinary effort.
A little story that may be relevant. When not painting birds - pictures of them, not the mistreating actual birds -- I work as an advocate for animals, especially wildlife (my expertise), and conservation. When I started doing this work, possibly ere your birth, or end to the need for diapers, I was asked to help a group in a town near me to prevent a plan to trap muskrats with cruel leghold traps in a community where there was a lot of concern about an increase in muskrats, the fear being they'd be "out of control" with dire consequences to humanity...at least in that small town.
I was new at this and so went to immense work (very pre internet...all books and calls to appropriate scientists) and put together an elegant argument against trapping with explanation of wildlife population dynamics, compensatory mortality and immigration, dispersal of cohorts, additive vs compensatory mortality, and stuff of that nature, all fact-based, and presented it to the town council.
Then an official from the provincial government's ministry in charge of regulating trapping strode in, in uniform, and with a handgun on his hip. This is Canada and so even back then seeing anyone other than a cop enter a public meeting while so armed was nearly unheard of.
He uttered nothing but the usual bromides, and yet the council agreed with him. I had refuted, in advance, all his arguments with facts and figures, but it was who he was and how he looked that mattered; I mean, the guy had a gun, a uniform, so he must know what's what, eh?
But the story does not end there...I told the aggrieved citizens to picket the council and to get as many people as they could to convince, with demos, phone calls and letters the councillors up for re-election that they would be voted against if they did not reverse the decision. I urged them to make public their support of any councillor or challenger who was on their side.
They won. The traps were not set, the muskrats were free to ramble, and the dire consequences predicted if they were not "controlled" never happened, as I predicted.
The Resistance is right, and facts and figures, reporting and so on matters, but is not enough. And no one gives a flying f-bomb what you look like. What is needed is people in the streets and on our computer screens both, making their majority views known, and politicians seeing the crumbling of their assumed support.
Just don't give the fascists the excuse to suspend voting and other rights and enact some sort of martial law. It is dangerous, and an old guy sitting in safe comfort in a safe place has no "right" to tell you what to do, but I hope to hell you all keep doing it for your sake, and mine and what is left of the free world. It all matters! Each has a role to play that must be played...or else.
This right here. Me too. Look I don’t want to prejudice YT’bers who just happen to know the presentation game and got it down but I’m side eying them they way Black Panthers used to side eye the one in the group who just seems too perfect as a potential informant. Noooo I’m not saying these people are literal informants I’m saying their ties to mainstream corporate journalism might over-ride truth.
I get it! Good presentation shows you care, and take pride in doing things the best you can. I am talking about the many things that make someone edgy feeling. Slick is never honesty, forthrightness, and being real. I am deaf, (lifelong, and I hear a very little, and was not allowed to learn signing) so I rely on body language and lip reading and the many other signifiers that people bring with them to understand what they are messaging.. I used to get into so much trouble when I was a kid, when I responded to the body language, etc. rather than the verbiage... adults are particularly guilty of trying to cover what they really think with a torrent of words.. but their bodies, and attitude choices (extended choices such as clothing, etc..) almost never lie.. So part of the slick also has to do with this as well. Maybe that is why I get along with kids so well! ha! ( However, certainly do not like the dt&Co infantile gang, that sort of 'kids' we can all do without!)
Yes, I am taking a course on Constitutional Observers Rights and Training tonight on UTube just in case this rogue government of mine decides to surge ICE into Southeast Michigan before November, like they are in Minnesota, Ohio and Maine. We are trying to stave off the Insurrection Act, but now Trump is trying to Nationalize the Election and Bannon announced on his podcast yesterday that MAGA was going to surround polling places with ICE Agents, so Hispanic Americans will be afraid to vote. The more Special Elections we Democrats win, the more dire the threats become.
Excellent! Excellent points and work. The truth doesn't care what it looks like. The truth isn't fake. Thank you for your skill and hard work. Don't listen to your old buddy. They aren't up to real speed like you. You are appreciated. Keep on keeping on.
Even when truth is ugly and unwelcome, forewarned is forearmed; and I think there is more than poetic connection between beauty and truth. Something within us resonates if we let it.
Thanks, Xplissit Voice that we respect and care deeply for, with, and about... You opened up when the guy said, "Shut down home-boy..." I hear YOU - feel YOU, am with YOU! Please keep on being loud while remaining gently and truly proud... It's NOW or NEVER! "Lean on me when you need a friend; we all need someone to lean on..." (sang Bill Withers). Thanks for being the friend we all lean on... - FTJ
Fantastic! Well done making the case!! In fact to me the urgency, with bad lighting and a chaotic background is what makes the report serious and important to listen to. When I see a broadcaster sitting behind the polished desk, calmly reading to me about people being brutalized, I want to scream.
I think AND feel, therefore I am. Therefore I am sentient. I don't mean that there is no need to examine and discipline our feelings, but we are nothing without them. Objects.
Words. Are. Important. When you’re told over and over that the house is on fire and here’s the evidence, believe it, no matter how it’s packaged. As a woman, I was told my story wasn’t believable because I was “hysterical.” So I organized my case and tried again. Then I wasn’t believed because I was too rational. So I made my own plan. Part of what I learned is to listen better to others. Discern the truth from the evidence.
Yeah, sir. This essay is the reason I keep reading every day. It is why I became a paid subscriber a bit ago. I’m so tired of polished. I want to read and see and hear people in the real. I want us to dig into the raw and grisly places so we can cleanse our humanity and grow our values in connection to one another. Polish makes us slide right over all that and focus on shiny, sharp objects. I’m all set with that. Gonna sound like your mom, but only for a minute. Rest is important. That’s it. I’m done with that. You do you. Do what you know is right, what is your contribution. It won’t be right for everyone, and that’s okay. It’s real and right for many.
Hamlet muses that the devil hath power to assume a pleasing shape. Oppressors have long used finery, pomp and circumstance to signal supremacy, but it's all a put-on. There is a genuine professionalism that is a discipline to one's duty, but it is independent of packaging, and it involves what's really there irrespective of casual appearances. Trump spends a small fortune on the taxpayer's dime because, he says, that his hair must be perfect. What about the outcomes of activity? Has our attachment to seeing the world though screens (even this one) leave us more sensitive to presentation than substance? It seems that way to me, at least way to much of the time. Compared to the Lincoln-Douglas debates modern candidate debates more remind me of game shows.
X -- speaking as a reader with a limited attention span and already feeling overwhelmed by these times, I would also say you do tend to go on a bit too much sometimes. You could tighten it up somewhat. And I still haven't figured out all the different categories on your website -- but I did see that you explained that just recently.
I don't like to criticize your efforts since (as I have said before) I think a black ex-cop has a valuable perspective. But yours is just one voice in this sub-stack world and you have to understand that your audience has limited time.
And now I think I have already said too much. Best of luck. I will continue to look forward to your posts.
You are right about the importance of getting the news out however you can make it understandable, relevant, important, informative and clear - if it is imperfect, let it be that lack of perfect makeup, lighting, whatever *'polish-of-the moment' is in style be the imperfect part! (*botoxed body parts, heavily made - up and diamond cross jewelry anyone..?) I would rather clearly hear and know about what is going on than see a rehearsed, no-hair-out-of-place, perfect backdrop sets, blathering and/or lying to me, or telling me something that is not important. If it is imperfect and seems (gosh!) real; as in real -life- looking, maybe that is just exactly what we all need - a big dose of reality - imagine what that would do for everyone?! We have been living inside a polished bubble for far too long.. (Time to embrace Wabi-sabi...anyone? Nothing is perfect! We need to get over that!)
I am not sure sure that "perfect" even exists. Even mathematics as a whole cannot be "perfect" in the way we would like. As a math prof told us that it's like a blanket that's too small, and when pulled to cover one gap, it exposes another, Godel's Proof and such. What is "perfect" in one set of circumstances may not be in another. Not to say there are no useful, and/or fulfilling and sometimes key aspirations; just bordered with pesky (and sometimes revealing) complexities. "Perfect" means no more loose ends, and what, in the end, isn't all connected?
Common iron pyrite is called "fools gold", because it is yellow and shiny, really quite pretty, yet is not like gold in other respects. A lot of "snob appeal" commercial marketing offers items that are fake as hell, yet appealing to many on a superficial basis. "Fake" has become the principal tool of the former "Party of Lincoln". It is wise to append the word "not" to nearly anything they utter. I think "B" actor Reagan marked a decided turn toward votes for TV presentation over substance. A large poll conducted a year after Reagan's death rated him as our greatest ever American, illustrating the power of marketing. By contrast, the better and surely more honest Jimmy Carter is dismissed as inept, though where Carter was weakest was as a TV presenter. He did not have "slick" in him. Biden was a better president that he gets credit for, as despite some major flaws, he was the first president in my memory since Carter to systemically step off the hellish highway of Reaganomics, and was starting to see positive results. Certainly he was demonstrably more competent than carny showman Trump. What Biden was not was telegenic.
TV is top-down to a passive audience. It's a hell of a way to run a country.
You, Sir, impressed me with the very first essay I read of yours last year. It was the brutal Truth you gave us and how you gave it to us! You were real! You weren' t polished. I could relate to that. You shared your self. I could feel that. I said to myself "I can trust this guy!" None of us are perfect, nor do we have to be before we take pen to paper, do the lighting thing, or attempt to participate in the national conversation, protest or admit to white supremacy. Its that false impression of perfection that has always masked the full Truth! Everything I've read of yours in my mind, Xavier, has been "imperfectly" flawless. You are my #1 go-to commentator for these times! And I am grateful!
"When the night has come, and the land is dark, and the moon is the only light we'll see, oh no, I won't be afraid, just as long as you Stand by Me; oh no I won't shed a tear... so Brother, Brother stand by me..." (inspired by Ben E. King's "The Letter").
"Never underestimate the power of words; words move hearts, & hearts move limbs." (author unknown).
Well, of course, without a doubt. That's why we intend to state the truth in a beneficial way and expose the habitual liars who pervert the cause of justice for all...
Of course, the truth is what matters. Form follows function, it doesn't get to lead (except on TV). Keep on doing what you're doing. Knowing what is right isn't as important as doing what is right. Voting is important but only if you keep after your elected representatives and make sure they know what you want from them.
But please, don't go to Home Depot for your flowers. We're boycotting Home Depot for complicity with Israel and ICE. There must be local nurseries that better deserve your business.
And I think we spend too much time underlining "what you want" by voting and too little said about how democracy comes with a share of responsibility as well as choice. Yes, our hopefully diligently considered vote is an expression of our desires and understanding, but it can affect millions, and may adversely affect others (usually those already disadvantaged) more seriously than it might impact us. Real government of the people, people, for the people inherently included a share of responsibility for the fate of our society. If we don't take that responsibility seriously, who will?
Hello Mr. X, I do say that sometimes I think you go on a bit too much, maybe repeat too much. But not this time.
Also, I appreciate the rhythm of your writing, I find myself muttering it with you as I read. I realize the words have poetic rhythm, have passion and are a reflection of really thinking things through.
So I call on you to keep the rhythm, keep the personal touch.
Yes, I think there is a poetry to speech and poetry is very much more than the sum of the parts. Artfully done it can successfully convey the indescribable.
“If I could tell you what it meant, there would be no point in dancing it”
Wow, I’m going to attempt to swim against the tide here and give you some elder aunt advice. You have a viewpoint and writing style worth following. That’s why I’m here. Video, however, is not your natural strength. You know that, so you asked for the critique by your friend. He was harsh in his assessment. And, yes the message, the arrest of journalist Don Lemon, was the main point that he seemed to miss. But, you were asking for his opinion of your performance, not, the content, weren’t you?
Your friend understands something we often eschew in our high mindedness’s. The medium is part of the message, visuals matter, unspoken cues evade conscious thought and go straight to the amygdala. If you want your videos to succeed, you will need to take all of this into account. So watch your videos with a critic’s eye and see for your yourself what is and isn’t supporting your message. One of the hardest lessons in journalism is editing out whatever doesn’t focus on the essentials: who, where, when and why.
Now for the love of all that matters, GET SOME SLEEP.
This right here. I think it would have been much more productive said the way you said it. I didn’t hear you say give up. I’m kinda hesitant to even mention this but my archives, particularly the first couple of weeks, and particularly the first notes I put out there were pretty bad. There were some flashes of potential that even I could see as I am my harshest critic. I almost gave up and went back to writing in isolation with no eyes on the work but mine. The character, George Mcfly, from Back To The Future just came to mind. I guess I said all that to say it ain’t gonna get better until the following:
*Have enough self awareness to know you suck
*Have enough persistence to keep going despite failure
*Have an almost delusional belief in yourself
My friend’s advice amounts to telling someone who is bad at driving to tell them to get from out the car, go inside, and play grand theft auto on PlayStation to get better. The Army has a phrase that’s relevant here. If it ain’t rainin you ain’t training. I’ve seen it all throughout my career. Recruits who can’t shoot get put under more intensive immersion shooting exercises under close supervision of course in order to get their skills up to an acceptable level of performance. They don’t take away the gun and give them a simulated one. Patrol officers who got in a spate of accidents whether they were at fault or not went back to the driving courses and get a day of supervised immersion into high pursuit driving techniques. They don’t take away the car and go look at videos in a classroom all day.
My point with this essay was not “how dare he throw shade on my performance.” The point was that if his mindset was my friend sucks lemme put him up on game then he would have watched the entire video not just 5 minutes. No. His mindset is the mainstream media mindset we loathe. His mindset was “I’ve been to the mountaintop and sat and communed with gods. Look at these mere mortals trying to be like the gods I communed with. How dare they!” He scoffed at the term I used, Indie Media, as if it was some profane word or something. Look it was bad Diane. So bad me and my wife had a whole discussion about it. The first words out of my wife to my wife was that I agreed with him yeah it was bad and I intend to get better not by giving up and watching tutorials but by gradually improving. She sensed something was off about him. Look I held back on my criticism of him out of respect and instead attempted to frame it as a mainstream mindset that stands in the way of truth.
It’s why readers would rather read Dr. Heather Cox Richardson’s take on current events then watch MS NOW. Dare I say they’d rather read my take than read WashPost. I’ll be referencing some points made here in this reply in……….drumroll everybody……….gasp……my upcoming video. (The George Mcfly in me is already going quit quit quit!)
I think I’m preaching to the choir here. You know this I suspect but it’s important to provide context by giving you my state of mind on this and providing a lil bit of encouragement to the random passersby or 2 who happens to come across this thread.
One more thing, your “friend” behaved like an a**. There is feedback and there’s sabotage; they are diametrically opposed. Your gut knew the difference, thank goodness.
Thank you for this clarity Xavier. Your success has become important to many of us. Your passion and perspective are essential for these times.
I watched the whole video, by the way, and my primary critique is that the message was somehow buried in lots of peripheral messages and asides. Perhaps this is a hold over from your essays where meandering works better because the reader can skim when they choose.
The fact that you share your personal feelings and concerns is not a failing, it’s one of your more endearing qualities. But, perhaps you could just make a quick personal aside and move on. It’s not a criticism of content, but, of pacing in order to hold attention in an audience that’s had its attention span badly damaged.
And I think we are all relearning how to stay informed. Newscasts are superficial; local newspapers are gone or shrunk to mere skeletons; major newspapers answer to corporate interests; magazines like the Atlantic or Nation can’t help us understand the day to day news. Finding our trusted journalists in Substack has become the preferred medium for those of us who want the truth. But, it’s become a big tent requiring more effort to find an audience.
So keep plugging away, be honest with yourself without being abusive. We believe in you, surely you can feel that. Find what’s useful in other’s critiques, including mine, and throw the rest away.
And I was serious. Please get some real sleep. We’re in a long battle for the soul of our country and need to keep our strength up for the long haul. Than you for your extraordinary effort.
A little story that may be relevant. When not painting birds - pictures of them, not the mistreating actual birds -- I work as an advocate for animals, especially wildlife (my expertise), and conservation. When I started doing this work, possibly ere your birth, or end to the need for diapers, I was asked to help a group in a town near me to prevent a plan to trap muskrats with cruel leghold traps in a community where there was a lot of concern about an increase in muskrats, the fear being they'd be "out of control" with dire consequences to humanity...at least in that small town.
I was new at this and so went to immense work (very pre internet...all books and calls to appropriate scientists) and put together an elegant argument against trapping with explanation of wildlife population dynamics, compensatory mortality and immigration, dispersal of cohorts, additive vs compensatory mortality, and stuff of that nature, all fact-based, and presented it to the town council.
Then an official from the provincial government's ministry in charge of regulating trapping strode in, in uniform, and with a handgun on his hip. This is Canada and so even back then seeing anyone other than a cop enter a public meeting while so armed was nearly unheard of.
He uttered nothing but the usual bromides, and yet the council agreed with him. I had refuted, in advance, all his arguments with facts and figures, but it was who he was and how he looked that mattered; I mean, the guy had a gun, a uniform, so he must know what's what, eh?
But the story does not end there...I told the aggrieved citizens to picket the council and to get as many people as they could to convince, with demos, phone calls and letters the councillors up for re-election that they would be voted against if they did not reverse the decision. I urged them to make public their support of any councillor or challenger who was on their side.
They won. The traps were not set, the muskrats were free to ramble, and the dire consequences predicted if they were not "controlled" never happened, as I predicted.
The Resistance is right, and facts and figures, reporting and so on matters, but is not enough. And no one gives a flying f-bomb what you look like. What is needed is people in the streets and on our computer screens both, making their majority views known, and politicians seeing the crumbling of their assumed support.
Just don't give the fascists the excuse to suspend voting and other rights and enact some sort of martial law. It is dangerous, and an old guy sitting in safe comfort in a safe place has no "right" to tell you what to do, but I hope to hell you all keep doing it for your sake, and mine and what is left of the free world. It all matters! Each has a role to play that must be played...or else.
I tend to beat it when someone looks too slick....if people have to resort to all glossy on the appearances, I wonder why! Great story!
This right here. Me too. Look I don’t want to prejudice YT’bers who just happen to know the presentation game and got it down but I’m side eying them they way Black Panthers used to side eye the one in the group who just seems too perfect as a potential informant. Noooo I’m not saying these people are literal informants I’m saying their ties to mainstream corporate journalism might over-ride truth.
I get it! Good presentation shows you care, and take pride in doing things the best you can. I am talking about the many things that make someone edgy feeling. Slick is never honesty, forthrightness, and being real. I am deaf, (lifelong, and I hear a very little, and was not allowed to learn signing) so I rely on body language and lip reading and the many other signifiers that people bring with them to understand what they are messaging.. I used to get into so much trouble when I was a kid, when I responded to the body language, etc. rather than the verbiage... adults are particularly guilty of trying to cover what they really think with a torrent of words.. but their bodies, and attitude choices (extended choices such as clothing, etc..) almost never lie.. So part of the slick also has to do with this as well. Maybe that is why I get along with kids so well! ha! ( However, certainly do not like the dt&Co infantile gang, that sort of 'kids' we can all do without!)
There is a kind of slick that is a warning sign.
Sometimes you do the right thing for the right reasons REGARDLESS ... because *that's who you are.*
ICR. I can SO relate to this!! ^^^. Srsly. (Good for you!! And good for the muskrats. God bless you all.) <3
Yes, I am taking a course on Constitutional Observers Rights and Training tonight on UTube just in case this rogue government of mine decides to surge ICE into Southeast Michigan before November, like they are in Minnesota, Ohio and Maine. We are trying to stave off the Insurrection Act, but now Trump is trying to Nationalize the Election and Bannon announced on his podcast yesterday that MAGA was going to surround polling places with ICE Agents, so Hispanic Americans will be afraid to vote. The more Special Elections we Democrats win, the more dire the threats become.
Excellent! Excellent points and work. The truth doesn't care what it looks like. The truth isn't fake. Thank you for your skill and hard work. Don't listen to your old buddy. They aren't up to real speed like you. You are appreciated. Keep on keeping on.
Even when truth is ugly and unwelcome, forewarned is forearmed; and I think there is more than poetic connection between beauty and truth. Something within us resonates if we let it.
Thanks, Xplissit Voice that we respect and care deeply for, with, and about... You opened up when the guy said, "Shut down home-boy..." I hear YOU - feel YOU, am with YOU! Please keep on being loud while remaining gently and truly proud... It's NOW or NEVER! "Lean on me when you need a friend; we all need someone to lean on..." (sang Bill Withers). Thanks for being the friend we all lean on... - FTJ
Damn, I don’t know who you are, XPlisset, but I like the way you think and write. Somehow, the algorithm led me to you and I’m glad it did.
Fantastic! Well done making the case!! In fact to me the urgency, with bad lighting and a chaotic background is what makes the report serious and important to listen to. When I see a broadcaster sitting behind the polished desk, calmly reading to me about people being brutalized, I want to scream.
I think AND feel, therefore I am. Therefore I am sentient. I don't mean that there is no need to examine and discipline our feelings, but we are nothing without them. Objects.
Words. Are. Important. When you’re told over and over that the house is on fire and here’s the evidence, believe it, no matter how it’s packaged. As a woman, I was told my story wasn’t believable because I was “hysterical.” So I organized my case and tried again. Then I wasn’t believed because I was too rational. So I made my own plan. Part of what I learned is to listen better to others. Discern the truth from the evidence.
Yeah, sir. This essay is the reason I keep reading every day. It is why I became a paid subscriber a bit ago. I’m so tired of polished. I want to read and see and hear people in the real. I want us to dig into the raw and grisly places so we can cleanse our humanity and grow our values in connection to one another. Polish makes us slide right over all that and focus on shiny, sharp objects. I’m all set with that. Gonna sound like your mom, but only for a minute. Rest is important. That’s it. I’m done with that. You do you. Do what you know is right, what is your contribution. It won’t be right for everyone, and that’s okay. It’s real and right for many.
Hamlet muses that the devil hath power to assume a pleasing shape. Oppressors have long used finery, pomp and circumstance to signal supremacy, but it's all a put-on. There is a genuine professionalism that is a discipline to one's duty, but it is independent of packaging, and it involves what's really there irrespective of casual appearances. Trump spends a small fortune on the taxpayer's dime because, he says, that his hair must be perfect. What about the outcomes of activity? Has our attachment to seeing the world though screens (even this one) leave us more sensitive to presentation than substance? It seems that way to me, at least way to much of the time. Compared to the Lincoln-Douglas debates modern candidate debates more remind me of game shows.
X -- speaking as a reader with a limited attention span and already feeling overwhelmed by these times, I would also say you do tend to go on a bit too much sometimes. You could tighten it up somewhat. And I still haven't figured out all the different categories on your website -- but I did see that you explained that just recently.
I don't like to criticize your efforts since (as I have said before) I think a black ex-cop has a valuable perspective. But yours is just one voice in this sub-stack world and you have to understand that your audience has limited time.
And now I think I have already said too much. Best of luck. I will continue to look forward to your posts.
You are right about the importance of getting the news out however you can make it understandable, relevant, important, informative and clear - if it is imperfect, let it be that lack of perfect makeup, lighting, whatever *'polish-of-the moment' is in style be the imperfect part! (*botoxed body parts, heavily made - up and diamond cross jewelry anyone..?) I would rather clearly hear and know about what is going on than see a rehearsed, no-hair-out-of-place, perfect backdrop sets, blathering and/or lying to me, or telling me something that is not important. If it is imperfect and seems (gosh!) real; as in real -life- looking, maybe that is just exactly what we all need - a big dose of reality - imagine what that would do for everyone?! We have been living inside a polished bubble for far too long.. (Time to embrace Wabi-sabi...anyone? Nothing is perfect! We need to get over that!)
I am not sure sure that "perfect" even exists. Even mathematics as a whole cannot be "perfect" in the way we would like. As a math prof told us that it's like a blanket that's too small, and when pulled to cover one gap, it exposes another, Godel's Proof and such. What is "perfect" in one set of circumstances may not be in another. Not to say there are no useful, and/or fulfilling and sometimes key aspirations; just bordered with pesky (and sometimes revealing) complexities. "Perfect" means no more loose ends, and what, in the end, isn't all connected?
Common iron pyrite is called "fools gold", because it is yellow and shiny, really quite pretty, yet is not like gold in other respects. A lot of "snob appeal" commercial marketing offers items that are fake as hell, yet appealing to many on a superficial basis. "Fake" has become the principal tool of the former "Party of Lincoln". It is wise to append the word "not" to nearly anything they utter. I think "B" actor Reagan marked a decided turn toward votes for TV presentation over substance. A large poll conducted a year after Reagan's death rated him as our greatest ever American, illustrating the power of marketing. By contrast, the better and surely more honest Jimmy Carter is dismissed as inept, though where Carter was weakest was as a TV presenter. He did not have "slick" in him. Biden was a better president that he gets credit for, as despite some major flaws, he was the first president in my memory since Carter to systemically step off the hellish highway of Reaganomics, and was starting to see positive results. Certainly he was demonstrably more competent than carny showman Trump. What Biden was not was telegenic.
TV is top-down to a passive audience. It's a hell of a way to run a country.
You, Sir, impressed me with the very first essay I read of yours last year. It was the brutal Truth you gave us and how you gave it to us! You were real! You weren' t polished. I could relate to that. You shared your self. I could feel that. I said to myself "I can trust this guy!" None of us are perfect, nor do we have to be before we take pen to paper, do the lighting thing, or attempt to participate in the national conversation, protest or admit to white supremacy. Its that false impression of perfection that has always masked the full Truth! Everything I've read of yours in my mind, Xavier, has been "imperfectly" flawless. You are my #1 go-to commentator for these times! And I am grateful!
"When the night has come, and the land is dark, and the moon is the only light we'll see, oh no, I won't be afraid, just as long as you Stand by Me; oh no I won't shed a tear... so Brother, Brother stand by me..." (inspired by Ben E. King's "The Letter").
"Never underestimate the power of words; words move hearts, & hearts move limbs." (author unknown).
History documents the power of words for good and evil.
Well, of course, without a doubt. That's why we intend to state the truth in a beneficial way and expose the habitual liars who pervert the cause of justice for all...
Of course, the truth is what matters. Form follows function, it doesn't get to lead (except on TV). Keep on doing what you're doing. Knowing what is right isn't as important as doing what is right. Voting is important but only if you keep after your elected representatives and make sure they know what you want from them.
But please, don't go to Home Depot for your flowers. We're boycotting Home Depot for complicity with Israel and ICE. There must be local nurseries that better deserve your business.
And I think we spend too much time underlining "what you want" by voting and too little said about how democracy comes with a share of responsibility as well as choice. Yes, our hopefully diligently considered vote is an expression of our desires and understanding, but it can affect millions, and may adversely affect others (usually those already disadvantaged) more seriously than it might impact us. Real government of the people, people, for the people inherently included a share of responsibility for the fate of our society. If we don't take that responsibility seriously, who will?
Hello Mr. X, I do say that sometimes I think you go on a bit too much, maybe repeat too much. But not this time.
Also, I appreciate the rhythm of your writing, I find myself muttering it with you as I read. I realize the words have poetic rhythm, have passion and are a reflection of really thinking things through.
So I call on you to keep the rhythm, keep the personal touch.
And edit. Edit!
And let yourself flow into it, too.
Yes, I think there is a poetry to speech and poetry is very much more than the sum of the parts. Artfully done it can successfully convey the indescribable.
“If I could tell you what it meant, there would be no point in dancing it”
― Isadora Duncan
Agreed.
And those slick ones, they do lie.
do they ever.