en arriere-plan

et pas tres loin de la

A review of "Folio," Seattle's self-proclaimed athenaeum:

Si quelqu'un pourrait m'aider a la traduire en francais, n'ayant pas le temps de tenter de le faire, je lui serais tres tres reconnaissant...

In a world where Twitter and Facebook have become the primary means of social discourse, and where mainstream media such as The New York Times have merged opinion and political orientation into fact, an athenaeum--of non-virtual reality--is clearly a boon.

As an American I appreciate any place where people are respectful of aural space.  (Americans do tend, by and large, to speak, or bray, 500% louder than francophones or even their Anglo cousins, Australians excepted, one of the least attractive features of our culture).

That said, it is disappointing that Folio does not rise above political correctness.   One would hope that being an offspring of the siecle des lumieres, it would encourage and defend tolerance, rational discourse, and freedom of thought and expression.

The suggestion that not all the problems facing African-Americans cannot be primarily attributed to white, European civilization and to discrimination in its American descendants does not go over well among many people, I admit.

I do think that there are multi-causal explanations for social and historical phenomena, though I am not a historian.

So even though I am defined as a person of color (with its expectations and obligations), I cannot, in truth, say that I feel at all welcome here.

More importantly, I think I have a civic responsibility as a citizen and a Seattleite to share and speak my conscience even if it is a dissenting one.

To be frank, I would have thought that this institution, if only for philosophical reasons, could and would rise above social ostracization engendered by political, and personal, fear and its corollary (dislike).

* * * *

James Baldwin had to escape the America of the forties.

During the Cultural Revolution in China, landowners and other enemies of the people were dragged through the streets wearing dunce-caps, denounced, made to kneel on glass, underwent "re-education" (public mock-trials), and humiliated in other ways. 

We complete the circle.   

But are we there now, with a new racial hierarchy (black people on top, whenever possible, calling the shots--even though they make up 12% of the population) or system, bowing to selective memories and to popular pressure from what are, essentially, hate groups disguised as movements for "social justice."

What was progressive or radical 50 years ago has become enshrined and intolerant.  "New ideas, please leave the room."

The result is now fear and contempt for dissenting views that question dogma and make a self-perpetuating power structure uneasy.

* * * * *

Luckily, as well, I have my own personal library.

Still, the idea of a collective library has appeal.

* * * * *

Sadly, this is an establishment, founded in the name of the citizenzy, run by a local elite who give lip service to freedom of thought.

You have to really want freedom--even desperately--to be free. 

* * * * *

The irony is that it is an elite group of mostly white people who are defining what is racist.  They have not experienced the searing racism--from both blacks and whites--I have.   And the most racially offensive behavior I have witnessed comes from unexpected quarters.

Definition of "racism" (Oxford):
(1) Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior.
(2) The belief that all members of each race possess characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.

Ergo, having a very different opinion from your own about behaviors or attitudes prevalent in certain communities  ("s/he's not being fair to Race X") does not mean they are racist.

I am unconvinced that we assign moral superiority based on race or history.

In my personal experience, racism comes in all colors.  It's too easy to label someone whose views you disagree with as "fascist."  And thus abort discussion.

Folio might want to represent different points of view rather than rehash variants on the old theme.   Or encourage new ways of looking at the complex world we live in.

The problem with Folio is that it tells people what to think:  the antithesis of freedom.
  
When freedom bows to threats and punishment, all humanity loses.

"Options" have to be pre-screened before one is allowed to have a voice.  Even by proxy, as with a book (see end).   Through the pipeline, there is chatter and "conferring" unrelated to the merits of ideas...

Why is one crackpot considered a threat, anyway?

Unless you're a tuxedo cat, things are not always black or white.


* * * * *  To reject the gift of knowledge is an intellectual and spiritual sin, I believe. * * * * *


cf.  "Van Gogh:  Les couleurs de la nuit" (Actes Sud, 2015)
Kandinsky, "Du spirituel dans l'art" (Folio, 1989)
Bernard Pivot's "Apostrophes" (3 coffrets)
"La Grande Librairie" (Youtube...)

"Je trouve refuge dans la verite, le moment present."  (Le Bouddha)

Les couleurs de la nuit comprennent egalement

Liu Xiaobo (1955-2010), prix nobel de la paix

"Ex praeterito/ praesens prudenter agit/ ni futura actione deturpet."

Ain't it a beautiful night? (Floyd Carlisle, compositeur; Rene Fleming, soprano)

Ain't it a pretty night!

The sky's so dark and velvet-like

and it's all lit up with stars.

It's like a great big mirror

reflectin' fireflies over a pond.

Look at all them stars, Little Bat.

The longer y' look, the more y' see.

The sky seems so heavy with stars

that it might fall right down out of heaven

and cover us all up in one big blanket of velvet

all stitched with diamon's.

Ain't it a pretty night.

Just think, those stars can all peep down

an' see way beyond where we can:

They can see way beyond them mountains

to Nashville and Asheville an' Knoxville.