Reading Politically non-binary has given me a liberation of mind around politics, thank you so much for writing and sharing your thoughts, feelings and experiences in this wonderful article. I have always felt an aversion to politics as quite frankly it makes me feel ill listening to so much BS from politicians so I avoid it. However, I don’t want to avoid it anymore but needed to find away I can be with it and you have given me that opportunity with the term politically non-binary.
Krista, this is wonderful, genuinely brave and feels empowering to me, personally. I'm glad we found one another among friends, in the wilderness – you know I understand how profoundly lonely this search for an authentic political home can be, and I've appreciated knowing that other good people in similar circles have managed to intuit the profound imbalance and moral contradictions of the strange social contract that's been imposed upon us in the past decade.
I take heart in knowing that most of the finger wagging and tsk tsking aimed at those of us who *cannot* abide by the absurd prescribed woke worldview but who are also obviously not racist, reactionary, hate-mongering troglodytes come either from 1) a place of innocent, well-meaning misunderstanding or 2) performative narcissism. The vast majority falls into the former camp, and if this election has taught us anything, it's that it is high time we all aggressively tune out those in the latter camp, regardless of their political orientation. Marjorie Taylor Greene (and legions of others like her) and Rashida Tlaib (and legions of others like her), to take two egregious examples, are both sloppy, awful, hateful, ugly extremists who should never, ever be taken seriously as voices of political wisdom. Deplorable is deplorable, and to believe you must support one because you hate the other fails to recognize that they are simply opposing sides of a rusty, bent up old coin devoid of value that just needs to go in the trash.
As a man, as a white person, as a Hispanic person, as a gay dude, as an American who's lived much of his adult life abroad, as a Millennial, I've always believed that my own reputation and worth would/should be directly predicated on my character, my attempt at fundamental goodness (however flawed), and my impact—emphatically NOT on some prepackaged notion of what any of those things automatically imply about me. Once you realize that every last one of those laundry list boxes the left is obsessed with sticking everyone into are superficial, artificial, and only marginally consequential, the entire edifice crumbles—and it's shockingly easy to use that short-circuited "As a (insert characteristic here), I believe..." rhetoric against itself. This deeply anti-human obsession serves nobody aside from the shadowy cabal of dark financial interests who are well-served by declining social cohesion, labor markets that depend on suffering and human trafficking, and constant finger wagging by those in the upper middle who have no concept of how ugly, impoverished and indifferent a world they are unwittingly creating via the policies they vote for—it is impossible to really appreciate from inside a safe, affluent blue bubble the sociocultural, economic and geopolitical catastrophes that ideas like unfettered borders, permissive drug policy and a castrated police force actually create in the less protected parts of the country. The second-order suffering unleashed by ivory tower good intentions is almost incalculable! There is simply no legitimate discussion of any bedrock issue most Americans care about, from human rights to civil rights and women's rights, that can derive from a worldview that reduces everyone to adversarial avatars.
In no small way, this trip through the political wilderness (and the wild, incongruous social situations it's put me in!) has taught me more about empathy than I ever knew—it's a paradox I have come to treasure. If you're worried about the response people may have to this piece, take heart knowing that the fever of smugness seems to be breaking: this is simply not a conversation we could have even had a few years ago. Our burden, at this point, is to keep voraciously learning, seeking out uncomfortable perspectives, and sharing them with our friends and neighbors—they know we're good humans, and maybe that will be enough to have better conversations that might just lead to positive change.
I love when people freely express themselves! I agree Hollywood is per-formatively liberal and exclusive and they use race as part of the performance of their pattern of excluding. I must say the entertainment industry has never been open for Black men and my personal experiences with the entertainment industry has not provided me a single advantage or any Black person I know a single advantage. So I don't know who is getting these advantages that are being taken from White men, but It's not Black men in my experiences. A lot of these other points I agree with. I accept and respect all of them.
thank you for this. You should definitely look at MACRO studios. Charles King and his team have created a massive studio for stories from multicultural backgrounds. He's an incredible guy and the business only gets bigger and bigger. They have a management arm called M-88. They work with Ryan Cooler, Michael B. Jordan and tons of other very talented people. You can see my interview with Phil Sun of M-88 on my Coffee with KP podcast (you can find it on my substack page)
I've tried interacting with these type of people so so so many times. I even did in my 20s in person based on recommendations from you and behind the scenes, I find these people have an insane line of people they know that they are trying to help and they end up wasting your time, gaslighting you, and never helping you unless they have a really strong connection to you. The idea that I can just reach out to them and they are likely to do anything to help me, isn't true. That's why I just decided to write on my own and I am no longer trying to get into rooms that are supposed to be helping me. If you even look at the diversity programs, most of the people who get them, still don't get jobs in Hollywood. Lastly, the people you mention aren't getting any subsidy or special treatment from the government or corporate media that is discriminating against white men. But anyways, this isn't just about me, sorry to have swamped your comments. Thanks for hearing me out and for trying to help me but my past experiences have shown me how hard it is to make that help mean anything.
Betting on yourself with a Substack or self publishing is the most democratic thing we can do. It’s a literal meritocracy. Sure, Substack and social media channels can help with getting the message out, but the product must be good. You are a great writer and loved the idea of “substack High”. Keep writing here and people will keep reading. ❤️❤️
Reading Politically non-binary has given me a liberation of mind around politics, thank you so much for writing and sharing your thoughts, feelings and experiences in this wonderful article. I have always felt an aversion to politics as quite frankly it makes me feel ill listening to so much BS from politicians so I avoid it. However, I don’t want to avoid it anymore but needed to find away I can be with it and you have given me that opportunity with the term politically non-binary.
God bless you, thank you.
Thank you so much for reading it and taking time to comment. It means a lot. I hope we can all be more engaged politically with kindness.
Krista, this is wonderful, genuinely brave and feels empowering to me, personally. I'm glad we found one another among friends, in the wilderness – you know I understand how profoundly lonely this search for an authentic political home can be, and I've appreciated knowing that other good people in similar circles have managed to intuit the profound imbalance and moral contradictions of the strange social contract that's been imposed upon us in the past decade.
I take heart in knowing that most of the finger wagging and tsk tsking aimed at those of us who *cannot* abide by the absurd prescribed woke worldview but who are also obviously not racist, reactionary, hate-mongering troglodytes come either from 1) a place of innocent, well-meaning misunderstanding or 2) performative narcissism. The vast majority falls into the former camp, and if this election has taught us anything, it's that it is high time we all aggressively tune out those in the latter camp, regardless of their political orientation. Marjorie Taylor Greene (and legions of others like her) and Rashida Tlaib (and legions of others like her), to take two egregious examples, are both sloppy, awful, hateful, ugly extremists who should never, ever be taken seriously as voices of political wisdom. Deplorable is deplorable, and to believe you must support one because you hate the other fails to recognize that they are simply opposing sides of a rusty, bent up old coin devoid of value that just needs to go in the trash.
As a man, as a white person, as a Hispanic person, as a gay dude, as an American who's lived much of his adult life abroad, as a Millennial, I've always believed that my own reputation and worth would/should be directly predicated on my character, my attempt at fundamental goodness (however flawed), and my impact—emphatically NOT on some prepackaged notion of what any of those things automatically imply about me. Once you realize that every last one of those laundry list boxes the left is obsessed with sticking everyone into are superficial, artificial, and only marginally consequential, the entire edifice crumbles—and it's shockingly easy to use that short-circuited "As a (insert characteristic here), I believe..." rhetoric against itself. This deeply anti-human obsession serves nobody aside from the shadowy cabal of dark financial interests who are well-served by declining social cohesion, labor markets that depend on suffering and human trafficking, and constant finger wagging by those in the upper middle who have no concept of how ugly, impoverished and indifferent a world they are unwittingly creating via the policies they vote for—it is impossible to really appreciate from inside a safe, affluent blue bubble the sociocultural, economic and geopolitical catastrophes that ideas like unfettered borders, permissive drug policy and a castrated police force actually create in the less protected parts of the country. The second-order suffering unleashed by ivory tower good intentions is almost incalculable! There is simply no legitimate discussion of any bedrock issue most Americans care about, from human rights to civil rights and women's rights, that can derive from a worldview that reduces everyone to adversarial avatars.
In no small way, this trip through the political wilderness (and the wild, incongruous social situations it's put me in!) has taught me more about empathy than I ever knew—it's a paradox I have come to treasure. If you're worried about the response people may have to this piece, take heart knowing that the fever of smugness seems to be breaking: this is simply not a conversation we could have even had a few years ago. Our burden, at this point, is to keep voraciously learning, seeking out uncomfortable perspectives, and sharing them with our friends and neighbors—they know we're good humans, and maybe that will be enough to have better conversations that might just lead to positive change.
A toast to your bravery, Krista!
I love when people freely express themselves! I agree Hollywood is per-formatively liberal and exclusive and they use race as part of the performance of their pattern of excluding. I must say the entertainment industry has never been open for Black men and my personal experiences with the entertainment industry has not provided me a single advantage or any Black person I know a single advantage. So I don't know who is getting these advantages that are being taken from White men, but It's not Black men in my experiences. A lot of these other points I agree with. I accept and respect all of them.
thank you for this. You should definitely look at MACRO studios. Charles King and his team have created a massive studio for stories from multicultural backgrounds. He's an incredible guy and the business only gets bigger and bigger. They have a management arm called M-88. They work with Ryan Cooler, Michael B. Jordan and tons of other very talented people. You can see my interview with Phil Sun of M-88 on my Coffee with KP podcast (you can find it on my substack page)
Thank you
I've tried interacting with these type of people so so so many times. I even did in my 20s in person based on recommendations from you and behind the scenes, I find these people have an insane line of people they know that they are trying to help and they end up wasting your time, gaslighting you, and never helping you unless they have a really strong connection to you. The idea that I can just reach out to them and they are likely to do anything to help me, isn't true. That's why I just decided to write on my own and I am no longer trying to get into rooms that are supposed to be helping me. If you even look at the diversity programs, most of the people who get them, still don't get jobs in Hollywood. Lastly, the people you mention aren't getting any subsidy or special treatment from the government or corporate media that is discriminating against white men. But anyways, this isn't just about me, sorry to have swamped your comments. Thanks for hearing me out and for trying to help me but my past experiences have shown me how hard it is to make that help mean anything.
Betting on yourself with a Substack or self publishing is the most democratic thing we can do. It’s a literal meritocracy. Sure, Substack and social media channels can help with getting the message out, but the product must be good. You are a great writer and loved the idea of “substack High”. Keep writing here and people will keep reading. ❤️❤️
Glad you have the courage to walk your thoughts
finally! Thank you so much!!!
Brilliant article. Time to accept people as independents. Or as you say “ politically non-binary”
thank you so much!
"Unburdened from all that has been." I was like, "OMG IS SHE BISEXUAL?! & Oh God, I hope she didn't vote for Kamala." lol
Nice post. It sure made me smile a bit! #VANCE2028
"Unburdened from all that has been." I was like, "Oh God, I hope you didn't vote for Kamala."
Nice post. It sure made me smile a bit! #VANCE2028
"Unburdened from all that has been." I was like, "Oh God, I hope you didn't vote for Kamala."
Nice post. It sure made me smile a bit! #VANCE2028