14th
WE RESPOND TO THE MOST IMPORTANT TUMBLR-ER OF OUR TIME
In this Tumblr post, we see that Mr. Gessen has taken notice of our efforts here to TAKE BACK THE INTERNET, while cruising around followers of his Tumblr (keithgessen.tumblr.com). What an unexpected activity for THE MOST IMPORTANT NAVEL-GAZER OF OUR TIME!
Honestly, though, we are tickled to engage Mr. Gessen in an open dialogue. Perhaps we will all learn something about ourselves, WHICH IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING WE CAN DO IN OUR TIME. Rebuttal below.
“Shouldn’t twat be eliminated, strictly on feminist grounds, as a term of abuse?”
No.
“Anyway, [takebacktheinternet.tumblr.com is] worth looking at for a window into the minds of the techno-elite.”
You’re really overeager to anoint people (yourself included) as members of some sort of elite. Seriously. I believe you use the word in the sense of “a group of persons exercising the major share of authority or influence within a larger group”. I exercise no influence beyond sometimes sharing my input with a small and insignificant cadre of alcoholics as to where we will get drunk next. I suspect your domain is largely over a group of overeducated, underchallenged men and young women who take the word “literary” seriously. I don’t think this qualifies either you or me as “elite”.
“Tell the people who are getting moved out of my building in a gentrifying section of Brooklyn that there’s no such thing as “class” anymore.”
I’m not an idiot. I know what class means, in the socioeconomic sense, and I don’t think anyone believes we live in a truly “classless” society. However, I believe we live in a far less “classed” world than we did 20, 50, 100 and 1000 years ago. As for your outwardly-mobile neighbors, I would advise them to find cheaper digs, as they likely were doing when they first moved to Brooklyn. Brooklyn is almost nobody’s first choice in residence. Outer boroughs are largely populated with those who cannot afford to live in Manhattan. The near-suburbs are, in turn, populated with those who cannot afford to live in the outer boroughs. The pendulum on this situation moves backwards and forwards every few generations. It has nothing to do with class, and everything to do with the real estate market and the preferences of those who can afford to participate.
“Because he [Nick Denton] exploits your labor and keeps the profits for himself.”
If you’re concerned that writing the odd comment on a blog makes me a victim of exploitation, then the condition of exploited workers in this world has greatly improved.
“If you prod these people just a tiny little bit, this what you get:”
A little not-so-friendly-but-nonetheless-good advice – don’t use the words “these people”.
“The total refusal to acknowledge themselves as a class, with class interests;”
I heartily refuse to accept that Gawker commenters constitute a class. I know many Gawker commenters. They are writers, editors, lawyers, unemployed, underemployed, receptionists, consultants, professionals and non-professionals. That’s a pretty motley crew.
“[A] claim that because they don’t work in a factory they now have more dignity (because, you see, there’s no dignity in working in a factory);”
I never said, nor did I even insinuate, that people who work in a factory have no dignity. But your fervor to glean such a claim from my words is further evidence of your outdated Marxist worldview. Seriously – you sound like an over-the-hill political science professor. But are less likeable.
“[A] nd a total refusal to feel any solidarity with anyone.” (emphasis his)
I feel a strong and fraternal solidarity with people who see the humor in everyday life, and refuse to take themselves, their own unserious exploits and other people too seriously. In brief, I feel solidarity with people sharp enough to see through your bullshit.
