The Liberal Center

I just read an article where the current occupant of the White House has basically taken over the Kennedy Center Honors, its annual gala. It was reported that the president would not be inviting any “wokester” celebrities. This, of course, gave me a headache.

I have written a bit about “woke” on my blog, but I thought I would (again) remind folks that the public discourse on this is a mess.

“Woke” was originally Black American slang that entered the mainstream lexicon, and it simply means “an awareness of social and political injustices, particularly those related to race and inequality” (Google). When we consider this in the light of the public opinion polls, we discover that the majority of the country is, um, woke.

Because I’m the laziest devil to ever stand in shoe leather, I have copied and pasted this data from my most recent book, No Politics, No Religion?. A majority of Americans support:

• Raising the minimum wage: 70 percent
• Free public college: 55 percent
• Addressing “now” the rich-poor gap: 65 percent
• Raising taxes on people earning more than $1 million per year: 68 percent
• Medicare-for-all universal healthcare: 58 percent
• A US–Iran diplomatic agreement: 55 percent
• The right to a legal abortion (including “certain circumstances”): 85 percent
• Loan forgiveness for students: 66 percent
• Background checks for all gun buyers: 89 percent
• More stringent gun laws: 57 percent
• Who feel corporations pay too little in taxes: 69 percent
• Disagreement with the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision allowing corporate money to flood the political process: 78 percent
• Legalization of marijuana: 69 percent

So, this is the political center. We calibrate the center according to where the majority of people stand on the major issues. If we take an average of all these numbers, we come to 67 percent.

We can conclude that:

• Most Americans are liberal.
• Most Americans are woke.
• Most Americans are progressive.
• Most Americans would prefer Bernie Sanders as president.
• Most Americans are anti-MAGA

Into the bargain, we should also bear in mind that there are no leftists in Congress. The left-most politicians on Capitol Hill (Bernie, AOC, et al.) are indeed centrist liberals. For those in the cheap seats: THERE ARE NO LEFTISTS IN CONGRESS.

Moreover, there really is no leftist politics in the United States. Yes, there are some small lefty political parties, but they receive basically no votes. The actual left exists only in books. There are legitimate leftists out there (ahem), but it’s not part of the public discourse, nor is it part of the media discourse.

So, congratulations, you’re most likely a wokester.

Barbie Revisited

It was two years ago on August 8 that I saw Barbie for the first time. After seeing it, I wrote a substantial review and analysis of the film. I liked it a lot. It was not what I thought it was going to be; I am embarrassed up to a point by my preconceptions. I say “up to a point” because there is a lot of entertainment out there that is not created with me in mind.

I don’t take this personally; I don’t expect everyone to listen to Syd Barrett, the Velvet Underground, or Fela Kuti. Likewise, don’t expect my attendance at a Dua Lipa show or an Ariana Grande concert or a Blackpink performance. So, I just thought that Barbie was going to be fluff, and its popularity sort of put the cherry on the sundae. Turns out I was wrong.

The film is quite intelligent, has impressive depth, and unlike much feminist theory—or many practitioners of it—actually has something to say.

Two years having gone by, I thought I would give the film a second viewing to see if it stood up, if I felt the same about it.

Upon rewatching, I was delighted to discover the film has lost nothing. I found it just as intelligent and incisive as the first time I watched it. There were even some details I hadn’t noticed, and some concepts I had not thought about. There’s a reference to Proust that blew by me the first time round. Quite funny.

And as I write this, I recall the “conservative” indignation aroused by the film. It’s funny when people who have been stepped on for forever speak up, people from the demographic that has done the stepping becomes automatically aggrieved.

It calls to mind those poor souls who, in response to Gay Pride parades, will hold Straight Pride parades with their “It’s great to be straight” signs. Why can’t we just celebrate Gay Pride? Why the tribal response? Barbie had the same effect. White conservatives felt the film attacked them, and they responded tribally.

The film is a devastating commentary on the patriarchy. This culture/society has been male-dominated since the beginning. And it is situated in a male-dominated world. These same conservatives uttered not a peep when women were used as decoration and opportunities for crass humor back in the Eighties. Why? Because they were (and are) perfectly fine with that arrangement.

Barbie represents a threat to their privilege, to the natural (for them) order of things. They prefer things as they are and have been. Hence the conservative preference for the country to be White, Christian, and heterosexual. They want the United States to be a paradise for them, not one polluted with diversity. They seek purity and superiority. Sound familiar?

When I first wrote my review in August 2023, I mentioned six philosophers: von Humboldt, Rousseau, Marx, Wollstonecraft, Sartre, and Irigaray. I cannot think of a film that has hit the multiplexes in recent memory where (1) I would have felt moved to write a review, and (2) would have mentioned six philosophers in doing so. The film boasts just that kind of depth.

 
As I mentioned in my first review, I suspect many men gave the film a pass because all they saw in the trailer was pink silliness (like me, initially). But that pink silliness shrouds an intelligence and complexity seldom found in big-budget films. More often, the films are about people with superpowers, and you leave the theater ten IQ points lighter.

I’m glad I watched it a second time. There are a couple scenes where I felt the initial sting of emotion. The film is truly impressive and hits on those levels. I like when the underdog stands up, challenges the status quo, and gets a moment. I’m rebellious by nature. I want the underdog to not be the underdog. Black lives matter. Palestinian lives matter. Trans lives matter. Women’s lives matter. Barbie is a film, one not about Barbie dolls, but about women. It’s also a delicious act of rebellion. Maybe I’m biased. So be it.

Episode 15

 “You wouldn’t know chiaroscuro from chicken giblets!”

Pronouns and Pancakes

In this essay, I examine this culture's tendency to pay close attention to things like language, being offended, and political correctness. However, we tend to neglect the much bigger issues of poverty, healthcare, income inequality, and Israel murdering hungry children. 

This is something I felt deserved attention. There is nothing wrong with being more attentive to language and how it affects people, but to disregard far more serious issues—one that can be fatal—is a culture whose priorities are a bit warped.

https://www.gregoryharms.com/essays-20250623-1

Gaza

I don't use the word evil in my work. It is a theological concept that is best used in that context. But what Israel is doing in Gaza comes close.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/31/the-mathematics-of-starvation-how-israel-caused-a-famine-in-gaza

Stick

Episode 14

Almost a month since the last episode. Inconceivable!