Thread by @nikicaga

Why would a Chasten Buttigieg YA biography challenge the American empire and capitalism. Did you expect it to? Does it need to?

I did read the piece so you don't have to, so please bear with me

https://twitter.com/curaffairs/status/1696224627717194162

As the author themselves writes, Chasten was heavily bullied in school, homeless for a time after coming out to his family at 18 and was sexually assaulted soon after. Not sure the dig at "trauma" is particularly necessary

This horrible comment about their children is something you've probably seen by now, so not even going to comment more there

As for the stuff on Pete's tenure, they're true but probably have little to do with him- generally why mayors make for bad candidates!

Very funny to see this in Current affairs given that those Black voters mainly went to Biden, who CA frequently accuses of being a segregationist worse than Trump

Also the OTHER horrifying quote about their kids, lovely lovely, and a dig at ...choosing a partner you like??

Yes, children's and YA literature are invented categories, as opposed to every other category which was gifted to us by Amon-Ra

Especially funny as the article ends with Nair mentioning that *she's* writing a YA book about coming out

This is relatively fair, but Chasten is not trans himself so I obviously understand why he wouldn't focus on something he doesn't know first hand about in an autobiography

How dare he emphasize that his parents were hard-working, lower middle class people

Again it's really funny how people view the hard work propaganda in the US, given that most socialist states valued work for work's sake even harder in their propaganda (though Nair is anarchist)

Again, fair, but this is a YA autobiography. Chasten was far too young for this fight, and I fail to see how the quote there denies that the fight was necessary - especially given that the radical activists still relied on progressive politicians to enact meaningful change

We finally get to the worst part of this, even worse than the comments on the Buttigieg twins

This relies on some pretty terrible conspiracy theories with little proof. The Jimenez book alleges that Shepard was an international drug dealer and the gay lover of his killers

It's entirely possible that he used drugs, like many young people in Laramie (and his murderers), but both of the above allegations were ridiculous and unsourced and form the core of the book (which Wypijevski praised as well)

I did read Wypijevski's article cited here, and while it's far better and makes some interesting points, it's basically trying to humanise the killers (and at points, justify them, such as by implying the real motive was class, or that hate crime laws don't center perpetrators)

Wypijevski and Jimenez both seem to be queer anarchists as well, and strongly oppose hate crime legislation

Wypijevski goes further, seemingly believing no crimes exist under capitalism, defending Woody Allen, Anthony Weiner and pedophile priests