First off, I’ve just finished “Hard Magic” by Larry Correia. It’s very good, excellent dieselpunk with magic. I kinda wish it wasn’t. (BTW, I’ve tried to make sure that there are no spoilers about the book in this post. But as always, read at your own risk.)
Why does it seem that so many people who like guns are hyper-conservative theocrats who glom onto any conspiracy theory out there?
I like guns and am a decent shot. Paint cans should be fearful. I also rather like violence in my fiction, preferably when the bad guys get their come-uppance Michael Bay style. Blame that bloodthirsty streak on me being a child of the 1980s and watching too much A-Team. Anyone can see that this isn’t the usual things to like from the generally liberal feminist atheist perspective I’ve written from on this blog, though you might have gotten a hint from the “rough men” post. A dear departed friend of mine, who had this crazy beautiful gun collection and sons who shot in competition (and in the military) was one of the rare gun enthusiasts who was close to liberal as me (social liberal, fiscal conservative). Another question is why do so many people who like guns and who idolize the military manage never to have served at all? And medical reasons don’t have much impact with me since I know someone who got in the Army, in an actual crawl-though-the-mud MOS, with at least three major medical things that would have got him an easy excuse to not serve at all.
As I said above I’ve recently read “Hard Magic” by Larry Corriea and absolutely loved it. It’s dieselpunk through and through, with a good tight world, a coherent magic system (most of the magic reads more like superhero powers but there is some classic thamaturgy) excellent fight scenes and characters you can really like. So, I went out to see what Google could tell me about this man, who has quite a few books out. And I really should have known what I’d find. Alas, Mr. Correia, is a conservative Mormon who is sure that President Obama is going to take his guns. Sad really, when someone who writes such a well-thought out story has to make some hilarious and baseless assumptions to go along with the claims that Mr. Obama has waited until maybe or maybe not getting a second term to do anything about guns at all. Yep, that mean ol’ Obama was such a mastermind about getting the UN to take over, and to eliminate the 2nd Amendment, that he didn’t do a damn thing about taking away anyone’s guns and is in a very very close election that he very well might not win. It takes a certain amount of pure stupidity to think that this is some actual plan. I mean, really, Mr. Correia, you write better masterminds yourself. Happily, nothing of his personal views seems to get in the way of a good story.
I’m guessing that Mr. Correia, like some of my relatives, has more ammo than he knows what to do with, giving all sorts of money to the manufacturers who are more than happy to have people believe in outright lies to pad their bottom line. It’s a shame that people like Mr. Correia can be so coherent in parts of their lives and not in others, but that’s a very human thing. He’s okay with forcing his beliefs on women but sure doesn’t want anyone to force anything on him. That’s pitiful hypocrisy, also very human. I wonder how Delilah and Faye (two very able female characters from the book) would agree with such a stance from their writer? I don’t think a woman who could throw a man through a wall would like to be required to have a ultrasound forced on her at the whim of a man, and a woman who can travel anywhere wants to be told that she can’t make decisions about her own body because someone else’s religion says it’s bad, especially when that person has no evidence his god exists period. At least the Power (source of the magic) does exist in the Grimnoir world. And I’m guessing that since he’s a Mormon, Mr. Corriea contributes to his church that also wants to force its opinions on who can get married and when. Again, for all of the posts about government being “big and bad”, it’s okay when gov’t is enforcing his choices…… As Chris Kluwe said so succinctly about gay marriage “They won’t magically turn you into a lustful cockmonster.” (and good interviews of Mr. Kluwe ) in response to a legislator’s response to a Ravens’ player, Brendon Ayanbadejo who spoke out for equal rights .
It’s also interesting on how one more theist has no problem with the lies that he repeats that his fellow theists have told, claiming that those liars, Romney and Ryan, are “pretty decent people”. I don’t find liars pretty decent people unless they’re lying to Nazis. Other than that, lies are only to intentionally attempt to remove my ability to make an informed decision. Pisses me off to no end when the Obama Administration wants to play that same game. And it seems that Romney and Ryan don’t want to tell details of their supposed plans for American, insisting that people don’t need to see them until *after* the election. (Can you imagine the furor if President Obama said that? More “evidence” for his plans to “git ‘r guns! naturally) For someone who writes stories about men and women who stand up against lies (Jake Sullivan is no man to stand for lies told to him) and government interference in their lives, Mr. Correia hypocritically has no problem as long as he’s the one enforcing the rules that he likes and calling Obama a Marxist when that’s not even remotely true. For someone who claims to have read Das Kapital when he was a teenager (I read Mein Kampf when I was a teen. Quick way to realize that Hitler was telling people what they wanted to hear, and neither he nor they were that bright), he evidently missed what makes a Marxist a Marxist. Hell, even the Soviets weren’t real Marxists. It seems that like others, Mr. Correia, depends on lies and the fear generated by them to try to get his way. He’s rather like the Chairman (the villain in the book) in that, which is ironic. He seems to be so blinded by the “promise of maybe eventually becoming one of the hyper-privileged” (as we know, that chance is very very small) that he has to willfully ignore that his own claims are false.
Oh well, I’m sure no matter what the outcome of the election is, the conspiracy theorists will come up with excuses to explain away how wrong they were. They have practice, since they do it with their religions all of the time. At least with Mr. Correia, the excuses will likely be well written. I recall how funny it was to watch other rightwing writers get their tails in a spin about a possible Hillary Clinton presidency. I’m not sure if I’ll still keep on reading and enjoying Mr. Correia’s books, but I’m sure I’ve read and enjoyed other books that were by people I don’t agree with (I’m guessing Robert Heinlein with his laughable “women should be barefoot and pregnant” nonsense would numero uno). I can always hope he gets a clue. Any intelligent human can change their mind. It’s just a question if they want to.
I would welcome Mr. Correia here to explain his views.
Club Schadenfreude 