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Miami Herald
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Miami Herald
New '1984' foreword includes warning about ‘problematic' characters
The 75th anniversary edition of George Orwell's novel 1984, which coined the term 'thoughtcrime' to describe the act of having thoughts that question the ruling party's ideology, has become an ironic lightning rod in debates over alleged trigger warnings and the role of historical context in classic literature. The introduction to the new edition, endorsed by Orwell's estate and written by the American author Dolen Perkins-Valdezm, is at the center of the storm, drawing fire from conservative commentators as well as public intellectuals, and prompting a wide spectrum of reaction from academics who study Orwell's work. Perkins-Valdez opens the introduction with a self-reflective exercise: imagining what it would be like to read 1984 for the first time today. She writes that 'a sliver of connection can be difficult for someone like me to find in a novel that does not speak much to race and ethnicity,' noting the complete absence of Black characters. She also describes her pause at the protagonist Winston Smith's 'despicable' misogyny, but ultimately chooses to continue reading, writing: 'I know the difference between a flawed character and a flawed story.' 'I'm enjoying the novel on its own terms, not as a classic but as a good story; that is, until Winston reveals himself to be a problematic character,' she writes. 'For example, we learn of him: 'He disliked nearly all women, and especially the young and pretty ones.' Whoa, wait a minute, Orwell.' That framing was enough to provoke sharp critique from novelist and essayist Walter Kirn on the podcast America This Week, co-hosted with journalist Matt Taibbi. Kirn characterized the foreword as a kind of ideological overreach. 'Thank you for your trigger warning for 1984,' he said. 'It is the most 1984ish thing I've ever f***ing read.' Later in the episode, which debuted on June 1, Kirn blasted what he saw as an imposed 'permission structure' by publishers and academic elites. 'It's a sort of Ministry of Truthism,' he said, referring to the Ministry of Truth that features prominently in the dystopian novel. 'They're giving you a little guidebook to say, 'Here's how you're supposed to feel when you read this.'' Conservative commentator such as Ed Morrissey described the foreword as part of 'an attempt to rob [Orwell's work] of meaning by denigrating it as 'problematic.'' Morrissey argued that trigger warnings on literary classics serve to 'distract readers at the start from its purpose with red herrings over issues of taste.' But not all responses aligned with that view. Academic rebuttal Peter Brian Rose-Barry, a philosophy professor at Saginaw Valley State University and author of George Orwell: The Ethics of Equality, disputed the entire premise. 'There just isn't [a trigger warning],' he told Newsweek in an email after examining the edition. 'She never accuses Orwell of thoughtcrime. She never calls for censorship or cancelling Orwell.' In Rose-Barry's view, the foreword is neither invasive nor ideological, but reflective. 'Perkins-Valdez suggests in her introduction that 'love and artistic beauty can act as healing forces in a totalitarian state,'' he noted. 'Now, I find that deeply suspect... but I'd use this introduction to generate a discussion in my class.' Taibbi and Kirn, by contrast, took issue with that exact line during the podcast. 'Love heals? In 1984?' Taibbi asked. 'The whole thing ends with Winston broken, saying he loves Big Brother,' the symbol of the totalitarian state at the heart of the book. Kirn laughed and added, 'It's the kind of revisionist uplift you get from a book club discussion after someone just watched The Handmaid's Tale.' Perkins-Valdez, a Black writer, Harvard graduate and professor of literature at American University, also noted the novel's lack of racial representation: 'That sliver of connection can be difficult for someone like me to find in a novel that does not speak much to race and ethnicity at all.' Kirn responded to that sentiment on the show by pointing out that Orwell was writing about midcentury Britain: 'When Orwell wrote the book, Black people made up maybe one percent of the population. It's like expecting white characters in every Nigerian novel.' Richard Keeble, former chair of the Orwell Society, argued that critiques of Orwell's treatment of race and gender have long been part of academic discourse. 'Questioning Orwell's representation of Blacks in 1984 can usefully lead us to consider the evolution of his ideas on race generally,' he told Newsweek. 'Yet Orwell struggled throughout his life, and not with complete success, to exorcise what Edward Said called 'Orientalism.'' Keeble added, 'Trigger warnings and interpretative forewords... join the rich firmament of Orwellian scholarship-being themselves open to critique and analysis.' Cultural overreach While critics like Kirn view Perkins-Valdez's new foreword as a symptom of virtue signaling run amok, others see it as part of a long-standing literary dialogue. Laura Beers, a historian at American University and author of Orwell's Ghosts: Wisdom and Warnings for the Twenty-First Century, acknowledged that such reactions reflect deeper political divides. But she defended the legitimacy of approaching Orwell through modern ethical and social lenses. 'What makes 1984 such a great novel is that it was written to transcend a specific historical context,' she told Newsweek. 'Although it has frequently been appropriated by the right as a critique of 'socialism,' it was never meant to be solely a critique of Stalin's Russia.' 'Rather,' she added, 'it was a commentary on how absolute power corrupts absolutely, and the risk to all societies, including democracies like Britain and the United States, of the unchecked concentration of power.' Beers also addressed the role of interpretive material in shaping the reading experience. 'Obviously, yes, in that 'interpretive forewords' give a reader an initial context in which to situate the texts that they are reading,' she said. 'That said, such forewords are more often a reflection on the attitudes and biases of their own time.' While the foreword has prompted the familiar battle lines playing out across the Trump-era culture wars, Beers sees the conversation itself as in keeping with Orwell's legacy. 'By attempting to place Orwell's work in conversation with changing values and historical understandings in the decades since he was writing,' she said, 'scholars like Perkins-Valdez are exercising the very freedom to express uncomfortable and difficult opinions that Orwell explicitly championed.' Related Articles Gabbard Links 'Ministry of Truth' to Obama Speech, Calls Biden 'Front Man'Tulsi Gabbard Compares Biden Admin to Dictatorship Over 'Ministry of Truth'Joe Biden's Disinformation Board Likened to Orwell's 'Ministry of Truth'Memory Holes, Mobs and Speaker Pelosi | Opinion 2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Michigan could pay bigly for Trump's trade war
Former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally on Saginaw Valley State University campus in Michigan on Oct. 3, 2024 ahead of the presidential election | Photo: Anna Liz Nichols It's not about the fentanyl. President Donald Trump backed off threats to slap 25% tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico starting Tuesday, saying the two countries had agreed to measures designed to address the flow of the deadly drugs and unauthorized immigrants into the United States. Trump paused the tariffs for 30 days, giving a reprieve to Michigan's auto and agricultural industries that were expected to take direct blows from the tariffs. A 10% tariff on Chinese goods took effect Tuesday. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said the tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods would have put more than a million jobs at risk and 'hit working-class, blue-collar families especially hard.' Those are the folks whose votes Trump relentlessly sought during numerous visits to Michigan in his two election campaigns. Trump postpones big tariffs against Canada and Mexico for one month The tariff delay was classic Trump: wring out a few seemingly important new concessions from trading partners and declare a victory. But much of what Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum agreed to was already underway. Trump's real goal is to destroy a valuable, decades-long trading relationship with two trusted allies as part of his chauvinistic America First strategy. He's off to a great start. On Monday, the president dismissed Canada's economic importance to the U.S. at the same time the two countries agreed to enhanced border security measures. Trump said the U.S. doesn't need Canadian energy, lumber or its cars, many of which are built there by Ford, General Motors and Stellantis. 'We don't need them for anything,' he said. Yet Trump wants to annex Canada and make it 'our Cherished 51st State.' Normally good-natured Canadians have responded by booing the 'Star-Spangled Banner' at hockey games. Trump hasn't made the same offer to Mexico, a country the president demeaned when he first ran for president by calling Mexicans rapists and drug dealers. He recently disrespected the country by declaring that the Gulf of Mexico will be known in the U.S. as the Gulf of America. Republicans were once ardent free traders but have become increasingly isolationist under the Trump regime. GOP former Gov. John Engler was among the earliest and most enthusiastic backers of the North American Free Trade Agreement, having taken a trade mission to the country months before NAFTA took effect on Jan. 1, 1994. (I covered that trip to Mexico City). In 2012, Republican former Gov. Rick Snyder sought to boost trade with Canada by negotiating an agreement with then-Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to build the $6.4 billion Gordie Howe International Bridge linking Detroit and Windsor. Canada agreed to pay the full price of the bridge after the Republican-controlled Michigan Legislature refused to share the cost, a precursor to what we're seeing now. The bridge is expected to open this fall. Trade among the U.S. Canada and Mexico exploded from $290 billion to $1.1 trillion from 1993 to 2017. But NAFTA was criticized for the loss of tens of thousands of American jobs as U.S. companies moved production to Mexico. Trump renegotiated the trade pact with Canada and Mexico, which is called the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), in 2018. It addressed NAFTA's shortcomings by boosting domestic content requirements for cars and trucks built in the region and raised wages for many Mexican workers. 'The USMCA is the largest, most significant, modern and balanced trade agreement in history,' Trump gushed when the trade pact took effect in 2020. 'All of our countries will benefit greatly.' But Trump doesn't think the U.S. has benefitted enough, casting doubt on the future of the USMCA. The pact is up for review in 2026. He repeatedly complains that Canada and Mexico are 'ripping us off' because those countries run large trade surpluses against the U.S. The surpluses aren't going to disappear in the next 30 days, leaving the threat of tariffs against our neighbors very much alive. Trump is obsessed with trade deficits, a complicated issue that economists say isn't necessarily an indication of a country's wealth. The U.S. runs deficits with most of its trading partners, yet has the strongest economy in the world. The president insists that tariffs are paid by other countries that export goods to the U.S., a view that hardly any economist holds. Not content to attack Canada, Mexico and China, Trump said Sunday he'll slap punitive tariffs on the European Union later this month. The U.S. runs a trade deficit with Europe in cars, agriculture and other products. Trump is playing a dangerous game. His tariff mania is harming relationships with allies we need to combat provocations from Russia and China. His actions also threaten the future of 'nearshoring,' an effort to move supply chains away from hostile countries like China closer to home to Mexico and other friendly trading partners. The concept took hold during the COVID pandemic when the U.S. found itself dependent on masks and other low-cost medical products from China. The biggest threat of expanding tariffs is the potential for a brutal trade war that could cost millions of jobs, boost inflation through higher prices on consumer goods and ignite a deep recession. And Michigan, with its outsized dependence on manufacturing, could be one of the biggest victims. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How Trump's federal spending freeze could impact Michigan
Former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally on Saginaw Valley State University campus in Michigan on Oct. 3, 2024 ahead of the presidential election | Photo: Anna Liz Nichols Just as a sudden federal funding freeze from the Trump administration was set to go into effect Tuesday evening, a federal judge temporarily blocked the move that would cut off funding to an array of programs and grants around the country. But the pause is only until Monday. And Michigan agencies, elected officials and nonprofits are scrambling to understand what programs are on the chopping block as online systems for Medicaid and early education programs that utilize federal dollars have suffered outages across the country since the Trump administration issued the freeze on Monday. Judge temporarily blocks Trump administration freeze on broad swath of federal payments The two-page memo from Matthew J. Vaeth, acting director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), outlines how evaluating programs and trimming down federal spending on unnecessary or redundant endeavors will improve government efficiency and help align spending to the values of President Donald Trump's administration. 'Financial assistance should be dedicated to advancing Administration priorities, focusing taxpayer dollars to advance a stronger and safer America, eliminating the financial burden of inflation for citizens, unleashing American energy and manufacturing, ending 'wokeness' and the weaponization of government, promoting efficiency in government, and Making America Healthy Again,' Vaeth said. It was a decision sprung on the country suddenly that will have immediate and harsh consequences for those most vulnerable in Michigan, Michigan Nonprofit Association (MNA) President Kelley Kuhn said. 'Putting a pause on things can impact critical services like cancer research, housing and food assistance, Head Start preschool programs, shelters. I mean, the list goes on and on, as far as the implications that could be felt in communities as a result of this,' Kuhn said. When thinking about how far-reaching the impending pause could be, it's important to note that more than 40% of Michigan families struggle on a month-to-month basis to cover their basic needs of living, said Monique Stanton, president of the Michigan League for Public Policy (MLPP). Kids, in particular, would likely suffer some of the harshest consequences if medical, educational and nutritional programming was halted, Stanton said, pointing out that more than 30,000 K-12 students in Michigan are experiencing homelessness and nearly half of children in Michigan are insured through Medicaid. And amid the onslaught of executive orders Trump is issuing, including Monday's order to cut Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) policies and offices, the motive for the federal funding pause is clear, Stanton said: He's trying to break people. 'This pause is really a tactic designed to exhaust organizations, exhaust advocates, pit people against each other,' Stanton said. 'It's really important that organizations don't fall for the tactic to allow themselves to be pitted against each other. We are standing firm with organizations across Michigan saying this is unacceptable for the sector and for the people of our state.' Some Michigan Democratic elected officials have railed against the funding freeze, with Attorney General Dana Nessel joining 21 other attorneys general to sue the Trump administration. Harm is imminent for millions of Michigan residents who rely on programs that Congress saw fit to fund, Nessel said in a video statement Tuesday. And while her office and the rest of the state is trying to get a handle on the full impact the freeze proposes, the reality is people will suffer. 'This isn't just some bureaucratic issue; it's a human crisis,' Nessel said. 'Let me be clear, this freeze is not just some policy shift, it's an attack on the very safety net that millions of Americans, including Michiganders, rely upon, and we're hearing from schools, families and law enforcement about the immediate harm this is already causing.' Real people will be impacted by blocking federal programming, newly elected U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly) said in a social media thread on Tuesday. She added that those in the Trump administration who are unilaterally backing the 'unlawful' barriers on federal funds need to remember that their oaths to public service were to the U.S. Constitution, not Trump. 'My office is inundated w/ questions from mayors of both parties, universities, veteran care and nursing homes, people who have had cancer trials stopped, child care centers, farmer programs, Army contracts – all fearful that they will need to take action to end programs & grants,' Slotkin wrotes. 'This administration, like every administration, must follow the law, and the law says that money is appropriated by Congress.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
