« Circuit-Bending | Main | The Paranoid-Critical Patriot » March 16, 2003

Science Fiction and War

In the same week that the Beastie Boys released an anti-Iraq war song on their website and the Dixie Chicks made a statement opposing the war (incurring massive heat from country stations, including bans on playing their records), I was led to Michael Swanwick's campaign to get science fiction writers to publicly cop to being against Bush Jr.'s war.

Swanwick's project will, no doubt, polarize the SF community, and why the hell not? The same thing happened a million years ago during the Vietnam war. Those for and against took sides publicly. They even doubt dueling ads in some trade publications. That kind of activism is seen by many artists as quaint and naïve these days. Writers, especially, can feel this way. Writers are often cynical dicks who think too much about everything. But every now and then, even cynical dicks figure it's time to out up or shut up. Congratulations to every writer who's had (and will have) the balls to sign up on Swanwick's page.

If science fiction is about envisioning the future, so is war. A few good writers don't like what they're seeing and are willing to say so. Keep checking back to the site to see who else signs up.

http://www.michaelswanwick.com/evrel/against.html

Posted by Kadrey at March 16, 2003 05:28 PM

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