The end has arrived. These are the last two stories in the Subversion anthology, but at least they provide a fine sendoff. Both warn us about the dangers of being manipulated by extremism, and both emphasize the value of personal responsibility as the antidote for that social ill.
Timothy T. Murphy’s Received Without Content raises that warning plainly, and makes the point that disadvantaged people are most vulnerable to predation by those who capitalize on injustice instead of resisting it. Readers are also shown that suggestibility and ignorance are no excuse for carelessness. Accepting the consequences for poor judgment is an especially courageous act when the easier alternative is to blame others for dangerous leadership.
In To Sleep With Pachamama by Caleb Jordan Schulz, we’re reminded that establishing freedom in the face of extremism is a risky endeavor at the best of times and never for the fainthearted. Beyond that, standing for the rights of others is a natural maturation of individual freedom, even as it demands a certain willingness of individuals to place their hard-won independence in jeopardy. Oppressors may describe these acts as ‘returning to the scene of the crime,’ but that this messy heroism arises again and again throughout history is a testament of its value to our continuation.
Make the authors happy. Make yourself happy. Buy the book.
