Deregulation Make Line Go Up
Mar. 26th, 2024 11:01 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rynlingWhen I applied to the Philadelphia writer's workshop, I described my work as being an attempt to make sense of what it means to live in the ruins of capitalism. When I was waitlisted, the feedback I got was that we do not in fact live in the ruins of capitalism.
I guess that what happened in Baltimore this morning is just normal and healthy. My bad.
My heart goes out to the eight members of the road repair crew who stopped traffic on the bridge and saved dozens (if not hundreds) of lives. What absolute legends.
ETA: Just to be clear, I'm not blaming the city of Baltimore, the bridge that was hit (I actually love that bridge), the two Baltimore port workers on the ship, or even the ship's crew. Rather, it's come to light that this ship had pre-existing problems, and this is one of many similar container ship accidents that's occurred this year. I've seen people taking digs at Baltimore, which feels very unfair. Obviously I'm not an expert on what happened yesterday morning, but the problem feels much, much bigger than one boat.
I guess that what happened in Baltimore this morning is just normal and healthy. My bad.
My heart goes out to the eight members of the road repair crew who stopped traffic on the bridge and saved dozens (if not hundreds) of lives. What absolute legends.
ETA: Just to be clear, I'm not blaming the city of Baltimore, the bridge that was hit (I actually love that bridge), the two Baltimore port workers on the ship, or even the ship's crew. Rather, it's come to light that this ship had pre-existing problems, and this is one of many similar container ship accidents that's occurred this year. I've seen people taking digs at Baltimore, which feels very unfair. Obviously I'm not an expert on what happened yesterday morning, but the problem feels much, much bigger than one boat.
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Date: 2024-03-28 12:43 pm (UTC)The footage of what happened absolutely gutted me and I'm right there with you RE: the road repair crew bc jfc that could've been SO much worse and the idea alone haunts me.
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Date: 2024-03-28 01:31 pm (UTC)On one hand, I can understand the resistance against portraying large American cities as "ruins," which can come off as disrespectful to the (largely minority) communities who live in cities.
On the other hand, I fucking live here, and I have eyes. I commute between Philadelphia and Baltimore twice a week, and the infrastructure of both cities is an enormous mess. And even if the I-695 bridge (my beloved) was structurally sound before it got hit by a giant container ship, there are still literal miles of abandoned factories rusting in the salt air on either side of that bridge. What all that is and how it got there is a tragedy, and I think it's totally normal to be upset about it. The commuter bridge next to the Rust Belt ruins of the old industrial quarter collapsing because of a collision with a container ship is the sort of too-obvious metaphor that people would laugh at you for making in an undergrad creative writing class, you know?
Idk man. Anger and frustration can be messy and ugly. Still, I think this is exactly the sort of intense emotion that needs to fuel writing, and it's kind of sad to see literary gatekeepers turn away stories that don't conform to pre-set narratives surrounding what we're collectively allowed to be upset about. What kind of world are they living in indeed.
(Nice icon choice btw, I teared up a little at the connection.)
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Date: 2024-03-28 08:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-03-30 12:13 am (UTC)* I mean, I guess, "used to take," ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
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Date: 2024-04-04 07:25 pm (UTC)