Linguaphilia

Frederick Douglass (who is going on my summer reading list)

I’ve only recently come to the realization that I’m not really a pacifist. It’s a nice thing to be able to say, “peace for everyone!” If your foot’s on my back, though,  everything’s peaceful as long as I’m not struggling. Pacifism is rhetoric to keep those in power feeling safe in a way they systematically deny to everyone else. Why would we wait to be “given” rights? They are not someone else’s to give. They are ours, and we’ll have them now, thanks.