"The working of democracy and the electoral cycle routinely condemn us to this kind of poor decision. In many ways, it is pretty repellent.

Nevertheless, the problems with dictatorship are far more savage. Why do 52% of young people not realise that?"

#DavidMitchell, 2025

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/feb/02/shocking-finding-gen-z-democracy-isnt-perfect

Why are these the only options? This is warmed over Cold War thinking. Given two options I choose the third, especially when it comes to political-economic systems.

(1/?)

#DavidMitchell is a strange author in his way; he writes in a variety of styles, often high literary (here, a historical novel of politics in turn of the 19th century Japan and its Dutch trading post Dejima) but always connects it back, more or less obliquely, to his 'macronovel' of a big dopey battle between good and evil immortal wizards. It shouldn't work, but boy can he write, so he gets away with it. #FinishedReading #Bookstodon @bookstodon

David Mitchell: The Internet is a disaster:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07tfzgt

One of the better things on the Internet (That Mitchell and Webb Look) is turning on it.

The comment is largely just that. Clip here is a somewhat longer extract of the interview (~5 minutes) than the 36s bit that seems to be floating around elsewhere.

#Bookstodon @albinokid
#DavidMitchell, #michaelchabon, #emilystjohnmandel, #jamesmcbride, #nkjemesin, #johnscalzi

What are 5-7 of your favorite authors? Add them as hashtags so we can find each other, boost this, share your own. Etc. Some of mine:
#NeilGaiman
#OctaviaEButler
#NKJemisin
#PhilipKDick
#DavidMitchell
#MichaelCunningham
#StephenKing