Orwell would Bitch Slap the Anatomy of Racial Inequality

My Critique

Did you know that Loury coined the term social capital? I could take credit for inventing the poetic form the Trojan Horse as pompously as he takes credit for this achievement to the resounding applause of none. A Trojan Horse is a sonnet done in rhyming couplets and concluding with lines that don’t rhyme for anyone who is interested. This sort of lack of credit was enough for the likes Emily Dickenson who kindly did not stop for the death that claims the corpse of the Anatomy of Racial Inequality.

It should be noted this critique is not addressing the argument of Anatomy. The argument is probably brilliant, but that is besides the point.

Some arguments are easy to refute. McWhorter says being woke is a religion because he listens to Lil Wayne and likes to imagine himself as a Martian. A simple, “no it’s not,” and a joke will suffice. Maybe this New York Times writer should stick to overthinking swear words.

Loury’s argument is trickier to refute because of the generosity of human spirit that trusts an authority. Science and math are difficult areas to master, and Loury sounds like he knows what he is talking about. The “sounds like” is the key point of this critique.

Loury has the millennial  habit of making his arguments more clearly with a camera than he does with a pen. The success of his podcast is a testament to the power of social media, and the passion of Loury’s performance.

The rest of us are wondering what the argument is as we slog through the high falutin prose of the stagnate blue blood that festers in the veins of this anatomy.

If Loury was able to write with the ease with which he video blogged, then his memoir might have a release date less ethereal than The Winds of Winter. I am reminded of Nabokov’s criticism of Dostoevsky’s prose who infamously let his wife do all the writing for him as his novels were written by transcription due to his health.

That McWhorter and Loury have been doing this video blog since the days of the original Slipknot lineup only betokens their millennial sensibility. From this point of view it is fair to credit Loury and McWhorter as the Angry Video Game Nerds of contrarian racial discourse. However, the buck must stop here, and oh yes Loury coined the term social capital.

As a literary type social capital sounds like mere Orwellian newspeak for “there’s more to life than money.” Perhaps Loury can explain the economics of students going into debt as a means of education. I’m as sick of hearing about Keynes, as the world is tired of feminists talking about Woolf. I prefer the advice father gives to Horatio about staying out of debt. Otherwise, I’m in absolute agreement with Loury, let the Asians and the Jews have the Ivy League. It could only be improved at this point.

Remember the awful titles of Jordan Peterson’s Youtube videos? “Peterson dunks on Feminists” and the like. If Orwell’s Politics and the English Language were a Youtube video today it would be called, “Orwell Bitchslaps Anatomy of Racial Inequality.”

The obtuse, verbose, and mundane excuse for writing that fills this book is Loury copying Booker T. and W. E. B. like Jordan Peterson copies Dostoevsky.

These are the men demanding respect and dignity the loudest, and like babies crying out for nourishment they neither know nor care where their next meal is coming from. These are unimpressive standards for respect. They help the proverbial Omar and Simone none which begs the question, why should they subscribe or tune in? It is unreasonable for Loury to be angry about this when the answer is it’s hard to watch a grown man throw a temper tantrum.

Loury’s anger should be directed at himself for not mastering the skills that Kendi and Coates have mastered, despite some lack of technical prowess. Between the World, and Antiracist would make Richard Wright turn over in his grave but they are still easier books to read than Anatomy. Loury’s responsibility for this failure of language lies at the test of good writing. Like music, good writing snaps, and I know it when I see it, and no degree can compensate for it.