Response Video: Fighting with BookTube Friends! 

Oh, he'll get his eventually!

It's a very, very nice feeling, the freedom to disagree with people in fun!

@@jonathannoel7144 I don't want to clutter up Steve's comment section so let me just invite you over to my channel where I would be happy to continue this conversation.

But in many, many, MANY cases, the “different standards” of these “more diverse” judges is explicitly non-literary … in fact, explicitly based on the same vague concept of generational retribution that animates so much idiotic woke nonsense. So my question stands! Do you want to see literary prizes judged by ideologues who are looking for explicit reflections of themselves in the books they skim? Or is it bigoted cis het colonialism to WANT actual excellence in writing?

@@saintdonoghue "many, many, MANY cases" of diverse judges whose different standards were "explicitly non-literary" and which were "based on the same vague concept of generational retribution that animates so much idiotic woke nonsense." Can you provide examples of literary prize judges "explicitly" saying these things? Which recent prize winner do you think won only because the judges "explicitly" applied a standard of "generational retribution"? I hope that literary prizes go to those who display excellence in writing. I don't expect to always agree with the judges assessment, but I don't assume that is because they are ideologues applying what you are labeling as "woke nonsense." If prizes choose judges who are not professional critics I assume that those judges will in some way choose the book that "speaks to them" the most. Literary prize judges have likely always done exactly that. The only thing that has changed are the judges. "Woke" as it is currently defined by the far right has nothing to do with its original meaning. It is a term that the far right has redefined in a way that belittles and mocks the concerns of many people who the right seeks to dismiss. As someone who spends even more time on Twitter than you, I can tell you that it is important to remember that Twitter isn't real life. Taking the worst examples of extremism on Twitter (or social media in general) to label me and others who disagree with you as "woke scolds" or a part of the "woke mob" is as unfair as me using your statements to label you a Men's Rights Activist and follower of Jordan Peterson.

@@BookishTexan YOU hope that, about literary excellence, but how often is that actually true for book prize judges? The woke ideologues among those judges give endless interviews about diversity and inclusion, as if those things were virtues in and of themselves. They aren't. If a gang of ten people burned your house down, would it matter to you that two of them were Samoan? The virtue here, if there is any, is in diversity and inclusion discovering great books that would have been missed in the Bad Old Days. I mean, you don't want nonbinary West Senegalese books nominated even if they're really bad, right?

@@saintdonoghue You haven't proven that there are "woke ideologues" among judges of literary prizes who ignore literary quality in favor of diversity or inclusion. Are you claiming these "woke ideologues" have already awarded prizes to undeserving, but diverse authors thus denying an award to a more deserving less diverse author? If so which book, author, and award? Can you prove that the judges intentionally ignored a book of higher quality in favor of diversity? Or are you expressing a belief that this will happen at some point in the future? --"The virtue here, if there is any, is in diversity and inclusion discovering great books that would have been missed in the Bad Old Days." -- Yes, exactly. That is the virtue. By having more diverse judges literary prizes make it more likely that "great books that would have been missed" because of a lack of diversity are discovered and reach a wider audience. My idea of what is a really good book or a really bad book is based on my standards as are yours. You and I don't judge books by the same standards. Judges from more diverse backgrounds bring their own standards formed by their education and experiences as readers and people. Their standards for literature might be different from my own, but that doesn't make them bad or "woke."