Here\u2019s an excerpt:<\/p>\n \u201cShakespeare is the Renaissance\u2019s greatest champion. The Renaissance was a great intellectual movement to put the human person at the center of Europe\u2019s political and cultural life, liberating the people from political oppression and, at the same time, reintroducing them to the classical philosophical tradition,\u201d Lucchese writes.<\/p>\n \u201cIn this context, Ranasing (the author of Shakespeare\u2019s Reformation)\u00a0<\/em>holds that Shakespeare\u2019s plays offer \u201can esoteric vindication of the human soul itself,\u201d the heart of the Renaissance, \u201cagainst the looming backdrop of the Counter-Reformation in Europe and the Puritan perversion of English Anglicanism.\u201d In his \u201cre-telling of Classical and English history,\u201d Ranasinghe argues, \u201cShakespeare is thus tying poetry to history and giving us an alternate, if playful, account of Western civilization.\u201d<\/p>\n But the whole blog<\/a> is worth reading for its intelligent discussion of art, Shakespeare, the pleasures of liberty and the perils of authority.<\/p>\n ART, LIBERTY AND CANCEL CULTURE As I wrote in \u201cCultivating virtue, respecting liberty & remembering history,\u201d a bog commenting on sf author J. Daniel Sawyer\u2019s incisive column on the \u201cnew censorship\u201d undermining the fantasy classics of Roald Dahl and the James Bond novels of Ian Fleming:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThis is a troubling time for libertarians, classical liberals and all lovers of liberty and art \u2013 which is why it\u2019s important to seek out, read and digest the best insights about the roots of this anti-authoritarian trend and how we might strive to better support both liberty and literature that reflects the intent of its creators.<\/p>\n Perhaps the most illuminating, historically aware and wisest commentary I\u2019ve come across about this disturbing modern recurrence of bowdlerization was written recently by J. Daniel Sawyer as a guest post on the Substack blog of\u00a0Holly Math Nerd<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sawyer, who ends his\u00a0must-read essay<\/a>\u00a0with apt references to two Prometheus Hall of Fame winners \u2013 Tolkien\u2019s\u00a0The Lord of the Rings<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>and Orwell\u2019s\u00a0Nineteen Eighty-Four<\/a><\/em>\u00a0<\/em>\u2013<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>is a prolific and published author of both non-fiction and science fiction, fantasy and mystery.<\/p>\n After the Prometheus blog article<\/a> (March 29, 2023) bringing Sawyer to the attention of LFS members for the first time as a cogent commentator on current events and illiberal trends, a follow-up article (April 2, 2023) introduced Sawyer\u2019s Heinleinesque fiction – and nonfiction.<\/p>\n The blog entry focuses on Sawyer\u2019s insight that Heinlein\u2019s juveniles were innovative and influential, eventually creating \u201ca new literary form that many writers have attempted, but very few have successfully executed.\u201d<\/p>\n The latter post,<\/a> in particular, is must-reading for Heinlein fans – which pretty much means all LFS members and many members of the wider sci-fi community.<\/p>\n OUR FIRST LFS MENTION IN A CROSS-WORD PUZZLE<\/strong><\/p>\n After such serious subjects, it\u2019s nice – and something of a relief – to end my retrospective of 2023 blog favorites with something lighter and more fun.<\/p>\n So I can’t resist recalling an amusing and unexpected milestone in the history and visibility of the LFS and the Prometheus Awards \u2013 a felicitous reference to the Libertarian Futurist Society (and a sci-fi author beloved by LFS members) in the weekly crossword puzzle feature recently launched by Reason<\/em> magazine.<\/p>\n Not only was this the first mention<\/a> of the LFS I’m aware of in any crossword puzzle, but the clever and accurate reference actually sparked interest in our organization \u2013 and brought us at least one new LFS member.<\/p>\n Welcome – and please help us spread the word in 2024 about our blog and the LFS’s other Prometheus-awards-related programs!<\/p>\n IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE LFS:<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n * Prometheus winners:\u00a0<\/b>For the full list of Prometheus winners, finalists and nominees \u2013 for the annual Best Novel and Best Classic Fiction (Hall of Fame) categories and occasional Special Awards \u2013 visit the enhanced\u00a0Prometheus Awards page\u00a0<\/b><\/a>on the LFS website, which now includes convenient links to all published appreciation-reviews of past winners since 1979.<\/p>\n *\u00a0<\/span>Watch <\/strong>videos of past Prometheus Awards ceremonies (including the recent 2023 ceremony with inspiring and amusing speeches by Prometheus-winning authors Dave Freer and Sarah Hoyt),<\/b>Libertarian Futurist Society panel discussions with noted sf authors and leading libertarian writers, and other LFS programs on the Prometheus Blog\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>Video page.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n *\u00a0Join us! <\/em><\/strong>To help sustain the Prometheus Awards and support a cultural and literary strategy to appreciate and honor freedom-loving fiction,\u00a0join<\/a>the Libertarian Futurist Society, a non-profit all-volunteer association of freedom-loving sf\/fantasy fans.<\/p>\n Libertarian futurists believe that culture matters! We understand that the arts and literature can be vital, and in some ways even more powerful than politics in the long run, by sparking innovation, better ideas, positive social change, and mutual respect for each other\u2019s rights, individuality and human dignity.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n By Michael Grossberg Was Shakespeare a libertarian? Has the “cancel culture” trend peaked, or will it continue in 2024? With Shakespeare increasingly in disfavor among some elite precincts of academia and popular authors like Roald Dahl and Ian Fleming posthumously having their classic fiction bowdlerized and edited to be politically correct, what artists and authors … Continue reading Best of the blog, Part 2: Was Shakespeare a libertarian? Has cancel culture peaked? And what was that crossword puzzle clue mentioning the LFS?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1862,1863,1125],"tags":[1780,1190,2168,1898,1895,1754,141,504,976,288,1350],"class_list":["post-6653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-george-orwell","category-j-r-r-tolkien","category-updates","tag-best-of-the-blog","tag-cancel-culture","tag-crossword-puzzle","tag-ian-fleming","tag-j-daniel-sawyer","tag-james-bond","tag-orwell","tag-reason","tag-roald-dahl","tag-shakespeare","tag-tolkien"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pe8nGl-1Jj","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6653"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6653\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6743,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6653\/revisions\/6743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Will-Shakespeare-Y346_.jpg?ssl=1\")
<\/a>Although no one to my knowledge has argued that Shakespeare was a libertarian or anything close, one 2023 Prometheus blog brought to readers\u2019 attention the more subtle, sophisticated and surprising arguments of essayist Michael Lucchese reviewing and comparing two books about the Bard and his views on liberty and authority in the Law and Liberty\u00a0<\/em>journal.
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\nMacbeth<\/em>, Julius Caesar\u00a0<\/em>and Richard III\u00a0<\/em>are among the Shakespeare plays that soberly dramatize the horrific consequences of power-lust and common State abuses and excesses of power.\u00a0So it isn\u2019t surprising that Lucchese finds ample evidence in the two books of the Bard\u2019s wisdom about the downsides of tyranny and the upside potential for freedom.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
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\nFar more sobering \u2013 and sadly, of continuing relevance as 2024 begins – were a series of 2023 blogs commenting on the progression of \u201ccancel culture\u201d to the point that classic works of literature are being re-edited and bowdlerized.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>Not only does Sawyer pay tribute to Heinlein in two non-fiction books about the legendary Grand Master of modern sf and 14 of his \u201cjuvenile\u201d novels targetted at young readers, but Sawyer explicitly structured and billed one of his nine novels as a \u201cHeinlein juvenile.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n