In Bari’s view, Freddie deBoer is one of the best writers in the country. It’s not because she always agrees with him. Hardly. Freddie is a self-described Marxist.
What she appreciates about him is that he is unflinching about criticizing “his side.” Freddie is one of the most trenchant critics of what he calls “Social Justice Politics”—which he argues distracts the left from the real issue of class.
He is also unflinching in his views about mental illness and the way it is being glorified in our culture right now. Freddie knows about this subject intimately. He has severe bipolar disorder, and has been institutionalized in the past when he was on the verge of violently acting out.
Today: a conversation about “the gentrification of disability,” how sickness became chic, and how our society should handle the epidemic of mental illness.
I was so excited to see that you had Freddie on this episode. His video response to the NYT article was amazing, and his "sometimes people need help more than they need acceptance" is a RADICAL message that America needs to hear. I've already sent this one to several people. Great work.
I will be listening to this in full tomorrow morning. I just had one quick thought after the summary. Ever notice how mental illness is glorified until they don't like someone? And then quite a few of them will use it as a subtle (or not so subtle) insult. For example, when a certain Twitter exec was caught on camera using Elon's supposed Aspbergers diagnosis as a method of dismissing his opinions.
Edit: I realize Aspberger's is not considered an illness, though I do think the people I'm referring to treat both mental illness and disabilities in this way.