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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2018
editor@dailyastorian.com
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Publisher
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Editor
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SOUTHERN EXPOSURE
Escape into dystopia
T
his season’s political theater has
surpassed adjectives, leaving “sur-
real,” “circus-like,” “outrageous”
or “absurd” in the dust — policy based
on tweets and politicians graded on their
high-school yearbooks.
The New Yorker’s Pulitzer Prize-win-
ning media critic Emily
Nussbaum describes
this year’s television
season as reflecting “a
familiar modern mood,
the feeling that we’re all
living in crazytown.”
The Nation called it
R.J. MARX
“The Dystopian Boom”
— a season with “The
Leftovers,” “The Good Place,” “Black
Mirror” and “Electric Dreams.”
“The opening of Netflix’s dense,
trippy new limited series ‘Maniac’ does
not give viewers much reason to feel
hopeful,” writes the Hollywood Reporter.
lebecq’s the burka and the veil.
Both novelists take a cynical, almost
hopeless turn. “The facts were plain,”
Houellebecq writes. “Europe had reached
a point of such putrid decomposition that
it could not save itself any more than
fifth-century Rome could have done. …
Europe, which was the summit of civili-
zation, committed suicide in a matter of
decades.”
Doyle to the rescue
Orionbooks.co.uk
‘Submission,’ by Michel Houellebecq.
Random House
‘Adjustment Day,’ by Chuck Palahniuk.
‘Adjustment Day’
When it comes to dystopian nov-
els, Portland author Chuck Palahniuk is
ahead of his time, known for measuring
modern-day angst long before our current
pinball political climate.
“Adjustment Day” draws a future
America doomed to a return to tribal-
ism, a spinning gyre of miserable sub-
servience, a mass of
humanity beholden to a
privileged few — and
all defined by racial
identity.
In a single day, aca-
demics, politicians and
journalists are killed,
Chuck
their ears harvested
Palahniuk
as bounty. Television
and radio stations, internet websites, all
broadcast the same message at the same
moment: “Adjustment Day is Upon Us.”
There is no changing the channel.
Names on a list are to be system-
atically eliminated, but a key tenet of
Palahniuk’s is “there is no list.”
Inspired by an aged oracle named
Talbott Reynolds, the political philoso-
phy relies on strict racial apartheid and
male dominance. This is a proletariat
movement with America’s long-suffer-
ing workers rising with blood force. With
Reynolds’ aphorisms as guidance, the
unemployed, underemployed, the steam-
fitters and the press operators “see them-
selves slay their oppressors and then rise
to rule their own fiefdoms.”
Some “hightail it to the border.” Oth-
ers “suck death from a tailpipe in a
closed garage.”
The dirty work of the revolution is
driven by men with “nothing to lose.”
Recruits are those who hate the society
that has “left them no means to achieve
the status that all men crave.”
Informants are rewarded with cur-
rency made out of human skin, meant to
be spent within 30 days or to rot away.
All citizens are required to carry a copy
of a blue-black book — to fail to do so
could lead to being reported.
Citizens of the former united states
(sic) involuntarily shuttle to home-
lands: blacks receive the South, renamed
“Blacktopia”; whites to Caucasia, and
gays to Gaysia; others exiled to their
native homelands or warehoused in
“retention centers.”
‘Submission’
Similar cultural unraveling occurs in
Michel Houellebecq’s “Submission.”
The novel provoked a stir after its
2015 publication and led to 24-hour
police protection for the author after the
January 2015 Charlie Hebdo attacks.
Set in present-day France, the dysto-
pia shift comes as Western culture gives
way and the Muslim brotherhood ascends
to power. “Many of the usual politi-
cal issues don’t matter to them,” Houel-
lebecq writes. “To them it’s simple —
whichever segment of the population has
the highest birthrate, and does the best
job of transmitting its values, wins.”
The narrator, a professor specializing
in the work of 19th-century writer Joris-
Karl Huysmans, is fired from his aca-
demic position, along with everyone in
his department: “They gave us two hours
to clean out our desks.”
As in “Adjustment Day,” all is set-
tled in a flash — money is frozen, guards
close down the university. The storm
breaks, the fighting begins. “You could
make out groups of
masked men roam-
ing around with assault
rifles and automatic
weapons. … It was
impossible to get a clear
picture of who was
doing what.”
Michel
While Houellebecq’s
Houellebecq
world is less violent
than Palahniuk’s, the repression is numb-
ing, defeating intellectuals, artists, teach-
ers and women. Especially women.
“The summit of human happiness
resides in the most absolute submission,”
in Houellebecq’s fictional society.
Women leave the workforce en masse.
Palahniuk’s new leaders, like Houelle-
becq’s Islamic elite, select their “home”
wives, field wives, chambermaids —
all required to undergo genetic testing
to prove their worthiness. Women are
“baby-making machinery” for chieftains.
The birth of every child brings a govern-
ment subsidy.
Palahniuk’s women wear sexless
gingham, aprons, clogs — “long sleeves
and long skirts were the rule” — Houel-
If after these reads you are in a state
of utter despair and cable news fails to
offer succor, as a palate cleanser I recom-
mend Brian Doyle’s sunny, bittersweet
novel “Chicago.”
Doyle, the late, great Portland-based
writer and editor, is best known for his
Oregon coastal imaginings and kinship
with Pacific Northwest culture. In “Chi-
cago,” he writes a fictional memoir about
a young journalist working for a Catholic
weekly newspaper and experiencing the
wonders of 1970s Chicago.
His merry band of housemates is
quirky, quizzical and loads of fun, as he
establishes an intimacy between the most
diverse of people, and in his own partic-
ular way, with a dog named Edward who
is capable of communication at the high-
est level.
Doyle describes the city down to the
rattle of the El train and the whiff of
Comiskey Park in a year the team even
made a credible go for the title. I lived in
the city at the time myself — 1977, when
the Sox were in first place for most of
the summer — and remember those real-
life characters: Richie Zisk, Chet Lemon,
Eric Soderholm and Oscar Gamble. (The
White Sox finished third in the American
League West.)
The author zeroes in on details we
don’t always observe: “odd fascinating
corners and sights” — the city’s obscure
fountains, remarkable trees, and “a hid-
den aviary with more than a hundred par-
rots and parakeets of every color and spe-
cies, tended by a tiny old man who could
not have been more than four feet high.”
Advice from a Doyle character is a
welcome antidote for the chronic dysto-
pia that feels all too real: “Drive safely,”
he writes in “Chicago.” “Be joyful. Be
tender. Everything else is secondary to
tenderness. Remember that.”
R.J. Marx is The Daily Astorian’s
South County reporter and editor of
the Seaside Signal and Cannon Beach
Gazette.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Don’t disregard
women’s pain, horror
hortly after President Donald Trump’s
election in 2016, I wrote a letter to The
Daily Astorian detailing my kidnapping,
rape and thwarted murder by a well-re-
spected community member 45 years ago
(“The ugly truth,” Nov. 18, 2016).
I was devastated that Trump, with 19
women coming forward with allegations of
sexual assault, was nonetheless elected and
installed as president. The disinterest and
dismissal by Trump’s base of these wom-
en’s accountings felt like betrayal.
I never reported the crime perpetrated
against me because I knew no one would
believe me. This week’s events only solid-
ified what I already knew decades ago —
shut up and bury your pain, or you will be
shamed and blamed for someone else’s
crime. To this day, I still live with the guilt
and shame of what other women suffered as
a result of my not reporting, but I digress.
For those of you doubt Christine Blasé-
Ford’s veracity and fall for the “confused”
or “mistaken identity” rhetoric, envision
this: Your life is threatened, with a hand
over your mouth suffocating you, or, as in
my case, a knife to your throat, with your
attacker’s murderous eyes just inches from
yours. That is a freeze-frame indelibly
etched in your brain forever.
Shame on all of you who consign wom-
en’s pain and horror to the trash heap of “he
said/she said.”
KATHLEEN STRATTON ZUNKEL
Warrenton
S
Something different
than bigger jail?
nce again, we face the decision to
vote for a bigger, better warehouse
for offenders, which then means much
higher operating costs. Could we not con-
sider other approaches to our legal “justice”
system?
O
From Norway to New Zealand, North
Dakota to California, communities are sup-
porting incarceration that results in inmates
who come to realize their human poten-
tial, develop a sense of self-worth and leave
prison with marketable skills. Recidivism
rates plummet, and communities become
safer.
I would much rather have my tax dol-
lars spend in a collaborative effort between
Clatsop Community College and the Clat-
sop County Corrections Division to develop
educational programs, work release pro-
grams and outcome-based incarceration.
Staff in the Australian prison system
were trained in the “Virtues Program,” a
Canadian-developed approach to educa-
tion that replaces deviant behavior based on
anger and self-esteem issues with aware-
ness of human potential inherent in all of us.
Using the language of the “virtues” benefits
were outstanding and long-lasting, and the
cost was minimal.
What are our expectations for our county
corrections — more of the same, or some-
thing different?
TOD JONES
Astoria
Wev best qualified for
county commissioner
have attended literally hundreds of
pre-election question and answer sessions
for aspiring public office holders during my
50-plus years of casting an informed vote.
None before have been of such local impor-
tance as the current county commission race
between Pam Wev and Peter Roscoe.
Our local home rule is why this partic-
ular race is so important. Our county com-
missioners are the grassroots level of our
local government, and many important deci-
sions will be made by those individuals. Our
lives may hang in the balance.
After attending several local events, and
listening to each candidate expound upon
their individual skill sets, I noticed that can-
didate Roscoe talks about “his accomplish-
I
ments” while speaking of his past history
of involvement locally. Pam Wev doesn’t
waste much time on her personal accom-
plishments, but rather on her life work his-
tory and those skills necessary to be part
of a team, mapping the future for Clatsop
County voters, and residents.
I’ve made my choice, it was easy. Pam
Wev is clearly the best qualified candidate
to represent my county commission district
and its residents.
JAMES E. COUGHLIN
Astoria
Elk are enjoyable part
of our environment
he article “Gearhart City Council can-
didates take on key issues” (The Daily
Astorian, Oct. 2) needs clarification.
The elk herd is not a City Council issue,
as portrayed by the newspaper and candi-
date, Jack Zimmerman, but falls under the
purview of Oregon Department of Fish and
Wildlife (ODFW). This has been explained
in council and informal public meetings.
The ODFW did not allow Costco, or
Walmart, or urban sprawl to push the herd
out of its environs, and into city streets.
Most egregious is Zimmerman’s state-
ment that the elk herd has hoof rot disease. I
have seen elk with this debilitating disease,
the symptoms of which are very apparent.
The herd spent Oct. 2 in my yard, and I can
say that none have this disease. ODFW has
confirmed that the herd does not have hoof
rot, so I decided to correct the record. It is
disturbing that a candidate would be misin-
formed, and spread misconceptions.
The current council is pursuing a citi-
zen’s suggestion to prohibit feeding of wild-
life. They continue to provide information
to citizens for ways to discourage elk from
feeding on landscaping. They post warning
signs on how to stay safe from aggressive
elk behavior. These actions are within their
responsibilities, and helpful to the citizens.
I am one of the citizens who considers
the elk an enjoyable part of our natural envi-
T
ronment. I don’t believe I am the only one
holding this view.
JOHN GREEN
Gearhart
Please vote ‘no’ on
rec district bond
hen I first discovered the Sunset
Empire Parks and Recreation District,
I was impressed with the facilities, consid-
ering Seaside has so few full-time residents.
I have been gardening in the Sunny Pool
Garden for the past two years. While there,
I watched while an extensive wheelchair
ramp was built, a full-size basketball court
reconstructed, and the playground for the
youth center refurbished. I suspect these
were not inexpensive projects. Now the dis-
trict wants to tear all that out (including the
community garden) and build a walking
track and two indoor courts for $20 million.
At the informational meeting on Sept.
17, I learned that the new facility was
in the preliminary planning stages. Sur-
veys revealed that the respondents desired,
in order, an indoor walking track and an
indoor basketball court. When asked about
property lines, it was stated that city, school
district and recreation district lines are
somewhat intertwined in the area of the
expansion.
I also toured the existing workout
rooms, and found them small but ade-
quate. The middle school just next door to
the recreation district property will soon be
vacated. The fate of that property is now an
unknown. This should be a consideration
when planning this project.
I feel that it is premature to request $20
million for this project. Remember that a
larger facility will cost considerably more
for operations. Improvements have recently
been made, so let’s get some use out of
those, first. Now is not the time to ask the
taxpayers to pay for this project. Taxes are
already too high. Please vote “no.”
DIANE WELLS
Seaside
W