(sorry, I couldn’t find a cleaner quality than this)
Wtf is Jesse talking about, Tolkien fought in world war 1, not 2. The Hobbit came out in 1937. Mordore was inspired by his participation in battle of the somme, or so people say. Tolkien always publicly denied being inspired by the war.
To me, there are two take aways from Tolkein saying “I was not inspired by my experiences with the war”
- Something that traumatic was always going to seep into his world view and messaging for the rest of his life, even if it wasn’t intentional. We always write what we know. The closer something is to something we know, the more compelling we can be when writing about it. Tolkein wrote something VERY compelling. Probably because he wrote what he knew, and what he knew was a world war.
- He did it, knowingly, but the constant questions about the influence of the war on his writing was exhausting and traumatic in its own way. LotR was probably the most he was EVER going to be willing to write about it on account of how horrid and awful it was, and his saying “I didn’t take inspiration from my war experiences, that shit was too awful to revist” was him saying “Stop asking about all that, I’m not ready to talk about it and I never will be.”
Personally, I think with many things in life the answer does not lie in either binary, but instead in a blend of the two. I think there’s some stuff Tolkein put in there knowingly, and some stuff he did accidentally. I think him saying “No, no inspiration, stop asking” was both true in certain contexts, and a way to say he wasn’t willing to talk about it in others.
The Hobbit came out in 1937
Not saying the meme is true, but it’s worth noting that The Two Towers, which this meme references, was published in 1954.
I’ve heard this take before. Idk if I’d conflate elderly tree-loving pacifist democrats with Hoover/FDR Era American politicians.
One big reason Japan bombed Pearl Harbor was our military support for allied China and Russia, as well as our military occupation of the Philippines. Even back in the late 30s, we had naval bases and military alliances all over the Pacific.
Americans weren’t pacifists. It was more an issue of divided loyalties. Ford/Hoover/Bush Republicans had strong economic and ideological ties with Nazi Germany.
AKSHUALLY… The allegory doesn’t have to be perfect, just symbolic. The point is the slowness and inefficiency. Tolkien was just making a point, not a perfect analog.
Idiotic take.
The US has never been “isolationist.” And their fake democracy is about just as “efficient” as any other in the (so-called) “liberal democratic” world.
Lol this is what all theory and no history does to a mfer.
Can you people just stay on .ml so the blocklists work instead of making us read the dumbest takes this side of VK?
No.
the US has never been isolationist? my brother in Christ, that’s our entire history from the Munroe doctrine to the 45th/47th president
my brother in Christ,
We are not brothers.
that’s our entire history
Maybe read some of it, then… then you can explain to me how a (supposedly) “isolationist” empire based in the continental Americas manages to have a gigantic naval base in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
We are not brothers.
Sheesh homie didn’t realize he was playin with a ice cold badass muhfucker.
SUPER easily. you’re describing anti-imperialism, not isolationism. anti-imperialism: we shouldn’t interfere in anyone’s affair. isolationism: no one should interfere with what we’re doing, no matter how vile and evil.
some examples of isolationists:
- james munroe
- thomas jefferson
- andrew jackson
- jefferson davis
- adolf hitler
- josef stalin
- every single member of the un clan
- vladimir putin
- george w bush
- donald trump
you’re describing anti-imperialism
So you don’t actually know what words mean - that explains a lot.
SUPER easily.
Will this be taking long, then?
We are not brothers.
Whew big radgie man who can’t take a joking phrase lol
