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The American Dissident
Flyer The vague unwritten rule with regards "not offending" evidently serves to encourage self-censorship and discourage open criticism, free speech and expression, the very cornerstones of a thriving democracy. The American Dissident is a unique literary journal containing poetry, essays, literary letters, and cartoons of a caustic nature and will not hesitate offending if it means exposing truth. The Academic/Literary Industrial Complex constitutes an enormous army of cultural functionaries and bureaucrats, including poets, writers, editors, publishers, librarians, two-thumbs-up critics, journalists, pop-star actors and musicians, professors, other educationists, artistes, and cultural council bureaucrats. It acts as Ministry of Information and Entertainment for the nation's ruling families, Republican and Democrat, white, black and Hispanic and seeks to instill in the nation's populace a modus operandi of fame seeking and wealth worship, a kind of happy-face fascism of groupthink and team-play, as opposed to individual free expression and intelligent criticism, belittling the latter, equating it with negativity, complaining, and loser. It is in the interests of it and Big Business to render poetry and other writing a safe diversion. Big business does not want American citizens to think. Instead, it wants to keep them entertained. The American Dissident was founded in 1998 as a direct result of the editor’s personal experience with intellectual corruption in the Massachusetts state college system and constitutes an ongoing experiment in free speech performed in the academic, cultural, and literary milieu, the core of the nation's intelligentsia. The American Dissident is an ongoing battle with academic and literary functionaries who, for the sake of democracy, must be fought, criticized, and otherwise denounced. That poets, artists, and academics are more open than most to debate and criticism is a myth, for in reality they will, more often than not, detest anyone daring to “speak the rude truth in all ways,” especially when it might concern them. Weak minds, fragile self-esteem, lack of principles, fear of solitude, careerism, materialism, and control of turf constitute the reasons for their rejection of criticism.
The American Dissident
encourages writers and artists to become activists and bite the multiple hands
that feed and seek to silence them. It urges that
experiments in free speech and expression be performed on the
grassroots level and crafted into literature. Criticism, as opposed to "be
happy-don't-worry" positivism, has been responsible for all major improvements
in civilization. The American Dissident serves as public record for the often illogical and absurd statements issued by poets, academics, artists, literary editors, publishers, and journalists (i.e., partisans of the established-order status-quo intellectual autocracy). It serves as witness to the general disdain of the literary and academic infrastructure vis-à-vis the free and open exchange of ideas, debate, freedom of speech and expression—cornerstones of democracy. The American Dissident exists not to please people, but to question, challenge, and otherwise criticize society and its cohort of court-jester literary, academic, and cultural functionaries. It is a no-bullshit, no-hype literary journal emphasizing ideas, criticism, and debate, as opposed to celebrity, who you know, which muzzle you adorn, where you've been published, and what contests you've won or judged. The two most disheartening discoveries made during the editor's earlier years as full-time professor and novice poet were that professors and poets, in general, tended to be anything but dissident. Most tend to be careerist apparatchiks who dare not criticize the literary and academic infrastructure because doing so would probably hurt, if not destroy, their careers and prospects of winning prizes, awards, fellowships, and grants, and jeopardize speaking engagements, festival invitations, and publishing opportunities. They are thus shamefully content to allow corruption to thrive in their particular domains. Most would perhaps even deny its very existence or label it "politics" in an effort to excuse it and their own spineless silence. Most would also not hesitate to denounce, ostracize, or ridicule the rare poet, artiste, or academic in their midst who might actually dare “go upright and vital.” Most would define poetry as clever wordplay, adept versification, effete wit, evoking feelings, though rarely if ever anger. "One writes in order to feel: that is the fundamental mover," stated former U.S. poet laureate Rita Dove. In other words, the purpose of writing, according to that pillar of poetry, is to "feel." The American Dissident defines writing differently, not as a mere means to “feel,” but rather one of truth telling. Our society continually drowns citizens in the diversionary entertainment of celebrity, including that proposed by poets, artists, writers, and journalists, so that it may continue functioning in its dubious business-as-usual modus operandi. A poet should seek the truth and write the truth, not simply “feel.” The American Dissident seeks to goad poets, professors, and artists to take that giant leap away from the herd and "go upright and vital, and speak the rude truth in all ways.” For an in-depth discussion on these ideas, please visit www.theamericandissident.org. If you have questions and/or would like to express disagreement write todslone@yahoo.com. Subscriptions: $16/year, $8/copy. Donations welcome. The NEA, NEH, and Massachusetts Cultural Council have all refused to accord The American Dissident grants.
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