Wednesday, August 9, 2017

Dangerous, by Milo Yiannopoulis

If you know anything about Milo Yiannopoulis, you may know him as the flamboyant gay conservative who causes riots when he comes to town to speak.  Or you may have heard about his resignation from Breitbart news after his awkwardly phrased seeming endorsement of pedophilia.  As a result of that interview, he lost his book deal with Simon and Schuster.  Not to be denied, Milo self published Dangerous and his public profile has not diminished.

Say what you will about Milo, people are longing to for perspective like his: generally conservative views combined with irreverent humor and wit.  With his characteristic argumentativeness he names each chapter cleverly, "Why (insert left-wing group here) Hates Me."  He talks about gays, Black Lives Matter, feminists, Muslims, the alt-right, and others.  Milo's views aren't necessarily distinctive from other conservatives.  His distinctiveness comes from his politically incorrect attitudes, his willingness to speak the truth offensively, his amusing arrogance about his looks and fashi and his unusual demographic mix.  The fact that he is British, flamboyantly gay, Catholic, and ethnically Jewish causes some head-scratching among his critics.  He's been called a Neo-Nazi homophobe, which of course is ridiculous.  Actually, much of the criticism is ridiculous.

My problem with Milo and his book is that he revels in the obscene and profane.  His college tour was the "Dangerous Faggot" tour.  He uses lots of R-rated language.  Almost every chapter has one or more cringe-worthy references to his sexual preferences and promiscuity.  He loves pushing the limits--actually, well past the limits.  In all of this context, I really did enjoy his commentary.  He's a gifted communicator, and his arguments are well-reasoned and documented.  I appreciate the reach he has with the younger generation and wish him the best.  But, at the risk of sounding like the old-fashioned fuddy-duddy, I wish he'd clean up his act.



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