It's true about Baum. He was a populist (favoring a bimetallic
monetary system) and 19th & 20th century populism had major baggage,
such as so-called "nativism," which involved racist attitudes toward
the real natives. But you can see that in lefty icons such as Woody
Guthrie ("this land is our land") and even Leo Huberman (if I remember
correctly). Each of us is a product of our times. It's best to judge
old folks like these not only with the benefit of modern hindsight but
also from their own perspective. Even Marx said some stuff that could
be interpreted as racist or anti-Jewish from today's perspective.On the other hand, I have no apologies for Tolkien. The fact that his books have become icons with almost religious content attached to them is scary. -- Jim Devine / "Nobody told me there'd be days like these / Strange days indeed -- most peculiar, mama." -- JL. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
