Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World

Maybe a weird place to start with Naomi Klein, but she does say in Doppelganger that each of her books have been distinct. Here Naomi Klein examines others' conflating her with Naomi Wolf, once a Rhodes scholar who wrote The Beauty Myth, now Steve Bannon's eager-to-please lap dog.

Klein expands this analysis to look at recent pernicious conspiracy theories, which have proliferated to the point that at times it feels we are living in alternate realities to our neighbors and loved ones, who feel similarly disconnected with and unsettled by us.

She names these areas a mirror world or shadow lands. She contends that common fears spiral into patch jobs over unpleasant pasts we are leery to reckon with. We whitewash and sidestep our history. Some actively lobby to expunge it from curricula.

We acknowledge deep inequities not by lifting up and protecting all children, but by fighting for our own children to succeed despite it all, at the expense of everyone else. This scarcity mindset quickly turns to eugenics and fascism, though many with these beliefs do not identify with those terms.

Klein has written an immense book with some immense claims, some of which I found more compelling than others. First of all, when I say immense I mean it. This book could have lost 100 pages and read better. I say, while writing a ridiculously long Goodreads review. Still, she reads the audiobook and I found her narration comforting, even (especially?) when what she was saying was grim.

I liked what Klein shared about how echo chambers hinder our object permanence. When certain pundits are deplatformed from the arenas we have exposure to, that doesn't mean they disappear from relevance. Some cultivate strong, dedicated audiences via outlets we have no overlap with. It's like when I went to DSW recently and realized people still go to department stores, even if I don't. It's just like that.

Klein also gives a scathing takedown of Wolf's failed attempts to be arrested for ignoring COVID safety measures. Wolf's decision to name her daughter after Rosa Parks, paired with invoking imagery of lunch counter sit-ins, is repugnant. She personally harasses a Black-owned restaurant, and invites her live audience to review bomb them. She wields her power recklessly, selfishly, and with little regard for the history she is co-opting, largely to curry favor with political hacks astroturfing coordinated efforts to purge that same history from textbooks.

Perhaps the biggest claims are about how the Nazi regime drew inspiration from the USA settler colonizers' treatment of Indigenous and enslaved and/or segregated Black Americans. I would like to read and watch more about this, but I am comfortable saying Klein is correct insofar as it being disingenuous to position WWII as a simple story of Good vs. (aberrative, unique, conquered) Evil.

What let me down most was the conclusion. I think there were some good twists and punchy lines, and I agree that mutual aid and collective action are antidotes to our fears and uncertainty. There is hope and strength to be had in seeing the power we hold when we come together. I also agree about building purposefully inclusive structures, and dedicating our energy into the success of everyone, instead of us above and instead of others.

However, like, how? Say more on that? It felt like a lot of fluff without enough actionable examples and ideas. Don't talk to me about how bad it is for 500 pages then be like “we must take action” and then the book is over. I agree but elaborate on that instead of talking to me more about Philip Roth.

It was unexpectedly wonderful to read this alongside [b:Against Technoableism|77265030|Against Technoableism Rethinking Who Needs Improvement|Ashley Shew|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1676125743l/77265030.SY75.jpg|102480407]. I liked how both books integrated examples from fictional texts and social media posts and blogs. These forms of media are not always taken as seriously, but important ideas circulate there, especially in the 21st Century.

In all, I think this was a fascinating, expansive, and timely read. I am interested to read Klein's other works. I also bought a seam ripper to take the logos off all my stuff, and it is oddly thrilling. Highly recommend that, even if you don't pick this up.