Praise For Caitlin Johnstone

Most every writer has had the experience of being in contact with the muse of writing. I’d go so far as to say that every writer worth reading—indeed, every artist worth mentioning—can describe their peak creative moments in a similar fashion. Hard work cannot be dismissed from the equation, but neither can inspiration and being in touch with something transcendent or, as professional athletes would describe it, being in the zone.

There are some writers who set a word count and hammer out x amount of words every day. Most are hacks who never write anything really worth reading. Some I admire, such as Jack London, who once said “You can’t wait for inspiration, you have to go after it with a club.” But as someone who has drunk deeply of the muse served through the pen of Jack London, I would guess that he too knew the feeling of words and thoughts flowing through him as though he were a mere conduit for forces beyond his comprehension. As one who’s dabbled in capturing thoughts in words myself, I regard those thoughts most precious that come from seemingly nowhere, and what I consider my best writing is done when I can capture such thoughts in words before I fully comprehend them.

Which leads me to Caitlin Johnstone. As one who has made a point of reading the great thinkers and writers in all eras, it seems out of character for me to include a modern-day writer among the great writers of history. After all, such accolades are meant to be bestowed upon writers after generations of critics have evaluated their work and given weighted critiques as to the value they have added to culture.

Bosh. Or bullshit. I don’t mean to swear, but I don’t want to sound trapped in the past by using stuffy language, either. The point is, I don’t need generations of commentary to tell me that a piece of writing is connecting with me on some very vital level. Or connecting with me on many different levels simultaneously. I very much appreciate those who were willing to guide me to the works of William Shakespeare: the language barrier was real and it did take a while for me to bridge the gap. But that gap being bridged, I quickly forgot about those who led me to that point and directly experienced the joy of communing with William freaking Shakespeare. The connection I have to Caitlin’s writing is no less profound, and I need no intercessor to sanctify the communion.

I have drunk deeply of the great writers of the world and of history. No doubt I have missed a few, there are only so many hours in the life of a man. But I am deeply thankful I have had the opportunity to drink from the work of Caitlin Johnstone. I will come right out and say it: there are very few writers in recorded history who have tapped into a vein of inspiration so deeply and for such a sustained period. I was fortunate to have grown up in Chicago while Mike Royko was writing a daily column. I always regarded him as the best. Caitlin has surpassed him. Granted he wrote for a much longer period of time than her, but he had the weekends off and, good as he was, he was merely excellent and not transcendent.

I was an English major and so was exposed to the greatest poets of the ages. And while I was never much into poetry, there were those—Shelley, Byron, Tennyson, Blake, and others—who genuinely moved me. But never the way I was moved when I read Caitlin’s Woke. From the first time I read the introduction, tears of joy, sadness and ecstasy poured from me, as they still do when I re-read from it for the umpteenth time.

I was reading a tweet by Katrina vanden Heuvel the other day, a woman who I’ve always admired, respected, and felt attuned to. She asked which pundit of the past we would most wish was among us to give reflection upon the times. H.L. Menken was mentioned, Jonathon Swift, Mark Twain, and others that I’ve read and deeply valued. But my only thought was “We have Cailtin Johnstone, and she easily sits among that group. She is the voice of our time, and I doubt any of those perceptive and fearless thinkers could do a better job than she is doing right now.” It is not that we lack great minds in this present generation, it is that we live in a time where great minds and noble thoughts are not appreciated. But such times cannot last for long. The need for deep thoughts, deep emotions, and those who think and feel will once again become apparent, and on that day Caitlin will be given her proper place.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t worship Caitlin or blindly follow her, I merely leave myself open to brilliance and recognize it when I see it. There are aspects of her perspective that I feel could use some correcting. She sees truth unhindered by the prejudices of the past, but too often she dismisses the glimpses seen by those who came before as a result. Her education is incomplete, as all of ours are, her perspective limited, as all of ours are. She is but one star in the firmament, but she burns the brightest at the moment. She is a guiding star for any hoping to navigate the uncertain seas of our time.