My name is Paul Matisz. I’m a white, cis-male, LGBTQ writer and activist. I live in the Niagara region of Canada, not far from the US border. I won’t call myself a liberal (because in Canada we have a Liberal Party that isn’t): I am, in fact, an unrepentant Leftist (gasp!) a progressive, and a democratic socialist with strong anarcho-syndicalist leanings. To be blunt, I lean so far to the left that stuff occasionally rolls off the table.
For most of my twenties I was a pretty hardcore left activist and a street medic. These days I’m slowing down (a store-bought knee will do that to a fellow) and I’m trying to figure out the whole writing-for-a-living thing. I have a wonderful partner, a comfortable home and a couple of dogs, but don’t let my hetero-normative suburban commuter exterior appearance fool you: At the core I’m still the radical LGBTQ Wobbly anarchist that I’ve always been. (In fact, at about the same time I started this blog I became a proud member of the IWW’s new Freelance Journalists Union.)
My politics mean I’m frequently pretty frustrated by the state of the world in this terrible Age of COVID. I support social justice, economic equality, ecological responsibility, and inclusiveness for all genders and orientations. A lot of my blog posts are going to about that sort of thing.
Fair warning:
I am fiercely anti-fascist and I have no patience for jollying along nazis, bigots, homophobes, assholes and fools. If you’ve got a problem with equal marriage, progressive politics, social justice, economic equality, or compassionate immigration policy, then do us both a favour and walk away from this blog now: it’s going to save time and aggravation in the long run.
I reserve the right to censor, delete and/or mock any commentary on this blog, particularly far-right bullshit. There are places in this world where we can have a dialogue on our various opinions, but this is not one of them: This is my space. That means I get to say what I want to say in my space and I have the right to curate what other people say in my space. If I don’t like what you write, I will delete it; If you’re rude and offensive, I’ll delete it and ban you (see The Rules.)
If you don’t like it: tough. You can do and say what you want on your own damn page.