Canto CCCXLIX: On Rancho Libertarianism (Finally)

Gentle cabrones:

First things first, you’ll notice this email is coming out on a Sunday instead of Saturday. And I’m sending after 8 a.m.

It happens…but I try not to.

It’s been a hell of a 30 days — good, bad, tragic, wacko and more. All will play out in columnas and cantos to come, of course.

But as it turns out, because God is ultimately kind to me even though He loves to Job me nonstop, it turns out today is the perfect day to publish on this Sunday, Mexican Independence Day.

Today, I’m FINALLY publishing my long-promised essay on rancho libertarianism, a political philosophy I coined to explain the politics of a certan group of Latinos, a political philosophy I’ve never really defined but have loved to plug to entice people to read my eventual missive.

How long have I been promising it? Five fookin’ years.

It happens.

But you’re not going to read it here. I’m actually publishing it over on Substack, where I was going to continue my cantos after leaving MailChang but realized something that stopped me from going there with my cantos so I went with Abejahive instead (no, I won’t say what caused it; no, it’s not what you think).

I want my rancho libertarianism essay to be read by as many people as possible, and Substack is good at making posts go viral, whereas I usually set my cantos to private because I want to reward those who seek gnostic DESMADRE and not the public at large. Besides, the essay is loooong — I mean, the intro alone is longer than a usual canto. Don’t want to bore those who don’t want to be bored — but who do I bore?

SO…if you want to read my essay, click on the link here.

NOTE: DO NOT subscribe to my Substack if you already subscribe to my canto. I will maintain that Substack for the hell of it, but will rarely, if ever, publish from it.

So what are you waiting for? Go read it NOW.

And then continue for the rest of your regularly scheduled programming below. How about them Halos?

First time reading this newsletter? Subscribe here for more merriment! Feedback, thoughts, commentary, rants? Send them to [email protected]

Okay, keep reading! Regular canto next week. SO many cantos in the pipelines. Insha’Allah I get to them all…but read my rancho libertarian essay here already!

**

Enough rambling. This was the semana that was:

IMAGE OF THE WEEK: Virgen de Guadalupe in the Valley de Guadalupe, Baja California, Mexico

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “I can remember going to a cocktail party on the Upper East Side, and one of the fashionable young ladies present asked, What do you do for a living? I was proud to say I was a newspaperman. I couldn’t think of any more idealistic or romantic a calling. The young woman looked at me with faint amusement and disdain, said, What are you going to do when you grow up?” — Lewis H. Lapham

LISTENING: “Saturday Night Fish Fry,” Louis Jordan. The King of the Jukebox doesn’t nearly get enough mainstream love nowadays, even though his verve and humor were as pitch perfect as they come. Add this one to your food song playlist, por favor.

READING: “Voices And Failure”: Peter Murrieta is one of the great unsung Chicanos of Hollywood, a secret OC guy, a compa, a hell of a writer — and his Substack! So much soul, so much teaching, so much hilarity. Every missive is a keeper, but this one is particularly instructive in how to channel your inner you, and LYFE. Don’t subscribe to my Substack, but do subscribe to his!

BUY MY NEW CO-BOOK! People’s Guide to Orange County tells an alternative history of OC through the scholarship and reporting of myself, Elaine Lewinnek, and Thuy Vo Dang. There’ll be signings all year — in meanwhile, buy your copy TODAY. And, yes: I’ll autograph it!

Gustavo Events  

Sept. 21, 1:30 p.m.: I’ll be in conversation with Mike Madrid, longtime GOP strategist turned Trump mega-hater and author of the new book The Latino Century: How America's Largest Minority Is Transforming Democracy at Alta Baja Market, 201 E. 4th St., Ste. 101, SanTana. Lecture is FREE and the first 50 people who show up get a FREE copy of Mike’s book — but you have to register here.

Oct. 11-13: Rancho Gordo Encuentro — the collaboration between the legendary heirloom bean purveyor and my honey’s Alta Baja Market — is BACK. It’s a weekend of beans, and I’m in charge of two events: “The Bean Monologues” (exactly what it sounds like — people tell stories about beans), and “How to Taste a Tortilla,” which is also what it sounds like AND you get to take home good tortillas!. Links to each event in the links I put in said titles, and here are the rest of the events — buy your tickets soon, because they’re going FAST.

Oct. 18, 5 p.m.: I’ll be talking about my career at Saddleback College’s WordFest OC. It’s FREE, but you gotta RSVP here. (Note: I’m scheduled to just speak for 45 minutes, but I’ll also stick around for dinner through 7 because who wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to eat tacos?)

Gustavo in the News

“SPECIAL: Should California Journalism Be Saved? The Tech Bros and Gavin Newsom Win” and “Part 112: Kevin De León vs. Ysabel Jurado - The LA Fed Tapes and Election Politics”: Legendary whistleblower Zachary Ellison kindly plugs me twice in his Substack, which you should also subscribe to for great coverage of L.A. politics in specific and L.A. in general.

“The stereotype of immigrants eating dogs and cats is storied — and vitriolic as ever”: NPR plugs my work/

Gustavo Stories 

“Grítale a Guti”: Latest edition of my Tuesday night IG Live free-for-all.

“OC candidate claims to speak fluent Viet, his opponent wants answers”: My latest KCRW “Orange County Line” commentary talks about the political silly season in Little Saigon.

“Ask Code Switch: Is this a racist question?”: In which NPR’s Code Switch nicely interviews me for a new feature, but then labels me a “controversial columnist” and calls my former columna a “race column.” Fascinating…

“From Willie Brown to former students, hundreds mourn political giant Richard Alatorre”: My latest L.A. Times columna goes to the funeral of the Eastside jefe de jefes (P.S., there’s a funny backstory to this columna that I’ll tell in the future, when I FINALLY write about how it is to be an O.C. cholo nerd crashing the overinflated L.A. political bouncy house). KEY QUOTE: “The line nearly extended out the door as people signed the guest book. L.A. Councilmember Heather Hutt was in front of me. Alatorre protege Richard Polanco, who replaced him in the state Assembly, was behind.”

You made it this far down? Gracias! Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram while you’re down here by clicking on their logos down below. Don’t forget to forward this newsletter to your compadres y comadres! You can’t get me tacos anymore, but you sure as hell can give them — and more — to the O.C. Catholic Worker!