Imagine my surprise to find that the redoubtable Injustice Gamer independently contributed to the ongoing conversation about alternative cultural institutions that others such as JD Cowan and I are wading into.
Here’s IG’s Alfred Genesson:
Vox Day put up a post responding to yet another article on building another culture. Seriously. I hear about or find another article every few months. Vox mentions the fact that conservative media has never talked about a Castalia House book. I’ve seen an interview in a Catholic online mag with John C. Wright that only talked about his Tor books, and this was recent. The fact is, the so called media organs of conservatism and Christianity don’t benefit from helping relevant material grow. They benefit from being able to whine that the establishment is leftist and dishonest.
I’ll second Alfred’s observation. It’s one thing to rally around artists who are ostracized by the establishment. It’s quite another to make whining about it your sole marketing strategy. Contra conservatives’ personal responsibility mantra, their publishers, record labels, and film companies are addicted to victimization by the Left.
Books? Well, just another place where the movers and shakers mostly prefer to stay ignorant. This case, unlike music, I’m glad about. Why? Because their willful ignorance leaves a place for people like me. If those media were actually paying attention to small press and independent authors, I’d have a much harder time with audience growth. They want to ignore anything but big NY publishing, I’ll gladly fill part of that huge gap.
Now, as to other reasons aside from selling the “can we build an alternative culture” article again. Most of it comes down to the fact that people are largely lazy. I’ve seen it like crazy with people at church that will go to a concert of the youth pastor’s cover band, but won’t bother with their musician friend’s group that’s been working for years and building hours of music. A lot of folks also want to be able to talk about the same entertainment as everyone else. This view of culture is the real culprit.
Not to sound like a broken record, but it clearly bears repeating: Do not give your money to people who hate you.
“But that list includes almost all entertainment, tech, news, and food and beverage companies!” I hear many of you complain. Yes, it does. Ask yourself how we came to this sorry state of affairs. Is it the fault of SJW entryists? Certainly, but not entirely. Invading an ruining cultural institutions is what SJWs do. May as well be outraged at a scorpion for stinging you.
Who’s claimed the mantle of cultural guardians yet persistently failed to preserve a single major movie studio, record label, candy company, or university from social justice convergence? All of these organizations started out as not just neutral, but conservative institutions.
Walt Disney famously rounded up and ejected all communists from his studio. Popular songs once reinforced Western, Christian morals instead of eroding them. Cadbury was founded by a devout Christian. Yale was originally a Congregationalist seminary.
The unavoidable conclusion is that conservatives don’t particularly care about the culture they claim to defend. If they did, they wouldn’t literally give away the store at the first sign of Leftist infiltration.
Don’t kid yourself. Patronizing converged companies isn’t a harmless indulgence. The big media and tech companies have demonstrated again and again that they will not hesitate to use their vast power to silence and financially ruin anyone they deem problematic–which, if you’re reading this, includes you.
Before you buy a ticket to see another Hollywood desecration of a beloved franchise, before you pay the cable bill that ESPN get a percentage of whether you watch them or not; before you cosign the student loan that will condemn your daughter to be brainwashed by Marxist professors, rendered unmarriageable, and languishing in lifelong debt slavery, stop, slap yourself, and don’t.
There’s no need to patronize converged companies, anyway. As Alfred points out, indie publishing in particular is thriving. Show your support for independent authors and get superior books in the bargain.