jasonderoga86 | Entries tagged with capitalist extremism

Whoa, didn’t expect to hear about this. We’re about to wrap up November, but about two weeks ago news broke out that, in all honesty, doesn’t surprise me.

I’ve been doing a lot of research on the comics industry since the artist Ian McGinty passed away at age 38 due to exploitation and overwork by his publisher. But today I came across another article regarding the industry as a whole, written by Heidi McDonald of ComicsBeat.com: “Retailer warns that comics are dying again” … and how it appears to be drawing its final breath like the fallen artists it bled dry did when they could take no more.

But it also brought up something that I wish I hadn’t read about. There are a LOT of people out there who believe the comics industry isn’t being killed by publishers treating their artists like slaves, wringing them dry and then leaving them for dead, but to stuff like “Leftist Marxism”. Yep, those pro-Comicsgate troopers want to blame the comics industry’s wasting away on “Wokies” and “Social Justice nonsense”. In fact, they’ve been doing it since 2015, and there were cases in which innocent people actually got hurt as a result of the extremism it produced. As I said before, I met one of the big names of this crusade in person long ago – Earthworm Jim’s creator Doug TenNapel – and had no idea that the guy would be taking part in something so sinister in the future, and recently, the bookstore I met him at -- owned by the store owner who stocked my graphic novels and stands firmly against White supremacy (with a sign clearly saying so on her front door, herself a White woman) -- has apparently de-listed most of his books as “unavailable”. Go figure. Yeah, capitalism isn’t the enemy. The ones condemning its corruption ARE.

It saddens me that since 2015 there are people who feel they have to bring extreme politics to an industry that’s captivated so many readers and fans over the 90+ years it’s been in existence. It’s like 2015 was the year when everything became labeled as either “right-leaning” or “left-leaning”. A similar problem occurred with the whole “AI art” thing – people have been politicizing that too, each side pushing their own extremist agenda. The point I'm trying to make is, we all get it; both political parties have extremist “wings” that reared their heads when the 2016 election approached and made their presence known when the victor was named. But can we keep that shit out of entertainment as simple as comics? Why do so many people politicize the expiration of all these industries that are unrelated to politics? I know from experience that this approach can not only ruffle feathers, but someone can (and will) get hurt as a result, emotionally or physically.

Myself, I do believe the comics industry’s demise is due to the dictatorial machinations of the publishers and their exploitation of talent only to discard them once they’ve outlived their usefulness. But I’m not putting politics front-and-center as my reasoning. I’m using the basic concept of honesty and morality, two very important mindsets that are completely void in the industry right now. Not “gender-swapping” (they should argue that on the merits of unnecessary changes to established characters, not on “wokeism”), not “exposing the corrupt government” (the article in question elaborated on how leaders, even American Presidents like Nixon and dictators like Hitler – both abominable people – were villains in a few Marvel/DC stories). The simple fact that the comics industry sucks the life (and money) out of its workers, drops their empty husks in a dumpster, and searches for saps who’ll make fine replacements is the sole problem here. Not politics. Dishonesty and wickedness. Let’s just make that crystal clear, before any more people get needlessly harmed.

Current Mood: exhausted

I'm almost ready to punch out from work for the Thanksgiving break. But I have to say I'm feeling that the authoritarian, slave master-like mentality of corporate greed and capitalist extremism is seeping not just into social media, but even into art-based websites. And at the center of it all is the recent news of Comic Fury's situation concerning AI art.

Long story short, AI art is now forbidden on CF. The argument is that AI art is "theft" and shows "lack of all effort" as a result of "copying".

As I told Jazz Nevermore, a victim of this new "policy", the argument shouldn't be on AI artists. It should be on people who either don't see the whole picture, or are just looking for a reason to literally start a fight, conflict, flame war, whatever.

First off, as Matt Zimmer stated, everyone on Comic Fury is a hobbyist artist. The whole point of making art online -- in this case, comics -- is taking advantage of a way to share that work without needing a publisher's "blessing" to do so. In comics, we come to CF because we know our works would never be accepted by "big name" publishers who think they always know what sells. All you gotta do is look at the film industry (and to an extent, comics): Hollywood always says they always know "what the people want". Well, I got news for them: people want new, fresh, ORIGINAL MATERIAL. They have been since I can't even remember how long. But Hollywood knows best, right? And what do we get?

Action films with all explosions and no plot. Superhero movies that turn out to be nothing but filler material for "cinematic universes" that literally go to infinity and beyond (pun intended). Reboots of ALREADY rebooted stories with only different colors and costumes. The stuff that sells.

And you know what? That is a steaming load of bullshit.

Nobody's gonna tell me that this rehashed, rebooted stuff is "big bucks". What's so "groundbreaking" about the same story with different dressing? No, this is NOT a valid example of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Hollywood's studio CEOs rake in billions from these pieces of "repackaged goods", but the ones doing the actual work -- actors, writers, designers -- get pocket change and no entitlement to basic health insurance. No, really; as the SAG-AFTRA strike kicked off, I remember seeing an actor showing his interviewer his check from his studio publisher. Get this: he showed the check to the camera for all to see... and his check amounted to $0.01. Seriously, the check was for $0.01.

Not to mention "indie works" in any creative field are always judged as inferior because they don't have the prestige of a company that never invests in originality, by publishers who themselves couldn't create a comic even with a team, much less alone. The term "established publisher" is, and always will be, a bald-faced lie.

This mentality about "stealing" -- especially in the area of art -- fails in Comic Fury's situation on two fronts: first, as I said, CFers are all hobbyists. Hardly any of us are making a living off of our work there. Hell, many of us charge absolutely nothing, it's all free for reading, viewing, whatever. It reminds me of the whole file-sharing Napster/Kazaa/Limewire conundrum. The record industry was suing people by the hundreds on the allegations of theft. But some replied, "Really? We're the ones stealing? Well what about the record industry's known practices of exploitation? What about music artists making pennies while their CEOs are making millions and living the fine life in their McMansions... all while they know they themselves couldn't carry a tune? Aren't they stealing?"

Why are we all fighting each other over art made through AI, when actual employees in comics are getting blindsided by their management, forced to give blood, sweat, tears, mental health, and sometimes, even their lives -- all so they make lunch money and their publishers make fortunes? If you ask me, cheating people out of paid work that they are HIRED TO DO just so clueless big businessmen who "know what sells" can kick back and relax as the money rolls in is more like stealing than AI art. In fact, I'll go as far as to say this indirectly plays into a divide-and-conquer strategy by these very greedy corporate assholes to turn the attention away from them and towards our fellow man. The result? We're tearing each other to shreds while big business laughs at our naivete.

At this point, I guess I'm starting to sound like a "social justice warrior." Well, I couldn't care less, 'cuz this isn't about politics. Hell to the no there, screw politics. This is about morality, burying hatchets, helping each other out, and trying to make this world a better place, with great legacies... because I'll tell you all now, these corporate autocrats could give a shit about any of this so long as they get their literal "passive income" in the billions.

...and, for the record, nobody's died, taken their billions, and came back with them to say, "See? Even if I die, I can take my money with me to the afterlife!" No. No, no, no. This ain't Egypt, with kings in tombs taking riches to the afterlife. This is real life. Enough with this pervasive capitalist extremism; it literally kills its very builders.

Current Mood: enraged

For anyone who's ever watched the show Friends, this is a dark evening. This evening, another celebrity has joined the ranks of the dearly departed. The celebrity in question is Matthew Perry, who was found in a hot tub by authorities in Los Angeles, Califonia, apparently drowned at age 54. Personally, I'm assuming it was a suicide, seeing as many celebrities such as Robin Williams (Mrs. Doubtfire, Disney's Aladdin's "Genie"), David Carradine (Bill from "Kill Bill"), and even Jason David Frank (Tommy Oliver/The Green Ranger/White Ranger from "Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers") took this road.

Right now everyone's asking questions. Me, I think if it IS a suicide, it's undoubtedly because of how the entertainment industry of today sees only numbers and not people. The spectre of the SAG-AFTRA ongoing strike is rearing its head here. Capitalism in this industry as a whole is all about enriching its publishers/distributors and leaving the ones who provide the entertainment to the masses to wither and die. Actors, authors, musicians, the whole shebang -- they are just cogs whose sole purpose is to keep the machine well-oiled and going on all cylinders to keep the wealth pouring into the ones who don't deserve it: studio CEOs, record industry CEOs... Hell, just CEOs in GENERAL and their sycophants.

The one who does the work always gets the worst of the deal, the proverbial short end of the stick, with their "benefactor." And that leads to frustration and inevitably declining mental and physical health, which often leads to one taking their own life because they feel they have nothing left to live for. And it's happened more times than one can count. Is this really how capitalism in this country is slated to remain? For humanity's sake, I really think a radical change is in order here, because it doesn't make an iota of sense for ANYONE to hold green pieces of paper with old people's faces on them above a living being. It's delusional and borderline misanthropic, and always will be.

'Night everyone, and peace and love to you all.

J.D.

Current Mood: tired

Mind you, I still use Amazon.com. But as of today, I've lost all respect for the World's #1 Online Retailer.

Why do I feel this way, do you ask? Well, take a gander at this list for Best Sellers in the Books department, and look at who's #1:

Amazon.com - Best Selling Items in Books Department as of today, 9/23/2023

I saw a link to this "#1 Best-Selling" title from the retail page of another title on Amazon that made my heart sink even further. The title in question was Anne Frank's Diary: The Graphic Adaptation, by the publisher Pantheon, part of its Pantheon Graphic Library.

I also heard that about 3 or so days ago, a Texas middle school teacher was fired for reading this very book to her 8th grade class. She gets fired for doing that 3 days ago, while garbage like this "#1 Best Seller" still holds its place in Amazon's rankings today.

Boy, am I glad I don't live in a red state right now. 'Cause if I were, after seeing this, I'd tell the first politician / "concerned parent" / whoever to look at these stories, these events on Amazon and in mainstream news. And then I'd tell them:

"Alright, listen. I want you to look at this. Really look at this. Look at this, and then record yourself the next time you feel the need to call the Democratic Party the new Confederacy. I want you to listen to that recording of yourself 3 times every day, for 30 days. Afterwards, I don't wanna hear any more bitching about indoctrination, White children's guilt / victimization, and especially freedom for all. Then, I want you to take a Bible -- yes, THE Bible, the one you always claim to study/read religiously and fully believe in -- and swear on it that you believe in your country and the Constitution. Do it, now. I’ll wait."

...

"You’re back? So, you did it? For real? Good. Keep that oath, ‘cause if you break it again, you’ll not only be flipping off your country… you’ll be flipping off your God. I don’t think you want that on your conscience.”

***

As for Amazon, well, I guess they don't have standards anymore. Let it be noted: many independent news platforms have reported that far-right extremists have used Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) print and e-book platform many times in the recent past to publish manifestos and other hate-infested rigamarole and actually make a hefty profit before trying to enact their offenses, get arrested, and then have their accounts suspended and their titles ripped off all storefronts by Amazon itself. The fact that these kinds of people can have that kind of outlet to make money -- to compete in, for God's sake -- the same marketplace as unknown authors (like yours truly) trying to make a splash in an already saturated market is... troubling, to say the least. 😔

Current Mood: disappointed
Current Music: peaceful white noise / sounds of rain for relaxation