Lacking Agents

Watching the recent cancel culture kerfuffles, I am more glad than ever that I failed to secure an agent or traditional publisher.  What it seems like nowadays is that acceptance within the traditional publishing world is not based on being able to write well, but on holding the correct views.  If I had an agent, would I be able to keep him or her based on my not toeing the line on every far-left view on the political spectrum.

I’m not saying liberal views are a bad thing, just as I’m saying that conservatives views aren’t a bad thing.  I think being able to have a reasonable conversation – something that is harder and harder to do these days – is a healthy and fun thing.  Unfortunately, if you stray from the approved line of groupthink, you can find yourself expelled from polite society.

Some may ask why I pick on the Left so much.  Is it because I’m a far-Right extremist who has a yard full of Trump 2020 signs?  Not at all(I don’t think I’ve ever put a political sign in my yard, and people might be amused to find out what I did put out were I so inclined).  I simply go after the far-Left because they’re the ones who are ascendant in the culture now.  Think about it – when was the last time you saw a conservative, or even a moderate, extolled in today’s society in a public way by the dominant culture?  While Ben Shapiro and Kevin Sorbo have their niche, that’s exactly what it is – a niche.  Just look at what happened to Gina Carano when she dared express a view that’s not even particularly controversial in most conservative circles.

All of this translates into how people have to react with their public face.  Now I personally hate this bullshit.  I believe you should always remain true to who you are regardless of whether it’s public or private(yes, use discretion, like not cussing up a storm at a t-ball game, but don’t hide who you are just because you are not in your home).  Regardless of whichever side of the political spectrum I sat on, I’m certain I would run afoul of approved opinions at some point, and I’d find myself on the outs with my agent and my publisher, and that I’d be blackballed throughout the traditional industry(which is yet another reason the consolidation of what was once a diverse and manifold field of publishers into five big ones is cause for concern for the industry).

No one – no writer, no actor, no artist, no garbageman - should have to walk on eggshells just to keep his or her job.  I’m not talking about blatant racists or sexists saying stuff that every reasonable person understands to be beyond the pale, but rather ordinary people expressing what are, whether some like it or not, mainstream views in a society that used to be much more fine with dissent.  With an agent, I’d be worried about saying one wrong thing, and even if the agent didn’t care, some woke-scold looking for offense might, and would then shriek like a harpy until I got dropped.  No, much better to be independent and not subject to the whims of the woke-scolds than to surrender one’s independence and dignity just to sell a book.