[quote="verita"]
I applaud those speaking outright, but my general nature is one of compartmentalization, so I post under an additional layer of anonymity. There is very little in life that is apolitical, and I resist dirtying my neutral persona here by stepping into the deep muck of the Internet.
I fundamentally disagree with the action taken on both ethical & business standings.
I had not known 'Vox Day' as anything but a minor self-published author until now, and having gone through his blog and other associated research, I would rather have kept my original impression. This is less an issue of 'free speech' than it is 'purchased speech', and this action taken by Autarch sullies their creative output. It doesn't matter that the eventual output will be, to use a term Theodore may approve of, whitewashed, to remove overt political references. The 'speech' portion of his action has already occured, and with the cooperation of and implied approval of Autarch. Theodore may now go back to his feckless band of internet tough guys, point to this product, and say "See? I matter. I can be heard. I deserve attention." This is a distinct difference from other venues that have, correctly, ignored or marginalized his participation. The fact it ss in something so technically minor as a game supplement from a small publisher is irrelevant to his cause. In point of fact, his odious worldviews fully restrict him to such minor efforts as hijacking the Hugos or infesting a Kickstarter - there is no larger market for his type.
At best, this is a distraction. At worst, it risks Autarch becoming embroiled in the same social arguments that burn across the internet daily, and permanently affecting its reputation. It cannot be spun as apolitical - Autarch ceded control of the narrative when the deal was struck, and now must rely on Theodore's restraint and good judgement, what supply there is of it, to emerge a neutral party. One cannot crowd fund a project without the consent of the crowd, and catering to a noxious fringe, only seemingly vociferous due to the structure of the 'Net, is not a well-considered decision. This is far beyond discussion about how much skin our barbarian princesses reveal, or the inherent rights of fictional orcs, and any comparison to that in this matter is myopic at best. Autarch has catered to the views of a person who disagrees with the base genetic makeup of actual living humans, allowing him to purchase (outside the normal interactions of a Kickstarter) a soapbox to stand upon. He does not do this out of the respect he holds for the product, the genre, yourself, or Autarch. The Dark Lord name is one tied strongly to his political activities. This is not an apolitical event.
I can only assume it was deemed worth the business risk. The 'libertarian free market' response is not additional monies pledged as protest, it is the retraction of pledges, for those who take these things seriously. Money is speech, and backers names will be listed alongside Theodore's, as complicit as he was in the production of the final draft, and implicitly linked in his future efforts at promotion of himself and his ideologies.
Sadly, there seems no way to independently support Omer's Kanahu.
I'd like you to contrast this with the quantifiable good done as part of ACKS' Bundle Of Holding - thousands of dollars gifted to the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation - for a sense of my disappointment in Autarch as an entity.
[/quote]
[quote="The Wyzard"]
I'm pretty sure that VD would consider me one of the SJWs (If I were remotely important enough for anyone to consider me at all! I think that is not actually the case.)
I'm also pretty sure that the gist of the artwork - sending "minions" after identified SJWs to harm them - is more metaphorical than being wholly fantastic. There's a subtext, here, which is readily apparent to anyone familiar with the history of harassment of real individuals which VD has egged on.
So, this artwork isn't a joke. It's a badge he's giving himself representing the occasions on which he has done harm to real people.
Viewed in that light, in can't be engaged with apolitically, because it is in itself a barely-coded political statement of his intention to harm his targets through proxies, an activity which he has publicly carried out.
[/quote]
I'd ask people to re-read and re-consider these two posts. While it is fine and well to espouse a philosophy of neutrality or to engage in relatively civilized debate about concepts of free speech, free market, etc. there is something else present in this situation.
Vox Day is more than an 'internet troll'. He is someone who uses the power and influence afforded to him by his internet presence to cause harm to real people, and to incite his followers to do the same. Real harm. Real people. This goes beyond abstract philosophy.
The white nationalist movement is one that uses embedded symbols to signal its tribalism and to reinforce its sense of influence and reach to its members, and the Dark Lord campaign is one that seeks to convert an ACKS supplement into such a symbol-keeper. In doing so, it will align the embedded symbols within the supplement with a deeply disturbing history of oppression, torture, and murder of black people within the United States and racist-motivated violence in other Western European countries. It doesn't matter if the artwork itself is innocuous enough in appearance to not offend people not in the know. The point is that hundreds of people *will* know what the artwork, and even the Dark Lord class, are really saying. It's code, for the converted and for those of us unfortunate to have witnessed this.
I can sympathize that the man behind Vox Day is a longtime contributor and may even be an aquaintance or friend of Alex Macris and Autarch. I do not begrudge Alex his politics or his acquaintances, and I genuinely respect the position you've articulated here, Alex. If Theodore Beale wants to contribute to ACKS development, I cannot begrudge you taking his money, but Vox Day is a racist construct and by allowing Vox Day and his agenda into the ACKS books in the form of content, you are aligning ACKS with some very, very dark and malignant stuff.
IMO, that's a real tragedy, and I hate to see this product that you have worked so hard for be used in this manner by something so virulent. It's truly unfortunate that Vox Day is taking advantage of your personal politics to forward his deeply disturbed agenda.
Anti-racism is not a philosophical stance. It's not that racism is 'bad' and Social Justice Warriors must rail against it because it's politically incorrect. The white nationalist movement is the inheritor of a long, very dark, history of murder, rape, torture, and terrorism. It's a heinous legacy, and our neighbors who are a part of that movement like to hide behind the seeming innocuousness of words and philosophy. 'It's all in good fun' and 'words don't hurt people' are smokescreens.
Please don't let yourself be fooled by such tactics.