Saturday, September 23, 2017

Colonization Chronicles

     Once the Left has set its sights on some organization, that organization must choose between all-out war or abject surrender. This follows from Robert Conquest’s Second Law of Politics:

Any organization not explicitly right-wing sooner or later becomes left-wing.

     The dynamic involved is well understood:

  1. Let a Leftist in on any grounds whatsoever: e.g., “diversity.”
  2. The same or related grounds will get the Leftist visibility and, ultimately, a promotion.
  3. The Lefty now uses his position to get more Leftists in and advance their careers, while discouraging and impeding the hiring and promotion of Rightists or the non-political. The gaggle of Leftists will coordinate and operate as a bloc within the organization, gaining influence as their number increases.
  4. Over time, this dynamic results in a Left-dominated organization – and Leftists put politics above all other things, including the health of the organization.

     Simple, isn’t it? It’s death to any organization that requires competence and shuns politics...but once it’s in progress, it’s damned near impossible to resist. The truly tragic part is this: The early stages of this colonization process are nearly invisible.

     The insidiousness of the process is why Conquest’s Second Law includes the phrase “not explicitly right-wing.” The sole guaranteed preventative is a resolution not to hire Leftists, and to expel any that manage to sneak in – in other words, to politicize the organization toward the Right ab initio. That resolution requires that even a highly competent Leftist, whose relevant skills could be a great asset, must be excluded from the organization. That’s a tough call for a manager in a hiring position to make.

     Apparently, managers in the entertainment industries are incapable of making it.


     I’ve written about the Left’s colonization of the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA) on a number of occasions, most notably here, here, and here. The speculative-fiction genres, which are singularly attractive to young, imaginative readers, must have appeared a very juicy target. As it happens, the logic applies just as powerfully to the comic-book industry:

     Jon Del Arroz is an award-nominated science fiction writer, contributor at The Federalist and author of the upcoming space novella Gravity of the Game. He has followed the industry problems closely.
     There's a disconcerting trend on the left because the black-balling attempts in the industry have failed, due to independent media platforms, so they have moved to intimidation and threats of violence. Sad!

     Del Arroz, a comic book fan, senses a reckoning coming.

     The Industry is in trouble. Unlike others they have a distribution network only meant to further Marvel/DC properties. For real change to happen, fans have to support indies.

     PJ Media reached out to Richard Meyer [YouTube channel: Diversity & Comics], who was happy to talk about being targeted by SJWs. "It's a neo-McCarthyism situation, the industry is being destroyed," he said. "They are killing it. They've turned an industry into a community which doesn't have to have sales or success. It's a vicious pogrom and excommunication of anyone right of the extreme far left."

     Please read the entire article.

     Now as it happens, this colonization is self-defeating. The Left will suppress entertainment considerations to promote its political positions. But no one buys comic books to be harangued about politics. As a relevant sidelight, note this development on which Meyer comments:

     Carol Danvers, or Captain Marvel, is becoming transgendered. Comic book fans have taken to calling her "Carl Manvers."

     "We're watching her boobs disappear in every issue," said Meyers. "Marvel has killed all the heterosexual romances in the stories and replaced them with gay relationships. Gay relationships are depicted as idyllic and heterosexual romances are shown as problematic. Comic book shops are suffering because they can't sell these books. No one wants them."

     Promoting politics over adventure is bad enough, but gay couples only and boobless women? Insupportable! Therefore, the colonized organizations will lose sales and, eventually, collapse. That doesn’t make it any less of a loss to those who once enjoyed the destroyed organization’s offerings.

     It does, however, emphasize the importance of promoting “indies,” in this field and elsewhere in the entertainment world, who actually provide the customer with what he’s there for. A number of indies in science fiction and fantasy have gained large followings. The rise of indie comics will eventually provide comic-book aficionadi with the good-versus-evil clashes between larger-than-life figures (and the booby women) for which they value the form – if those indies receive enough attention to keep them from throwing up their hands, moaning “What’s the use?” and abandoning the enterprise.


     In the usual case, the Left cannot provide entertainment of the sort consumers enjoy. Leftists’ political obsessions prevent it. The bad news is that the entertainment forms the Left has conquered will be unentertaining in the near term. The good news is for those of us with some staying power: the conquered organizations will fail and be replaced by new, healthy purveyors of entertainment, who’ll know better than to politicize their wares.

     That doesn’t mean Conquest’s Second Law will no longer apply. Indies who become successful could well be seduced into joining or forming organizations. The dynamic outlined at the start of this screed will apply to them just as forcefully as it has applied to Hollywood, to the speculative-fiction genres, and to the comics industry. Perhaps they’ll learn from the sins of their predecessors, but it’s by no means certain. No human failing is more widespread than the inability — or the unwillingness – to learn from the mistakes of others.

     We shall see.

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