I am looking for all of the ways I can push back on the often suffocating world around me. I am looking for daily incremental ways in which I can push back, or at least not entirely be complicit in all the capitalism introduced illnesses that plagues us. One of the cornerstones ways in which I push back is that I read books, but I also work really hard to make sure I buy a book from the author and publisher, rather than Amazon.
I wrote this idea for a post on my blog when I purchased Loaded, A Disarming History of the Second Amendment, by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, a couple years back.
While purchasing her book, I made sure I went directly to her publisher to make sure I supported them, and not a lion share going to Amazon-—it really wasn’t that much work for me to click on the 2nd or 3rd link on Google search, but something that mattered.
Now, more recently, after learning about Gun Country, Gun Capitalism, Culture, and Control in Cold War America, by Andrew C. McKevitt, I was reminded of making sure I purchased from the source because of the related 2nd Amendment topic of the books.
After reading though, I’ve added the dimension that I am not just going directly to the publisher to support the smaller publishers and their authors, I am organizing these regular actions into a bucket of actions I take regularly to push back on capitalism. Gun Country reminded me that suicides, mass shootings, and other gun related atrocities are things that I have very little control over, but I can do more to push back on the capitalism that makes gun ownership a reality.
Both of these books are on my list of books I’ve used to deprogram me, and having links to the publishers page helps me, and my readers quickly support their work, while expanding their horizons reading these books. Purchasing books from the source is a small thing, but something that will add up over time for someone who reads regularly like me, and something if encouraged by each other, could grow into something that actually has a meaningful impact.
