If you had asked me to predict just which writers would be banned, I couldn’t have predicted:
- Laura Ingalls Wilder – books said to be racist, based on common attitudes at that time towards the Indigenous People of America.
- Dr. Seuss – cartoon depictions of Asians and other People of Color said to be exaggerated and stereotypical (I guess Amazon doesn’t understand what a cartoon is).
- Ryan T. Anderson, the author of When Harry Became Sally, a book about the transgender phenomenon.
- The documentary, Killing Free Speech, Part I, was removed from Amazon
- Hoaxed, a documentary about media manipulation, was removed from Prime Video (important, as many people, including me, generally won’t watch those videos that aren’t free).
That’s just from Amazon’s part of the Conspiracy Against Books that Trouble Leftists; Simon & Schuster have cancelled Josh Hartley’s book (Why? Because he’s an NLD – Non-Leftist Dissident). And, there are many more – enough to make me concerned about the potential for a powerful media that battles the Leftist Dogma.
Little by Little, the Left is trimming away any traces of pushback against their propaganda. I’ve no doubt that our days freely writing our opinions on blogs are numbered – provided the Left has anything to say about it.
So, what are the alternatives?
- Use the links to Kobo. If people really want to read what you’ve put out there, they can buy an e-reader (comparable in price to a pricier Kindle), or, even easier (and cheaper) download the Kobo app. Rakuten is the company selling the Kobo platform/readers, and would probably just LOVE to gain market share at the expense of Amazon. They have some of those books that Amazon is too PC to carry, including When Harry Met Sally. And, yes, the Library Extension, that checks to see if your library carries it, works with Kobo.
- Nook, the Barnes & Noble app/reader – available in both forms. I checked, the ‘questionable’ books are available. It also looks like the pricing is better than Kobo.
- Smashwords – I’ve used them to put my stories out there, and my experience is good – they actually sent me my money faster than Amazon did.
- Don’t forget to install that Library Extension (it’s in the Chrome store, but also works in Brave). It makes checking to see if a book is available for loan, before buying it. It’s probably saved me over $100 this year, alone.
The BIG Tech Media would LOVE us to just succumb to their bullying. Don’t do it – resist. A good first step is to dump the Kindle Unlimited subscription. After all, if you can get a comparable book, either free, or a lower cost, why not? And, for those books that you would have to pay additional money – consider that clipping Amazon’s wings might just be worth it.
Yes, I do know of the many people who are KU only, and depend on that money to feed their family. At some point, you really have to say to them – look, I realize that this wrecks havoc with your normal mode of work and income. But, we can’t just give up because it hurts us financially. How will you look your family in the face and say, “I WOULD have fought the Power, but it was inconvenient”?
Find other sources of cash – bartending, house cleaning, working in a strip club (it’s got more dignity that cooperating with Amazon).
Grow up. Some people may TALK revolution, but when the price hits them, fold like a Millennial. It’s WAR. It’s SUPPOSED to hurt.