I'm sympathetic to the argument that not everybody has a library or the spare change to buy books but IMO if you're a principled leftist you should be invested in 1) supporting libraries in every way possible and 2) increasing access in ways that don't starve authors, even if you also support piracy - ThreadSky

essaychant.bsky.social • 3 days ago

I'm sympathetic to the argument that not everybody has a library or the spare change to buy books but IMO if you're a principled leftist you should be invested in 1) supporting libraries in every way possible and 2) increasing access in ways that don't starve authors, even if you also support piracy

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susanhendrick.bsky.social•3 days ago

Maine has an interesting and beautiful approach - they have book exchanges in supermarkets, hotels and other public places. They are all over!

essaychant.bsky.social•3 days ago

What I usually see is outright dismissal of the argument that there are ways to access free books that still feed creators because not everyone has access to everything and like, okay, but do *you* have a library? Do you use it? Do you request new books? Do you encourage other people to do so?

essaychant.bsky.social•3 days ago

Point being: are you solely in favor of piracy for the sake of literary access or are you in favor of it for your personal convenience, at the expense of libraries *and* creators? As an author: I don't care about the former. I do care about the latter.

neomeruru.bsky.social•3 days ago

I tried to make this point a few months ago and caught SO many blocks. Lots of people argue the former but they're really only doing the latter.

essaychant.bsky.social•3 days ago

I don't know many creators need to say "I am barely surviving, I am just keeping my head above water, I cannot afford to keep making art" for it to sink in that most authors *are* the poor book-lovers you're evoking to argue that authors should starve for their art.

hettiebelleau.bsky.social•3 days ago

the problem is we are all easily, infinitely replaced with fresh new authors who will then burn out in an endless cycle. this attitude is borne of the belief that we are interchangeable and disposable so it really doesn't matter whether we stop writing because someone else will start

hettiebelleau.bsky.social•3 days ago

which, y'know, is an attitude that sounds a lot less like anarcho-communism or whatever than some other -ism... can't put my finger on which one tho.........

essaychant.bsky.social•3 days ago

this is also the games industry model of creativity, which seems to be working out in similarly horrifying ways

hettiebelleau.bsky.social•3 days ago

yeahhhhhhhhhhhh

weirdo95.bsky.social•3 days ago

Indeed that's the way. And I regularly drop off books in the little community free libraries in arse end parts of the country.

When I was broke I read pirated works. But then my world got better and I now pass a wall of several hundred books when I return home.

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