Disengaging From Capitalism

As much as I can, anyway

I absolutely, one hundred percent, no doubt about it, believe that anarchy is the only fair economic system. I also know that if we switched to anarchy right now, it would absolutely, one hundred percent, no doubt about it, not work, because all of us are so traumatized from living in a this hellscape we call the modern world, that we could never entirely trust everyone around us.

To be clear, when I say “anarchy” I don’t mean a lawless society of Mad Max style chaos, although some of those outfits are pretty fabulous.

I mean a system in which there is no money and no barter, but everyone does their job because they are a member of a functioning society in which everyone has their needs met because everyone else is also doing their job and taking care of each other.

I mean, that’s an oversimplification, but, well, let me give you a for instance. I am an author. In an anarchist society, I could still be an author. But you wouldn’t have to buy my books — you could just have them. Someone else would be printing them, not because I would pay them to do so, but because that’s what they wanted to do. When I or that printer person needed food, we would get some from a farmer or a chef, and they would give it to us, because that’s what they do. Everyone is cooperating, everyone is doing the job that they were meant for, and money is unneeded because everyone just does the thing and trusts that everyone else is doing their thing.

Again, though, that kind of utopia is simply impossible. Not because it would never work, but because it won’t work in our current state of being.

So, I’m compromising. I’m doing a few wee little things to disengage from capitalism just the teensiest bit that I can. Maybe if we all do a few things, we can inch our way in this direction.

Right now, I’m taking these two steps: I’ve added a barter page to my website. Bartering is still capitalism, but it’s a slightly less harsh form than money, in my opinion. This page has a list of things/services I can use and a form if you’d like to offer anything (whether it’s on the list or not), in exchange for books.

And I’ve also set all ebooks on my website store to Pay-What-You-Want. I’ll also be offering ebooks as Pay-What-You-Want at in-person events. Unfortunately, I can’t really do this with print books, because I have to pay for printing. The POD companies are not yet on board with anarchy.

I hope this makes my books a little more accessible to the world at large, and nudges the world infinitesimally into a kinder place.

If you have any other ideas for disengaging from capitalism, please let me know! You can respond to this email or comment on the Substack post. Please also comment what steps you’ve been taking to make the world kinder, whether it’s economic or otherwise! I think we could all use a little inspiration.