Guest Editorial by BaconMan

Last night on the BaconBits show I did what I think may have been the most important interview I have ever done. I say that with no exaggerated sense of self-importance, I am fully aware my little YouTube show isn’t going to change the world. I say that because if ever there was a time I fervently wished I had thousands of listeners it was last night. Part of the reason I write this now is because I get thousands of views on some of these articles, especially the ones like the SJWs Take on Culture, when they are reprinted on other sites. So I hope that I can expose additional people to the Nick Cole story this way.

For years now I have been exposed to a group of people on social media, much larger than I had previously been led to believe, who feel as I do. Mainly that the left has a stranglehold on all things entertainment and, in addition, we are virtually powerless to change that. Through the old DLC Show podcast (where we did have thousands of listeners) I have met literally hundreds of people who expressed a desire to see more of their own views and lifestyles reflected in television, film, novels and games. People who watch helplessly as creators of art they want to consume, and who fall more inline with their ideological spectrum, are bullied into submission and ultimately cave to the pressures of the intolerant and shrill left. Creators who change the art they worked so hard to create and betray the ideals of thousands of fans who were ready to stick by them had they just shown a little backbone.

And so, to all those people, I say this: Now is the time to put your money where your tweets are. Nick Cole is your guy, the one you’ve been telling me that you’ve patiently waited for. Will you support a man who stood up to SJW censors, at the risk of his own writing career, and defended his art? Will you buy CTRL ALT Revolt on Amazon? This is akin to your civic duty to vote. I know you’ve all heard someone say “If you don’t vote you can’t complain” and likely you’ve uttered that line yourselves. This is no different. Support that artist you’ve been clamoring for or stop complaining.

Why is this so important? And is it really censorship? Censorship, the left tells me daily, is only applicable when the government does it. In a free market, where the government does not exert pressure on a publisher to scuttle a novel, it is not censorship. To that point I counter that perhaps, by the literal definition, they are correct. But consider this: In some states people who have been caught urinating in public can be charged with a sex crime and, if they were in view of the public, be forced to register as a sex offender. Usually they are not. Why? Because while that is technically the law, it is not the SPIRIT of the law. It’s the intent that matters.

Censorship, in cases like Nick Cole’s, is no different. While perhaps not fitting the literal and technical definition, it is the SPIRIT of censorship that has reared its ugly head here. The leftist editor who rejected the piece, like most leftists, can’t conceive of a world where everyone doesn’t think exactly like her. She rejected the novel secure in the belief that thinking editors everywhere would do the same because the world at large must be looking through the same political lens. She never dreamed anyone would publish Nick’s work. That’s the spirit of censorship, albeit not the definition.

Nick, unlike most creators of art that we enjoy, bravely drew a line. He rejected the idea that he should change his work to suit someone else’s world view. He owed it to himself, his readers and his fans to show the world what he created exactly the way he created it. While Nick’s decision to self-publish is brave, it isn’t enough to create an actual movement of artists willing to follow in his footsteps. It isn’t enough to make a real, lasting change in Hollywood or anywhere else. It’s entirely up to you, the consumer, to make that happen. Support Nick Cole, and everyone like him, or surrender your right to consume and interpret art the way that you choose.

If you ruminate on the words the editor used to reject CTRL ALT Revolt you will see how important it is. “I am deeply offended,” she said. Deeply offended. People like this, who use their own views and ideological biases to effectively act as a gatekeeper between art and the public, can not be allowed to succeed in a free society. It is more than a science fiction novel, it is more than one author, it is a litmus test and it is up to those of us who don’t believe in the SPIRIT of censorship to make certain our cherished free society remains so.

Since the beginning, from the DLC Show through BaconBits and on this site I have said repeatedly that it isn’t just GamerGate. It’s EverythingGate. I’ve steadfastly maintained that the PC scrubbing of video games might be what caught the attention of the general public and got many of you riled up but it is far from the whole story. I watched a grassroots movement spring to life and resoundingly reject the notion that the plots and characters of games should be altered every time someone decided they were offended. But the same movement often forgets the same behavior is found in publishing, television and film creation. There is no better example than what happened to Nick Cole and there has been no greater opportunity to fight back than there is right now. Support CTRL Alt Revolt, live your convictions, or surrender to the gatekeepers.

For the story of how Nick was banned by his publisher, in his own words, click here.

My full interview of Nick, complete with Stark the Show Dog barking over him:

(Reposted from BaconBitsShow.com)