Two things!
A Pagan Anti-Capitalist Primer
By Alley Valkyrie and I, this 32-page zine is a brief overview of Capitalism, why it’s horrible, and why every Pagan should resist it beautifully.
Best part? It’s free! You can either read it online or download the print-ready version to make your own copy.
Peasants Had Great Teeth
That’s one of the things you’ll read in the Primer. Also, serfs gave 1/3 of their production to their lords; modern workers? 2/3rds. This is before taxes.
But we were talking about Peasants and their teeth. They had low levels of tooth decay, because their diets were really low in processed sugars. Because there were no processed sugars.
Thing is, they could still get broken or knocked out by land-lords. And that would have sucked.
So you can imagine how my friend Sannion feels. He broke one. And isn’t a very good Capitalist, so doesn’t have hoards of money sitting around to fix it. And could use your help.
Be well! And resist beautifully.
Rhyd Wildermuth 
Yay! I’ve been waiting for this.
(And looking for a place to write my anti-capitalism rant…)
I wish my tooth had gotten busted by an evil land-lord cause then I’d have a cool story to tell. Instead I was eating a vegan burrito. Guess all those veggies make vegans tough and chewy.
I am very much looking forward to reading your zine, and I’m sure my readers will appreciate it too – I’ll be sharing it on my other blog, Rethinking the Job Culture. Thank you so much for this!
Also, I’m sorry to hear about Sannion’s tooth. I had the chance to hang out with him and Dver a little bit when he lived in Eugene, and he did a reading for me that I appreciated. I’m a pretty lousy capitalist myself, but I’ll send him what I can. (Hi Sannion!)
Very interesting! I just read it in its entirety…
And, I had no idea that some of what I’ve been feeling guilty about is actually some of what you suggest as quiet acts of resistance! (I will give you some details elsewhere!)
I have a pagan lesbian seamstress (also friend) who has a formula by which she and her out-of-shop seamstress earn about the same amount of money–and a living wage, depending on how much work is taken to do. She has made it possible, I think, for all of them to get medical insurance. She fronts the shop and is the legal owner of the business, she is in the shop taking in alterations and repairs, and the work attendant on that, whereas the others are doing the undisturbed-by-clients work in their home offices. She’s gone from working in someone else’s shop (when I met her in 1990 or so), to her own shop, own shop & partner, shedding partner, getting a more professional setting and hiring a growing number of highly skilled women owning their own means of production (as does she), making the world better for quite a lot of people.
I am the daughter of a couture-level seamstress. When our mother left our abusive sperm donor and settled in San Diego, she saw she could work hard at piece-work wages and be absent more than she was present, or she could have her own business, being home when we returned from school. She got a better life for all of us that way, and her clients had a nice private place to visit.
My sperm donor always advocated credit unions, and once I had a job that availed me of membership in a credit union, I joined. There were a few things he got right, just like a broken clock.
I do investigate “saintly” claims by the businesses with whom I do business. I prefer smaller and local businesses, and appreciate the employee-owned ones. King Arthur Flour is a great example.
There are “humane” businesses where the owners (often, but not always, small families) do what anyone with a sense of ethics considers The Right Thing (TM), and yes, sometimes they go out of business. When I hear of one, I do my best to reward them for doing good by making necessary purchases there. I like knowing the people who make or produce what I consume. I can talk to them about what they do, how they do it, and give them feedback which can make both sides happier. I have a small town soul, to a certain extent.
I like doing business with pagan producers. In general, we’re working in the same worldview.
Congrats on this! Did you know that Methodists lost more teeth than other poor folk because they drank sugary tea instead of beer?
I am so amazed by the elegance of that segue way from capitalism to Sannion that…damn.
Congratulations! It’s wonderful. Clearly written and fun to read.
But I knew you were going to mention homeowners…
Brit author Tom Hodgkinson wrote a fun book called “The Freedom Manifesto” that goes into the lives of medieval peasants a bit and compares it to ours. It’s worth a read.
Double posted. Feel free to delete the bugger.
This was a well written and informative publication. Reading it reminds me of how I felt after reading Tom Hodgkinson’s “Freedom Manifesto”. It’s worth reading if you get the chance. I’m planning on passing your zine to my high school age son.
Was not the feudal system a form of capitalism though? Capitalism evolved. I for one have learned that evolution will run its course, ignoring our attempts to interfere with its progress. If capitalism is meant to die, it will die and playing King Canute is fun only until the water level exceeds your height.
Ooh SWEET, thank you for the zine!