Being anti-anti-everything

Max Barry is a fine example of a writer who uses his website to promote his books, communicate with his fans and speak his mind. In his latest post he answers his critics who accuse him of being “anti-everything”, something that is regularly laid at my feet by people who should know better.

He has this to say on being anti-corporate:

“My attitude toward corporations doesn?t depend on whether they?re large or small, chain or independent, foreign or local. It?s certainly true that companies that serve the general public (like McDonald?s and Apple) act nicer than companies that don?t (like Monsanto and Halliburton), but this is no anomaly: it?s just further proof that corporations are only interested in public opinion when it affects their bottom-line. Fundamentally, all public companies are cast from the same mold. They are all machines, running different programs on the same operating system.”

When you speak out against things that bother you, it immediately pins you as being “anti-” that particular thing. That’s a convenient frame for people to put on anyone who disagrees with what’s happening. Personally, when I’m accused of being anti-this, or anti-that, I try to turn it on around and stress what I’m “pro-”. And that’s tough sometimes because it’s a lot easier to define yourself by what you are not, rather than what you are.

So, being anti-anti-everything actually means being pro-something. Like
a healthy environment, triple bottom-line economics, and crackin’ orc skulls in your spare time.

To name just a few.