[quote="thirdkingdom"]
My feelings on the matter are the same as thirdkingdom's above. I am very uncomfortable being a part of anything even remotely associated with a man like Vox Day. I have only two remedies: telling Alex how I feel and not spending any money on Alex's products.
It's obvious to me that several people have posted previously about how Vox Day is an avowed racist and Alex's reply appears to me to be "Racism is politics and I don't care about my supporters' politics." I respect Alex's position that accepting money from racists doesn't equate support of racist positions. It's just that I disagree with that point of view. So I'm forced to withdraw my financial support of this Kickstarter. I really don't want to. I love the ACKS material and think Alex is a smart and creative guy. But to me, it would be hypocrisy to come here and complain about Vox and then do nothing else.
I have no illusions about the effect of my actions. Vox pays hundreds per Kickstarter; I give between $25 and $50. But sometimes you need to take a stand, even if it's something as relatively inconsequential as a Kickstarter for a game.
-sulldawga
For me the difference is Theodore Beale throwing some money at a Kickstarter he likes and telling some friends about it and Vox Day making a politically charged blog post describing images of SJWs being killed and suggesting that his supporters -- many of whom apparently aren't gamers -- give money to it to accomplish his goal. Like, there's a big difference between someone I disagree with -- let's pick, say Roosh V -- giving money to a Kickstarter that I'm supporting. Whatever. But if Roosh V starts blogging about it and suggests everyone over at Red Pill donate to the Kickstarter so that he can suggest the creation of an Alpha class, who have as a class power the automatic ability to seduce and score with any attractive woman they come across, than that's the line where I start to reconsider if it's worth my support.
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TK, you're like 20 posts late, I already made the "Return of Kings" joke :-P
Ok, that out of the way, a little more serious of a response: If you guys aren't comfortable supporting this kickstarter, I support and respect your decision even if I'm choosing not to withdraw. What I take umbrage with is Sulldawga's implication that those who complain about Vox (like me) and don't do anything (also me... sort of) might be hypocritical.
as I belabored earlier, I've had to share my hobbies with white nationalists before. They're in the CK2 boards and the EU4 boards. They probably like game of thrones too. I'm willing to bed some of them even drive the same cars as me. I can't live my life keeping track of what they're into and making sure to vocally not buy that stuff anymore.
Now, I _have_ participated in some boycotts before. When Chik-Fil-A's charitable giving foundation was giving money to politicians who were actually advancing homophobic agendas, I stopped eating there, which was tough because I love me some southern style chicken. Ultimately I got over it and didn't eat there, but my wife and I discussed it a bit and we realized that, if we ever absolutely had to have a sandwhich, we could calculate how to be "carbon neutral" so to speak. The money their charitable arm gets cannot possibly be the full 100% of the cost of my sandwich and waffle fries, therefore if I donate an equal amount to the Human Rights Campaign, I will have net done more to advance the causes of equality and tolerance.
Now, where am I going with this? Well, first I would argue we haven't necessarily done "nothing" because we got assurances from Alex that nothing resembling the hypothetical "Alpha" class would be possible. An evil overlord is an established trope in fantasy literature, and one that can be created without overtly supporting harm.
That being said, I am open to the idea, if you are, of donating an amount equal to my pledge to a cause that fights racism or helps refugees. Sulldawga, Thirdkingdom, Wyzard, and Atlicaltl, if you'll pardon my snooping I've deduced that you guys are all part of the same ACKs campaign that seems to take equal parts here and over on big purple, so I am curious what you think. Do you think it's a fair and appropriate response for those who dislike Vox Day, want to do more than just say so, but who don't wish to cut ties with ACKs, to do a matching pledge to a charitable organization?