Tuesday, January 18, 2005

Vox Day Dropped by Universal Press Syndicate

Vox Day has announced that he has been dropped by the Universal Press Syndicate. He appears not to be surprised. Nor am I. In fact, I am surprised that Universal agreed to seek syndication for his columns in the first place. Vox is pretty much 'out there,' compared to the average American 'Joe Sixpack,' and the viewpoints expressed in his weekly columns would be a hard sell to most newspapers.

I can understand that newspapers might be reluctant to buy his column. After all, commentary in American and Canadian newspapers is mostly left of centre; often far, far left. For 'balance,' the occasional newspaper might offer conservative commentary via a columnist like the inimitable, shoot-from-the-hip, take-no-prisoners Ann Coulter, or for the more squeamish, the always entertaining and perceptive Mark Steyn. But Vox Day is neither from the political left nor from the political right. He admits to being a libertarian. Libertarians promote self-reliance, responsibility, individual rights and economic freedom. What could anyone possibly find offensive or threatening in any of that? Never mind. The question is rhetorical. I know the answer. Sheeple everywhere don't want to be self-reliant or responsible. They may want individual rights and economic freedom for the things that are important to themselves, but not for anything that might be important to their neighbours. Or so it seems.

You're not libertarian, are you? Are you sure? And if you are, do you admit it to your friends? Not sure? Take this little quiz to find out. You may find yourself more libertarian than you think.

Maybe, it is that Vox Day bills himself as a Christian libertarian. Is it the 'Christian' label that frightens newspaper editors? It isn't popular to admit to anything Christian these days, so maybe that's it. Being a Christian is perceived as even worse than being a libertarian, it seems.

I don't always agree with Vox Day. Still, I religiously (oops!) read his weekly columns and often drop in on his blog where there is usually a lively dialogue via Vox's postings and the surprising number of comments offered by his followers.

It wouldn't hurt to see Vox in newspapers. It might make people think. It might motivate them or simply infuriate them. It wouldn't bore them. Because syndication isn't going to happen, his column appears every Monday on the internet news site WorldNetDaily. Drop in to visit. You won't be bored either.

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