Once again another Super Bowl is upon us, and millions of people will be watching, and billions of dollars will be flowing ever upward often from the small pockets of the poor and working class into the large bank accounts of the owners, coaches, players, ad executives, car companies, beer companies, shareholders, members of the boards of directors, etc., etc., ad-nauseam.

This is one of the many bad investments one can make: this emotional and financial investment as a fan of professional sports, because in many if not the majority of cases, there is often little or no return aside from a few hours of emotional enjoyment and escapism.

This problem, both with these sports organizations and the issue of greed overall, is not a simple one to address, nor is the underlying issue of needing an escape. The NFL and some players do give back to those in need and their local communities, and there are fans who do not even care that they support the greedy NFL or other sports organizations.

While I cannot go into great detail into every aspect pertaining to this issue, mainly because I’m not an expert nor psychologist, I will try to touch on them as best as I can. Why? Because I want to help generate awareness of an important issue. I want to add my voice to those voices already out there in order to help wake up those who may not understand that they are not benefiting from this one-sided transaction, and may even be taken advantage of and preyed upon. I am not here to say that we should deprive people of simple pleasures, joys or entertainment. I am not here to say we should disband or destroy these sports organizations. But the main issue of greed and the subsequent issues of the lack of significant improvement of the lives of the fans and their communities needs to be addressed.

These fans, many of whom are poor and working class, spend their hard earned money and their equally valuable time, buying merchandise and tickets, being lured (sometimes preyed upon) into making various purchases (i.e. “wear your jersey and save 5% on opening a bank account, leasing a car, or buying a package of unhealthy potato chips) to help all of the aforementioned owners, coaches, players, executives, etc., obtain a more comfortable, lavish lifestyle, yet, where is the return for these fans’ and their communities who dwell in the shadows of these organizations and their stadiums?

First, we must address the fact that the NFL and some of its players do give back to those in need, as rightfully they should, as rightfully we all should, those of us who are “fortunate”, meaning those of us who are able-bodied, not suffering with any serious health issues and can afford to. Our civilization and society should place those who are worse off at the top. We are no longer living in a time of “survival of the fittest”. And by worse off, I mean those suffering with any myriad of the physical and/or mental disabilities that plague our species. And by “treated like royalty”, I mean that they are the ones in society that should be driven everywhere by limousine and living in mansions, not those of us who are without serious problems. I do not know of every single organization that benefits from the charitable donations of the NFL and its players. I do know that there is enough evidence to prove that it is not enough. Just take a look around at the areas local to the various NFL teams and you will find plenty of poverty, slums, families struggling to afford school supplies, and public schools struggling with funding. Let us not forget that some of the charitable work is for PR purposes to make the sports organizations look good and not out of the pure kindness and generosity of their and even some players’ hearts. Even with all of these charitable contributions, I am sure there are plenty of fans suffering with issues that do not benefit whatsoever by charity whether it is directly or indirectly.

We cannot place all of the blame on the NFL for not improving the lives of its fans and communities. Some of the fans and communities do need to take responsibility for their problems, or at least those who are able-bodied and financially able to do so. However, we must keep in mind that we are talking about an organization where 10 of the NFL’s wealthiest team owners are worth a combined $61 billion! Not every community has that kind of economic resource available. Plenty of able-bodied fans are happy supporting their favorite sports team even knowing how greedy these teams and organizations are, and even when these very fans suffer from any number of physical and/or financial problems. But because these sports organizations are sitting on so much wealth, we live in a time where there should be measures in place to insure that much of that wealth is redistributed back to those who supplied it, not just to charities. This should be the case for any large company or corporation.

Then there is the fact that many people, if not all of us, need a goal, need something to live for, especially if suffering from a debilitating illness of some nature. Thus: entertainment and escapism. Again, I am not saying we should get rid of entertainment. But there is a problem that needs to be addressed in regards to the sheer amount of wealth and greed associated with those in the entertainment industry compared to the lack of such wealth, be it physical or financial, when it comes to the lives of the people and their communities that help those in the entertainment industry, be it sports organization or artist, achieve a life of luxury. Is not everyone deserving of that life? Why is it so one-sided? If the fans can each contribute $20 to help line the pockets of an artist, athlete or sports organization to the point where said entertainer or sports executive lives in the lap of luxury, does not the fan deserve the same in return?

While the responsibility of improving the lives of people and communities does not rest solely on the shoulders of the sports organizations, these organizations are sitting upon a vast amount of wealth, and there is often a significant disparity between the lives of the fans compared to those who benefit from being associated with these sports organizations. There should be more responsibility on these sports organizations to see that the lives of their fans and the fans’ communities are significantly improved. Or, at the very least, these sports organizations should be charging their fans a very small price when it comes to tickets and concessions so that these organizations are not making billions nor gouging their fans.

When those fans suffer with a hardship, be it a layoff, a medical issue (whether it’s themselves or someone in their family), do those owners, players, coaches, ad execs, etc., show up knocking on those fans’ doors or start sending those fans financial aid? No, of course not, for some obviously apparent reasons (like the fact they don’t know who their fans are, which could be easily addressed), but they should. They should be directly and financially indebted to their fans, especially those fans facing hardships. This goes for all those at the “top” of this system of hierarchy. However, I must bring up the charity work as mentioned above. But even with that said, is not the fan and their community also deserving of an improved quality of life as much as those who benefit from charity?

One would think that with all the money that gets siphoned into the bank accounts of the wealthy NFL owners, coaches, players, sports analysts, TV companies, cable companies, ad execs, etc., that the lives of the fans and perhaps even society would be improved as well, but that is not the case. One would think that with all those billions that there would be a significant and vast improvement in the towns and regions near these teams, such as a lack of homeless people, less poverty, and improved public schools, yet sadly that is not the case. There is not enough being done.

But therein lies the dilemma: who is anyone to tell anyone else what they should or should not do with their money? But we are not talking about the starving artist living a modest and meager existence and forcing them to live an even more meager existence by giving a portion of their meager earnings away. We are talking about organizations and individuals sitting upon billions of dollars. If we cannot force people to share their wealth, then maybe we need to change the system of wealth, or stop feeding these machines.

We haven’t even discussed the cost of the television commercials and advertising, not to mention the absurd prices for a Super Bowl ticket.

When you take a step back and look at what is happening from a universal perspective, when you see the forest for the trees, you are seeing an obscene amount of wealth being sent from the masses at the bottom to the few at the top, with little improvement in the lives of those at the bottom. Especially if those fans at the bottom are not capable of benefiting from this system we live in, meaning, they are not attractive enough to be a model nor intelligent enough to be a programmer and thus earn a 6 figure income, just to name a couple examples. But so is the nature of this beast, of this society and civilization, where a value is placed on everything from the ground we stand on to our own lives. However, that is not a problem that is solely isolated to that of the NFL. We also must remember that life is not about value, material possessions and money. Many people are very happy with less. But that is not what is being discussed here. The problem is that there are people who cannot afford health care, or the fact that there are neighborhoods sitting in decay while billion dollar corporations build skyscrapers, and numerous other problems, all of which are happening in the communities local to these sports organizations.

I stopped being a fan once I realized I wasn’t receiving a decent return on my investment. I was spending countless hours and investing my emotions watching these wealthy people, being forced to watch the carrots of beer and car commercials dangled in front of my face which would try to prey upon my feelings of inferiority for not owning a fancy car, and when the game was over, what was I left with? Time spent unwisely, and undue mental anguish because “my” team did not win the game. My mental or physical health wasn’t improved. I did not receive a raise at my job for supporting the local team. I was not able to add “NFL fan for 10 years” on my resume with the hopes it would help me get a better job. It didn’t help with any aspect of my life other than to provide me with an escape, which perhaps is a problem that needs to be addressed. Nor did I see any improvement in the lives of those worse off than me.

After realizing all of this, something happened to me: I woke up, just like I woke up when I left the Catholic church. I realized that I was wasting my precious commodities: my time and energy (although to be honest, there is less energy wasted when one merely sits on a couch watching television). When it came to being a sports fan, I was unhappy with my life in regards to what I wanted to make of it. And so I stopped kneeling at the altar of the NFL and the NHL, just like I stopped kneeling at the altar of the Catholic church, and in some cases, stopped kneeling at the altar of certain musicians. Now I had more time back in my life. More time to focus on improving my life, or at least spend the time wisely figuring out how to improve it, rather than wasting it on those who were not providing me anything directly in return, nor doing much outside of charities to help those in need. Is that greed on my part? Selfishness? Maybe. Maybe that’s the underlying problem with all of us and the entirety of this issue: our human nature.

Unfortunately, not everyone can do what I did: work on improving their life, especially when they have a disability. Does the NFL do it’s part to help the disabled? Perhaps, with whatever funds go to The United Way and various other charities. But even still, it is clearly evident that it is not enough. Why, this past winter (2017) I saw a man in a wheelchair waiting for a bus when it was snowing, and I live in the Philadelphia region which is very pro-sports. That is glaring evidence that someone is not benefiting whatsoever from the wealth that in his community. There was no limousine emblazoned with the local NFL team logo waiting to take that gentlemen to his destination. That is the problem.

The fact remains that fans are not receiving a decent return on their investment, and they should, especially the poor and middle class fans, disabled or not, because they are in many cases the ones doing all the dirty work of society: cleaning up the post-game spilled peanuts and beer, and mopping up the vomit and urine.

I must reiterate that I do not want to get rid of entertainment. I am much of a sucker for a good film or video game as the next person. Yes, it is fun to watch a hockey or NFL game. I love my escapism too. But perhaps it is the commercialized aspect that is the problem. Or perhaps it is what lies underneath that: the greed. I know that artists, NFL owners, musicians, film directors, video game developers, etc., need to eat too. We all do, even those of us that buy the products or tickets. But doesn’t there come a point when someone that receives so much wealth should return an equal portion back directly to those who helped that individual or group achieve such wealth? Return something more than simple pacification, and more than just help with charity.

Are we not one species, one community, one tribe?

Life may not be easy, there most likely is no answer or meaning, there most likely is no god, and nature and the universe could care less about us because they are not sentient beings and they do not have a conscience, so we are alone on this planet left with each other. Therefore, life in today’s society, which so many seem to herald as being modern, civilized and without blemish, should be a 2 way street. It should be “I’ll scratch your back and you scratch mine”. Sadly however, in many cases if not most, it’s a one way street that consists of “I’ll scratch your back while I struggle to find someone that will scratch mine especially in times of hardship”, or in the case of the topic here at hand it’s: “I’ll buy your expensive merchandise, concessions and tickets while you do little to help me or my community in return especially when a serious illness or dire financial situation befalls me”.

I do not know what the answer is. But something needs to change. Maybe people should stop buying tickets and merchandise? Maybe people should instead get together and support each other and their communities, but that’s difficult when everyone has been coerced to work too many hours in a day. Maybe we’re too selfish and our human nature will always get in our way and be our downfall? Or, maybe it is simply time that we stop putting so much money, time and energy into entertainment altogether when there are so many problems in society that need to be addressed. And once we have all helped to reduce the problems in our world, then we can go back to enjoying ourselves as if there wasn’t a leaky pipe or hole in the roof of this house to begin with.

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away…

There once lived an animal that walked upright, was self-sufficient, empowered, highly skilled, proficient, intelligent and in control over almost all aspects of its life. It lived in small tribes consisting of generations of family members that looked after one another from its children to the elderly. It had the knowledge and skill of how to craft tools to use them in accordance with its knowledge of hunting, fishing and foraging. It had the knowledge and skill of how to prepare and cook said gathered food into meals, perhaps even how to store it. It had the knowledge and skill of crafting clothing to protect itself from the elements. It was physically fit and healthy because it had to use its body on a daily basis to perform all of the aforementioned tasks, and who knows how many more, that were all necessary for survival. It was an animal that knew how to exist in the wild and survive on this planet the way it was designed to exist; the way it was meant to live. And by “design” I mean either by evolutionary accident or intelligently by an unknown greater power. I prefer the former notion, ie. we are simply an evolutionary accident, a chance occurrence, a roll of the DNA dice, and nothing more.

Fast forward to “modern” “civilization”, a phrase that should be used sparingly if used at all, and today’s humans are anything but modern nor civilized. I know, you’re probably already thinking to yourself “humans are modern and civilized compared to those uncontacted “primitive” tribes living in the Amazon” to which I will politely remind you of the following aspects of our so-called modern civilization: war, terrorism, bullying, the homeless, poverty, the slums, college hazing rituals, elderly neglect and abuse, child abuse, child pornography, the sex trade, the porn industry, political corruption, gangs, the mafia, organized religion, global warming, and pollution. Need I say more? No, I didn’t think so. We haven’t changed. We are as much an animal today as we were 20,000 maybe 5 million years ago. All that’s changed is the surface fluff: the tools that we use, how we communicate (or the lack thereof, all depending upon your perspective), the way we dress, the structures we build, etc. But underneath it all, we are still a primitive animal living with primal desires and fears, not some sort of superior species deserving of its own biological Kingdom in the science books.

The biggest change, and the whole point of this article, is the fact that we no longer have, foster, or teach the knowledge and skills to be the self-sufficient, independent, truly free humans that our ancestors once were prior to the institution of agriculture and civilization. We no longer have the knowledge and skills to live out our lives in accordance with our biological evolution. We, the so-called modern civilized parents, schools and society as a whole, no longer have or freely share the knowledge to teach one another and our children, and all future generations, how to be intelligent, self-sufficient, truly free and independent humans designed to live in the wilds with control over their own lives. We are failing our children, and our children’s children. I can speak for 99% of all parents when I say that as a so-called modern parent myself, we do not have this knowledge because our parents did not have that knowledge to teach us, and so on and so forth all the way back through the generations to the point when agriculture and civilization started. That is the point in which we stopped being human and unwittingly traded in our humanity through coercion and the threat of starvation for slavery to those in control of all the resources. That is a system which is still in effect today, but instead of the term ‘slave’ and ‘master’ we now refer to it as ’employee’ and ‘boss’, ‘business owner’, ‘executive’, etc. etc.

In addition to the lack of knowledge needed to be human and survive on this planet, the environment itself we live in has changed dramatically as well, or I should say, has been destroyed and replaced with cancerous structures called skyscrapers, office buildings, apartments, supermarkets, malls, factories and highways that now poison (both physically and visually) the once clean landscapes, forests, woodlands, streams and rivers where we once lived, roamed, hunted, foraged and fished. Even if you had the knowledge to survive in the wild, from hunting and foraging to building shelter and crafting clothing (and good luck doing all that on your own!), where would you do it? In New York City’s Central Park? Philadelphia? Tokyo? Even if you did find a patch of woodland or forest that you didn’t need a car, bus, plane or train to get to, how much wildlife and plants that you would need to survive even exist there? Not to mention all of the other people that would now be living there with you should we all wake up and finally realize that is how and where we are meant to live.

(Sidenote: Before I go any further, this entire article and notion of reclaiming our humanity and reverting back to living a primitive lifestyle is what’s known as “Anarcho-primitivism“, which honestly was not in my conscious thought as I sat down at my PC to write out these thoughts which have been pestering in my mind like a thousand little maggots since late 2017. I only know about this term via Wikipedia and having seen it tossed around on occasion out on the great internet. I’m not a learned student or scholar of Anarchism or Anarcho-primitivism. I do not consider myself one, although for that matter, I don’t consider myself much of anything other than a human who plays the role of father, husband, sometimes friend, and artist. I do however support the ideals of Anarcho-primitivism, and in some form it is probably exactly what I am talking about here in this article.)

So here we are. Instead of learning how to be self-sufficient, empowered humans in control over almost all aspects of our lives, instead of knowing where our food, clothing and shelter comes from and who it supports (which would be the people within our communal tribe), we are taught how to be cogs in the machine. We hunt and gather, not in the forests, but at the local supermarket, where we don’t even know where the food comes from and we can’t even pronounce many of the ingredients. We no longer craft our own clothing, but instead purchase it from retail stores where again just like our food, we have no idea where it comes from nor whom the people are behind its manufacture, sale and distribution. There’s no need to learn how to use your body the way evolution and nature intended. Now your job is exactly that: to get a job. To work your life away for someone else, and in many cases, enriching the lives of other people under the illusion that you are free. Meanwhile, you are often consumed on a daily basis with worry and stress about when the next paycheck will hit your bank account so that you can pay all our debtors and all the people in control of your life just so you can eat some form of manufactured food and escape into a virtual world because you have come to realize all of this, but just like me and everyone else who has come to this conclusion about our current state of affairs, we are powerless and lack the knowledge to do much about it. Would living a primitive lifestyle be any less stressful and worrisome? It all depends on your perspective and whether or not you’ve accepted your place in this fragile existence. But you would be in control of your life, and that is the biggest payoff. Your life would have meaning because you would be putting your entire mind and body to use as evolution and nature intended.

The problem is that we are reliant and dependent upon this cancerous, parasitic, hierarchical system. It is a symbiotic relationship with a parasite, and we are the host. If we were to sever ties with it, we would, in most cases, die. You can name anyone living today, be it politician, celebrity, actor, musician, philosopher, economist, retail clerk, YouTuber, reporter, writer, next door neighbor, you or I. Pull them out from the comfort, convenience and safety of this symbiotic relationship with this parasitic system and place them into the wild, and a week or so later you would see them on the national news of having died of starvation, hypothermia or fallen prey to a predator. Why? Because we lack the basic skills and knowledge to be human. We lack our humanity.

True freedom is a death sentence. We are not free. No amount of wealth obtains freedom, it only affords you complacency, comforts and convenience. From the homeless to the elite we are all reliant and dependent upon this parasite to provide us with our lifeline: the manufactured food, clothing and shelter, and this lifeline is supplied to us at the never-ending expense of the low-wage earner barely eking out an existence, and often a meager one at that.

Living in modern society is akin to an ant living with the Cordyceps fungus parasite. Just like the fungus replaces tissue in the ant, modern civilization replaces our humanity with slavery.

This lack of humanity, this lack of what makes us human in the first place, how we evolved to this stage, is most likely the leading cause of depression, unhappiness, frustration and obesity. We are not meant to spend our days inside office buildings where we become vitamin-D deficient, getting Carpal Tunnel Syndrome as we perform inane, tedious, repetitive tasks while receiving a small percentage of a wage while those at the top of this parasitical, hierarchical system called “business executives” reap the fruits of our labors. People who we don’t even know and most likely would not want in our communal tribe were we living a primitive lifestyle. We were not meant to spend 8 hours or more all day on our feet as cashiers, construction workers, nurses or waitresses. We were meant to live simple, yet highly rewarding, satisfying, fulfilling, and meaningful lives where we know where our food and clothing comes from because each of us are the beginning and the end to the means of survival. We would live in small, communal groups that perhaps support one another, maybe trading with each other. Everyone pitches in and takes care of one another which includes caring for our elderly. Almost everyone is knowledgeable, proficient and skilled in almost all aspects of primitive life such as first aid, medicine, crafting tools, hunting, and various survival techniques, and probably a litany of other tasks and crafts that I am unaware of.

We would be happier because we would be putting our bodies and minds, putting our entire existence to good use, the way evolution and nature intended our bodies and minds to be used. We would not have to rely on going to a gym an hour each day to get our exercise because we spend most of the day in a chair at the office being wage slaves.

We need to reclaim our humanity. But how do we do it?

The only way to achieve this, as far as I can tell, is to leave all of these modern comforts and conveniences behind. They only keep us complacent and sedated knowing that we have relinquished all of our humanity to those in charge and at the top of this parasitical, hierarchical system.

The solution to me seems very simple, in theory of course: we stop buying and stop paying taxes. All of us, together, in unison, all across the globe. We stop supporting the parasite. We leave the comforts and conveniences of the cities and suburbs en masse and meetup somewhere in the wilderness. We let the cities and suburbs fall into decay and let nature reclaim them. We move into the wilderness with basic necessities to survive, such as seeds, some food, clothing, and we start over. We build basic, rudimentary shelters. We rely on basic, rudimentary tools to hunt and fish. One of the biggest obstacles that we would face would be the sheer number of people living in the wilderness and the lack of food to support everyone. That’s because civilization gave birth to overpopulation. The unpleasant answer to that is: we would need to let our own kind die off.

Returning to this primitive lifestyle comes with a cost, and most likely the ensuing chaos would be far worse than any Black Friday at Wal-Mart. While it will be much more rewarding and fulfilling, we must come to grips with the fact that life is fragile and chaotic. That there are no guarantees. Life would be more precarious. But the trade-off would be immense and well worth it. The satisfaction and knowledge that you actually reap what you sew, that you would see and relish in the results and rewards of your own actions and labor right in front of your own eyes. None of it would go to people you never see or don’t even know. While you may be hunting, fishing and foraging for you and your tribe, your tribe is consisted of generations of family members and others outside your family that you grown to personally know and trust.

At least, in theory. Here, “on paper” and in my mind it all seems so easy, but in reality it would be a difficult and challenging road, yet a road I believe that humans must travel if they are ever to truly reclaim their freedom from this devolved, cancerous and parasitic society, and have control once again over their own lives and destinies.

I would do this myself, but being in my middle 40’s and a husband and father as I write this, and more importantly a human that lacks the knowledge to survive as a human should in the wild, this is not a possibility for me nor my family at this juncture where I have come to fully realize all of this. We would probably die of starvation. So regrettably, just like everyone else in today’s society, I’ve made a compromise. My lack of humanity, my lack of true freedom and power for this manufactured, parasitic existence that is the lifeline to my family.

But this is where we are today as a species and have been ever since the dawn of agriculture and civilization. And as far as I see it, we have 2 choices in how we move forward: the first is to continue down this path of being cogs in the machine and hosts that support this parasite where we have traded our humanity and control of own lives for comforts and conveniences that keep us sedated and numb to the fact that we are all slaves, or we take drastic measures so that we live a much more healthier lifestyle of both mind and body that is inline with the way evolution and nature intended for us to live, even if by accident, the way we were designed to live, as an animal, in the wilds of this planet.

Ever been to an anarchist book store? No? Well, read on!

I’ve added some photos to my Flickr gallery taken on a trip to the Wooden Shoe Books, the “all volunteer anarchist collective” book store located in the heart of Center City Philadelphia at their new location directly on South Street.

You can view the photos here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ephemeralrift/albums/72157665462311839

Wooden Shoe Books website:
http://woodenshoebooks.com/

In regards to this blog entry about the book store itself and why I visited there, well that’s a story that goes back a little more than a decade to around the early 2000’s when I was in my early 30’s. Having just met my wife (girlfriend at the time), I was sick and tired of working for “The Man” and equally if not more dissatisfied and frustrated with what I wanted to do with my life, creatively speaking. I was just beginning my quest for more knowledge and awareness when I started delving into various schools of thought such as Nihilism and Anarchism. I don’t remember how it all happened, but one thing led to another and I ended up finding out about Wooden Shoe Books at that time, as well as another anarchist spot called A Space, also located in Philadelphia.

I’ll never forget the first time I stepped foot into “The Shoe”, as the staff calls it when they politely welcome you upon your arrival to their establishment. It was a mix of awe inspiring and culture shock. Having been raised Roman Catholic and living in the suburbs for most of my life (until I moved into the city of Philadelphia during the early 90’s), I lived a pretty sheltered life as far as any kind of alternative information and knowledge were concerned. For the first 30 years of my life, prior to the advent of the internet, all I knew was what was in the paper, on TV, in song lyrics, and whatever my parents and catholic school teachers shoved down my throat labeled as “The Truth”. It was pretty much the same for everyone that grew up in the suburbs during the 70’s and 80’s, and probably any period in history where people were not exposed to anything beyond the status quo.

I don’t remember every detail about my first trip to The Shoe in the early 2000’s, but I remember falling in love with the Zines and the plethora of alternative and often radical books that you just wouldn’t find in a book store or library in the ‘burbs (Walden Books, anyone?). I made 2 purchases that day: one being a Zine, though I cannot remember the title, and the other being a book about the Native American people’s involvement with the U.S. government and FBI. I don’t recall that title either, and I never did finish that book because I know all too well how THAT story ends.

I don’t recall my 2nd trip very much. I believe it was a few years prior to this recent trip and it was with my wife. I believe we were visiting the city for one particular reason or another and happened to stop into The Shoe after so many years just for nostalgic purposes. It might have even been related to my acoustic neuroma follow up appointments. But whatever the case may be, I didn’t purchase anything, and the visit was less than memorable on behalf of my part, since it was more about reminiscing than it was acquiring anything new to read.

Fast forward to this latest visit in October 2017, and I had a renewed purpose and perspective, with the former being to purchase a variety of Zines and unique books to showcase and discuss in a YouTube video, and the latter being the fact that I have gained a lot more knowledge and understanding about anarchism, not to mention my also renewed enthusiasm for all things philosophy. They say that everything old is new again, and there is definitely something to be said about that. I personally feel it’s a combination of nostalgia in wanting to revisit the things that we fell in love with at first sight or bring us fond memories and feelings, as well as having grown in experience and gaining new perspective so that when revisiting something from our past, there is a fresh new set of eyes and understanding about it.

And so it is that I took the trip to The Shoe. They’ve moved from an old location which was located off of South Street near 9th or 12th street, to their new location directly on South Street around 7th or 8th streets. The store seems a little bigger in terms of length, and perhaps a bit wider as well. There is a ton of literature, from flyers and periodicals to books and novels. That’s what they are known for: zines and alternative books and periodicals that 99% of the time you most likely will not find in Barnes & Nobles. They have a section near the front door where you can find out about local events occurring in the area such as musical performances by local bands. They also carry other items such as buttons, stickers, posters and t-shirts.

But the shop is primarily all about the zines and alternative and often radical literature. They do however hold in-shop events such as readings and lectures by guest authors and other notable individuals.

Don’t know what a Zine is?

A zine is a self-published magazine created by an individual or individuals that is not mass produced and often not delivered through a distributor. It’s pretty much DIY. You’ll find anything from political Zines on various topics such as feminism, queer and anarchism, to the more artistic types such as poetry and graphic novels. As I mentioned above, I went to The Shoe specifically to grab a variety of Zines so that not only could I read them, but more importantly showcase them in an upcoming video on my channel in order to give viewers an idea of what The Shoe and an anarchist book shop is all about. It’s great to know that people are still making zines and that the art form is not dead. I also love seeing independent artists able to do what they love and get their art out there.

As for the books themselves, they are just as varied as the zines. You’ll find almost any kind of alternative and radical piece of literature on subjects such as anarchism, atheism, Native Americans, feminism and even childrens’ books about sex and poop.

So if you are looking to find out what anarchism and alternative press is all about, want to expand your intellectual horizons, or just want to step outside your comfort zone and into a place you never even knew existed, try to visit Wooden Shoe Books if you can or find an anarchist book shop near you. The experience alone is well worth it.