Microcosm issues?

[Tiara Shafiq]

I've had a few people tell me that Microcosm has issues and shouldn't be representative of the zine world - too capitalist, sell-out, some personal issues with the founder.

Now being that I am on the other side of the world, and my main connection with zines is as a reader, I'm not aware of any of the context around Microcosm or their supposed controversy. As far as I know, they're one of the bigger zine distros, bit of a brand name, they've got tons of stuff, and the founder and his ex had big personal issues (as related in Brainscan).

Could someone fill me in? Someone once told me "you, MTV, and Microcosm are what's wrong with the DIY world" which amused, bemused, and confused me all at once.

[Yael]

Kind of confused why domestic violence is being brought up, since that's not even one of the accusations on the table. I also would like to point out that Ciara has a history of calling out random men for things they allegedly did that she was not at all involved in. This has been going on for over ten years and seems to be more reflective of her own personal issues than anything else. As an abuse survivor myself (physical abuse, that is), I'm well aware of/sympathetic to how triggers work, but when it descends into the realm of slander and libel and starts affecting other people I think it's important to point it out.

When people are so compelled to defend their beliefs that they lose their shit and get hostile and freak out when someone disagrees because they are so armored that they can't deal with the truth, they have to shut it down because it is literally painful to them... That's unhealthy. Spending all of your time being literally obsessed with other people's problems (and finger-pointing and blame) is also unhealthy. Being able to really listen and participate what the other says without the ego's shield of armor going up--and taking this to the individual level instead of smearing someone on a public message board seems like a far better idea...

[Krissy PonyBoy Press]

People have asked for this thread to be closed. I think all has been said and people will just be repeating at this point. If you want to continue the conversation, please email privately.