Lenocracy in Extremis: The Case of Publishing

I really did mean to go on to a different subject this week, rather than talking further about the system of political economy I’ve labeled lenocracy (from Latin leno, a pimp)—that is, a system that treats productive economic activity as a sucker’s game, to be milked dry by the two grasping hands of corporate power and government bureaucracy. Still, my muse is a wayward sort, and quite often decides to leave whatever path I’ve more or less planned to follow in order to chase some brightly colore...