North Atlantic Books unequivocally disavows the harmful, hyperbolic, and antisemitic essay, “Mob Morality and the Unvaxxed,” penned on August 2 by Charles Eisenstein, an author of four important books we have published over the years.
We are saddened that Charles has chosen to use his considerable platform to spread damaging misinformation about the global pandemic and draw false equivalences between the Holocaust and the alleged “persecution” of the willfully unvaccinated.
Author and medical expert Dr. Lissa Rankin has written a powerful and compassionate rebuttal to Eisenstein’s essay. We stand in solidarity with her public position and her words, and in recognition of the courage and emotional labor it required.
There may not be much we can do to change Charles’s mind. But as a publisher, we can step into our privileged and resourced position to redress some of the harm his essay is causing. We will donate all net earnings we make from the substantial sales of his books to three organizations committed to the rights and welfare of some of the very people his essay invisiblizes, condescends to, and exploits:
*The Disability Visibility Project, which works to amplify disability media and culture and dismantle ableism. The project was founded to create a body of history and knowledge about the lives and experiences of those who are disabled;
*The Frontline Workers Counseling Project, which connects Bay Area frontline workers (healthcare workers, first responders, essential child care providers, staff of homeless and domestic violence shelters, delivery and postal workers, and grocery/food chain workers) with free and confidential psychotherapy; and
*Facing History and Ourselves, which uses the lessons of history to challenge teachers and their students to identify and unlearn socialized bigotry and hate, including antisemitism.
We hope Charles will wake up, reflect, and take public and private accountability for his actions. To that end, we urge him to match our donation—to add his royalties to the contributions we make to these organizations doing the hard and necessary work in the trenches of change and healing. Repair is possible; we truly and sincerely hope Charles will find the humility to embody it.
—Tim McKee, publisher of North Atlantic Books