Hey Everyone!
I thought I’d hit the pause button on the more serious content and just share a little bit about where I see this newsletter going.
Last week, I wore myself out doing Lives. I do enjoy those conversations, but I think I overdid it. I expected to recover over the weekend, but I still feel pretty tired this morning. This week promises to be a little slower so I expect to be fine.
I started off last week by interviewing Congressional candidates. I think that’s really important because we can completely reform our government if we vote out the representatives that aren’t working for us.
That being the case, I still find it kind of annoying that the Democratic party isn’t fully embracing promoting newsletters like mine. We all get their fundraising emails, but if they turn around and give the money we donate to some oligarch owned social media platform that buries their content, then it doesn’t really help us to support them now does it?
There’s too often this attitude that only rich people deserve to be supported. I’m tired of that, and I don’t think Substack should be a kingmaker. If there’s anything the last decade has taught us is that we need equitable wealth distribution. To that end, I don’t think it makes sense to sponsor newsletters that have the purple checkmark. In case you don’t know, the purple checkmark means those newsletters have 10s of thousands of paid subscribers. If they’re offering content that’s already free, it doesn’t do any good to sponsor them.
You’ll see that I have the white checkmark by my name, that means I have over 100 paid subscribers. I’m eternally grateful to everyone who makes this newsletter possible.
I’ve been saying it since the inauguration. This is going to be a tough year for anyone with a rational perspective on anything. This is a grievance driven government that is doing everything it can to deflect money from the working class, and give it to the rich. They’re also doing everything they can to protect the parties named in the Epstein files.
They’re also trying to control the narrative about our time. We can’t let them.
We need to be clear about something, we need a LOT of voices speaking out. We don’t need to throw all our extra money at a couple of former celebrities or former representatives who claim to be “fighting fascism” but who leave their content behind a paywall.
Instead, we need to support the smaller voices first. So, if your budget tightens, then unsubscribe from the big newsletters first. The people with purple checkmarks are likely making around $800,000 to $1,000,000 a year. Orange checkmarks mean they’re anywhere from $50,000 to high six figures. Many people with the white checkmarks are sitting around $10k.
The point is, when people start throwing in the towel, the white checkmarks are going to disappear first.
The frustrating thing I’ve learned in my years as a writer is that there is always a limitless budget for hate content, but almost nothing for anyone who speaks about kindness. That’s just the way of the world, but we have the power to change that.
For the last few years, Medium has provided a consistent second revenue stream that has allowed me to keep going. But lately their payments are unreliable, so I’m in need of a few more paid subscribers. I’ve created these monthly coupons to go along with the yearly ones I’ve offered on every other post. Anything you can give is a huge help!
Also, if you’re getting overwhelmed with content here, you can follow me on Ko-Fi where I publish the weekly summaries only. That will help reduce some of the clog in your inbox. Here’s the link: https://ko-fi.com/walterrhein
Honestly, most of what I discuss in this newsletter should be self-evident. The problem is that a handful of awful people basically control the entire media. I’ve been working as a writer for my whole life. It is HARD to slip anything past the gatekeepers.
Also, I don’t see how supporting the media stalwarts that come to independent platforms is going to help us forge a new future. After all, they were the ones who benefitted from and helped to create the dystopian nightmare we’re living through now.
I’ve had articles go viral on more than one occasion, but it’s like every time I see a crack in the wall, some invisible force shows up to slam it shut. I expect I’m not the only one who feels that way.
As of right now, I’m still doing pretty well. Actually, if not for this platform I don’t know what I would have done over the last few months. Being able to interact with all the wonderful people who have left thoughtful comments and supported my writing has made me feel like I’m part of a larger community that will not be silenced!
Again, I apologize for overwhelming your inboxes with content. I’m just trying to answer every lie that the Republicans and the white supremacists and the pedophile apologists put out there. Even with everything I write, I can’t come close to contesting them all.
I do want to pledge that as this newsletter continues to grow, I will continue to be a champion of smaller voices. If it gets to the point where I have thousands of paid subscribers, I will use those funds to support other writers. Right now, I do that through interviews, reviews, and anything else I can think of.
The attempt to cancel Jimmy Kimmel was an example of how important it is to be deliberate in the causes we support. For the time being, we still have the power to influence our reality. The oligarchs who own everything can’t survive without us, and they’re scared.
It’s never been more important to remind the exploiters and the oppressors of how much power regular people truly have.
I expect, that will be my task for as long as I can operate a keyboard or speak into a microphone. I am hoping that when we start making progress towards stability I can share more of the fantasy stories I’ve written for my daughters. They’re both such tremendous artists. It’s my dream that I’ll be able to publish all the novels I’ve written for them complete with their fantastic illustrations.
I have a dream, and it’s a nice one.
Thanks for helping me bring it to life!
You all make this newsletter happen! Thanks for your sponsorship! I have payment tiers starting at as little as twenty dollars a year.
I’m so happy you’re here, and I’m looking forward to sharing more thoughts with you tomorrow.
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