I'm a lefty radical, and I generally believe the purpose of writing is to bite whatever hands are available (especially of folks who have a good deal of wealth and power.)
Substack's been pretty good to me thus far! I feel like that's more like random luck than any sort of virtue on my part, or than substack being super focused on smaller…
I'm a lefty radical, and I generally believe the purpose of writing is to bite whatever hands are available (especially of folks who have a good deal of wealth and power.)
Substack's been pretty good to me thus far! I feel like that's more like random luck than any sort of virtue on my part, or than substack being super focused on smaller creators. I think, for example, that they deboost unpaid blogs. I wish they didn't do that because it makes it harder for people like you, who would like an audience but aren't necessarily here to make money.
I don't believe in meritocracy, really, so I don't have some sort of faith that the best things rise to the top. I think as a culture we're pretty focused on a success paradigm, where tons of money and influence flow to people designated as important, and everyone else has to scrounge for crumbs (of attention. of cash.) I do think Bandcamp has a different model, and I'd like to see substack move more in that direction.
Re: writing a lot—it's my job, for better or worse. I'm not an especially in demand writer as these things go, so the way to make a living is just to write a lot quickly. Not ideal in every respect (I kind of work all the time), but it is what it is.
Just between us Lefty Radicals, my opinion of trickle down economics (even if repackaged as "meritocracy") is pretty well summed up by one of my Grandfather's favorite aphorisms: Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining. It's just that after a lifetime of swimming around in the belly of the beast I don't expect much. I got what I could get. For a long time it was a lot. I parlayed my ability to write - mostly memos and position papers and critical analyses - into increasingly responsible and well-paid positions. If I'd written what was in my head and heart, though, I'd likely have starved.
I was in Selma in '65.
March on the Pentagon in '67.
33rd floor of CBS HQ tower in NYC by 1973.
Life is strange.
I'm fortunate enough now not to need much. I can say whatever I like. I seek to please no one. I no longer wish to lead anyone, in any direction, for any reason whatsoever. I sympathize entirely with the struggle to make ends meet with nothing more marketable than words. And I understand your frustration with the order of things. Really. I do. But it's kind of like civil disobedience, you know. It shouldn't be a surprise when you get busted.
And by the way, you can be a Lefty Wise Ass Shit-stirrer and still make a name for yourself. Just ask Chris Hedges.
I have a lot of problems with chris hedges. I think he has made a name for himself recently by kind of selling out a lot of stuff he claimed to stand for, and catering to some pretty horrible people.
but yeah, my faiures as a networker and my politicshave definitely not done me any favors career wise, overall.
You sound like you've really had a life though! I will check out your work!
I'm a lefty radical, and I generally believe the purpose of writing is to bite whatever hands are available (especially of folks who have a good deal of wealth and power.)
Substack's been pretty good to me thus far! I feel like that's more like random luck than any sort of virtue on my part, or than substack being super focused on smaller creators. I think, for example, that they deboost unpaid blogs. I wish they didn't do that because it makes it harder for people like you, who would like an audience but aren't necessarily here to make money.
I don't believe in meritocracy, really, so I don't have some sort of faith that the best things rise to the top. I think as a culture we're pretty focused on a success paradigm, where tons of money and influence flow to people designated as important, and everyone else has to scrounge for crumbs (of attention. of cash.) I do think Bandcamp has a different model, and I'd like to see substack move more in that direction.
Re: writing a lot—it's my job, for better or worse. I'm not an especially in demand writer as these things go, so the way to make a living is just to write a lot quickly. Not ideal in every respect (I kind of work all the time), but it is what it is.
Just between us Lefty Radicals, my opinion of trickle down economics (even if repackaged as "meritocracy") is pretty well summed up by one of my Grandfather's favorite aphorisms: Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining. It's just that after a lifetime of swimming around in the belly of the beast I don't expect much. I got what I could get. For a long time it was a lot. I parlayed my ability to write - mostly memos and position papers and critical analyses - into increasingly responsible and well-paid positions. If I'd written what was in my head and heart, though, I'd likely have starved.
I was in Selma in '65.
March on the Pentagon in '67.
33rd floor of CBS HQ tower in NYC by 1973.
Life is strange.
I'm fortunate enough now not to need much. I can say whatever I like. I seek to please no one. I no longer wish to lead anyone, in any direction, for any reason whatsoever. I sympathize entirely with the struggle to make ends meet with nothing more marketable than words. And I understand your frustration with the order of things. Really. I do. But it's kind of like civil disobedience, you know. It shouldn't be a surprise when you get busted.
And by the way, you can be a Lefty Wise Ass Shit-stirrer and still make a name for yourself. Just ask Chris Hedges.
I have a lot of problems with chris hedges. I think he has made a name for himself recently by kind of selling out a lot of stuff he claimed to stand for, and catering to some pretty horrible people.
but yeah, my faiures as a networker and my politicshave definitely not done me any favors career wise, overall.
You sound like you've really had a life though! I will check out your work!