I Don't Need Your Money, But--

It is the end of the year and many organizations, from mainline journalistic to individual folks just running a blog, are asking for money.

I am not. This is not because I am in any way superior to the folks who are asking for money. I am a fan of money, and through a series of circumstances that don't reflect any particular cleverness on my part, my family and I are well cared for. So I am not.

I am well aware of the problem outlined in the 2020 Current Affairs essay by Nathan Robinson, The Truth Is Paywalled But The Lies Are Free. The lies are not so much free as they are paid for by other folks with an agenda. One of the great dodges of the policy world is the Think Tank, a bunch of folks paid to advocate and argue for a particular agenda. And because they are paid by the Thinky Tank backers, they can offer all manner of op-ed and policy paper and "report" for "free." This same principle applies to propaganda shops set up to mimic legitimate journalism. These tricks are available to the whole political spectrum, but some parts of the spectrum are far more well-funded than others. The Curmudgucation Institute is not very well funded and has a minimal staff, and that's just fine.

Fact remains that people who collect and research and write and publish ideas and arguments need food, clothing and shelter like anyone else. 

Some outlets do pay me for my work, and I accept that deal because A) they ought to and B) I'm not going to "compete" with other writers by working for $0.00. Substack lets people pledge to pay to subscribe, and it is not-inconsiderable ego boost for me to see those pledges. But I got into this because I wanted to share certain ideas and argue for things I care about and get the word out to as many people as I could in as many ways as I could. Also, when I work for pay, I feel an obligation to maintain a certain level of professionalism and grown-up work. But at the mother ship, the roots from which the rest of my work grew, I started out just wanting to vent, and I am happy to maintain that freedom.

The freedom, for instance, to meander and digress.

Let me get to the "but." 

I am committed to running this space for free, but I am able to do that because I benefit from certain privileges which others do not enjoy. For some folks, this is an important, even a main, source of income and support. And many of these folks are just so excellent and important as writers and analysts and observers (and many of them are not so comfortable passing the hat).

So my ask this New Year is this-- if you have ever had an urge to send money my way, I ask that you transfer that urge to someone whose work you appreciate and who has, however shyly or boldly, held their hat out. Plunk down some bucks for the work that you value and that you want to see staying in the world.

We make the world a better place by holding up and supporting the people who are doing the work that we value. Share the lift and the light. And have a happy New Year! 

The Institute main office. (Not shown: Victrola and tuba)