I never thought my life would overlap in any way with the Nazis.
Stay with Substack? Or leave? I must make a choice.
The platform making this email possible seems to have been profiting from White Supremacy posts, self-proclaimed Nazis, some with over 10,000 paid subscribers (a percentage of their subscriptions pays Substack’s bills).
I will no doubt be leaving this platform, but not until I know where I’m going. If I do go, I’ll let you know so that if you want to come with me, you’ll know how.
My questions are:
How do I know that my next platform of choice isn’t supporting the same voices? I only found out about this because I follow Margaret Atwood (see her very informative post below). Not sure how to research this stuff, but it must be a reality for Substack because even The Atlantic did a piece on it.
Isn’t leaving the platform kind of like abandoning my responsibility to keep speaking up for compassion and openness? If I left—or, if all of us who disagreed with White Supremacy left this platform—wouldn’t that be like allowing their dangerous concepts accumulate, concentrate and grow more powerful?
I’m watching Noam Chomsky on Masterclass. The way he breaks down how the masses are manipulated, combined with the presence now of AI, makes me distrustful of everything I read or see on the media. How do I know that this whole “Substack is supporting Nazis” thing isn’t the work of some group that wants to take down a platform for their own gain?
Does it matter either way? If I stay, I’m still speaking my voice—and my voice is not usually political. It’s more in the Buddhist realm of things. And if I leave, I’d still just be speaking my voice somewhere else. Won’t there always be the voice of Kill Them All, against the enemy-du-jour?
Why not just stay put and keep writing? Or, better put, why not just stay put and keep writing. (Same sentence, different punctuation at the end.)
Anyway, please read and enjoy the following post by Margaret Atwood. It’s an eye-opener. And please let me know what you think on your end.
And in the world, there is also this.
In my stubborn commitment to acknowledging beauty no matter how ugly the world is, I share with you this photo. I don’t know its name, but this plant and I shared a conversation with the wind some time in May of this year. Its symmetry inspires me. I might not be the mess I think I am. Maybe, if you zoom as far out on me as I zoomed in on this plant, I might have the very same symmetry. I just don’t see it myself.
Blessings to all at the end of this year.
May we continually be growing into our more conscious, loving selves.
This is concerning, as a memoirist who was advised to start a Substack to build my "platform". What to do now? I don't want to be on the same platform where Nazi's are making $$ publishing newsletters but then it seems all of these platforms end up with these type of folks on them. Do I stop subscribing to folks I love to read on here also? It is making my head spin!