Are You Greedy?

If you are a paying member you had almost no chance of noticing it. Medium, after six years, finally managed to implement a paywall that actually works and cannot be circumvented by trivial means with few clicks or taps.

Just for the record, I paid for a year-long membership in 2017, but, after few months, my disillusionment with the direction which people who steer this platform decided to take reached such a level that I decided to count my losses and cancel my subscription, despite still having few months of it left. I also decided that Medium will never see money from me again.

And nowadays that’s not only a matter of principle, but also the case of a boring fact that I came to a point when I simply cannot afford it. Which, ironically, makes my decision making all the more straightforward and simple.

I was thinking for a few days whether I should write about this or not, but I’d like to let a few people know that I didn’t stop reading their work on my own. It just became inaccessible to me. In other words, insisting on your monetary reward, you locked yourself out.

Oh, the irony. You folks talk about all-encompassing love, saving planet, fostering discussion, solving societal maladies, and what not. Yet, your greed creates the very barriers that prevent it. You preach water and sip … venom? And then you complain about poisoning.

I can already hear it, “I don’t earn that much from it. It’s inconsequential and my impact is negligible in the large picture. I deserve to be fairly compensated.” But if you cannot understand, let alone see, how this obstinacy little by little compounds to the status quo which you decry, I rather don’t imagine what motivates you.

And if you consider our planetary socioeconomic arrangement functional and acceptable, or if you simply don’t care, please, seek mental help and/or assistance. I mean it — people, animals, plants, anything goes. Really, you better don’t underestimate it. Your condition is serious.

Sure, some of you post copies of your articles for free on other platforms. That’s a move I highly appreciate — still. It’s not the most straightforward way possible. Do you really need to go through all those hoops? Is it really worth it for you? But hey, I’m certainly not the one to judge that. So, thanks at least for that.

In any case, and as I said, the whole situation makes it all the easier for me. Though, I must admit that I also hear a clear message. Those folks, who seem to consider themselves good and upright, say to me (more or less) in unison, “You are not needed here.”

Well, what can I do about it? My very existence says that the Universe thinks otherwise.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Well, it should be understood
There’s no evil, there’s no good.
Love the Devil as your brother,
God will bless you like no other.