Greetings friends,
I have spent time mulling things over while taking a break from Substack. I have thoughts to share with you, along with a couple of bits of content I wish to draw your attention to at the end of this article.
First, I have changed the pricing on paid subscriptions for those of you who are new free subscribers. If you go to my subscription page, you will find that you can get a monthly sub for $2 or a yearly sub for $20. That is about as low as you will find on Substack. A paid sub is voluntary in terms of reading content. I am not paywalling my articles (more on that below), but it will let you post comments, as I use the paywall to keep spam and other crap out of the comments.
But I must admit that I no longer like Substack’s one-size-fits-all subscription option. It is trapped in the past, while other content creator services have moved on and now offer creators the ability to offer different tiers for readers to support the content they like.
Buy Me A Coffee, which is also a newsletter publishing platform, offers better options, and so I have set up three tiers if you want a different way of supporting my writing.
Being undead, I opted to go with a monster theme:
If you wish to make a monthly support contribution, you don’t need to do it here on Substack unless you wish to do so. You can use the BMAC options instead.
If you are a free subscriber and contribute through BMAC, email me, and I’ll comp you on Substack so you can post comments.
Comped people can already post comments, but all comped readers are also welcome to become a Zombie, Ghoul, or Undead on Buy Me A Coffee.
When I set the BMAC options up, I had thought to offer exclusive content for each tier. But then I realized that I hate paywalling content; it stinks, though I understand why people do it. I am not going to paywall my BMAC content. I will offer the three options, and anybody who wishes to support me can pick the option that makes the most sense for them financially.
The only good thing about the paywall here on Substack is that it keeps me from having to spend too much time moderating comments. Beyond that, I detest it.
I do not like asking for money, but it is necessary to do so. I drove nearly 700 miles over the course of the last five days doing deliveries, and I realized today when I got up that I was exhausted and could not drive again today. I have road fatigue, and it is dangerous to drive in that condition. Such fatigue can lead one to fall asleep while driving, and that could be catastrophic for me and others who are on the road. I will see how I feel tomorrow, but I may have to stay home again until I shake the fatigue and can feel sharp enough to drive again.
Road fatigue is weird. It’s not just being tired, sluggish, and unable to focus. If I close my eyes, I can actually see the road again as if I were still driving, with pictures of houses and other things on the side of the road going by in my mind. But I am not on the road; I am at home, sitting in a chair. That is another signal to get off the road for a while and rest.
The money I make from deliveries isn’t much, though it has helped me to survive. So I want to try to increase the money I make from writing to around $2500 per month, if possible. There are about 1200 people on my Substack mailing list. If each of you did the $1 per month Zombie option on Buy Me A Coffee, I’d be halfway to my goal. If you all picked the $3 per month Ghoul option, I wouldn’t need to drive anymore at all and could focus exclusively on writing content instead.
Some of you have already helped me out via BMAC earlier today when I sent out a message about my bird’s cage rusting and needing to be replaced. I have been caught between rent, trying to catch up on a car payment, and needing to buy a new cage. Your kindness touched me, and I had tears in my eyes when I saw that people immediately made some contributions. Things have been hard financially, and such help coming so quickly for such a thing as a bird’s cage moved me emotionally. 🥲 🥰
Anyway, if you wish to do so, please pick a monthly support option either here on Substack or on BMAC. I appreciate all contributions, and I hope I can reach my goal and perhaps cut back on my driving or eliminate it entirely at some point.
THANK YOU!
Now on to the content I mentioned earlier that I wanted to draw your attention to:
Simplicius has a new article up that will bring hope to those who have been watching the empire decline. It seems that even some of the stupid neocons are starting to realize that the empire is in trouble and that the US is no longer what it was in the past.
Change is in the air.
I’ve written previously on the panic currently effervescing through the global elites, made viscerally apparent at conclaves like the Davos forum earlier this year. But in America particularly, a deep worry is now consciously gnawing the ruling class—they can see it, feel it: that the American Empire is on its last legs, close to collapse.
This month has seen a bevy of new thinkpieces from top American deepstate figures or old-guard publications urging the changing of course, lest the country be swept away by the remorseless tide of history.
The rest of the article, alas, is paywalled, but the first part is free and worth reading. Check it out. Perhaps the morons running the empire will wake up before they start World War 3? We’ll see, I guess. Let us hope the idiots wake up soon, before a catastrophic war begins with Russia and China.
The second thing is DEI in the gaming industry. Grummz on X has had some very interesting posts about recent events. You can view these posts on his X page or on the Nitter version of his page if you don’t want to go to X directly. Just keep scrolling, and you’ll see all of them. Note the one about the VP at Disney who said that White males simply do not get hired.
That one hit me hard, as I have been discriminated against for that reason and because of my age. It is one of the reasons I do deliveries now, as I no longer have access to good-paying corporate jobs, despite my experience and skills. I used to be able to get jobs that paid at least $60,000 per year, but I cannot imagine what it is like to make that kind of money these days. Such income is simply out of reach for me because of DEI and my age.
Due to my break, I have been silent on these matters, but I at least wanted to give you a heads-up so you can check out Grummz’ posts and Simplicius’ new article yourself.
Well, that is it for me now. I will publish some fresh content soon. My Substack content is going to be mirrored on BMAC from now on, so you can read it there or read it here as you like. As much as I like Substack, I think it is unwise to put all my eggs in that basket. Who knows if Substack will get sold to a big corporation someday, and then the censorship boot might come down on all of our necks.
I might also do some unique content on BMAC that won’t be on Substack, so keep an eye on my BMAC posts page. If you have made a regular donation, or you are a Zombie, Ghoul, or Undead on BMAC, you’ll get the content delivered via your BMAC email.
Thank you all for your support. I am blessed to have you as my readers.
Morgthorak the Undead
I could live like a Nigerian prince if I could make 2500 a month, are you pulling in that kind of coin? I hate my day job so much I have pretty much stopped doing it, lights are going to go off soon if I don't figure something out.
Just bought a yearly for the $20. Great value. My problem with Substack pricing is that there are many writers I would love to support financially but the default pricing adds up quickly. And BMAC is nice, but I’m also kinda lazy about donating in first place and then keeping track of to whom I’ve given what.
Anyhow, thanks for the $20 option. Keep up the good work.