BRAVO, Will, for your stand against the hatred that is spewed on platforms that decry freedom of speech, yet know, morally, the overseers are creating a situation where you cannot "put the toothpaste back in the tube", I clearly understand your predicament. I see your conflict and admire you for calling out those who've added more anti-semitism to the bonfire. You appear to be leaning toward the higher ground, despite what Ms. Susan shared...(tough choice when your mom is whispering in your ear). Her thought is a choice and definitely makes sense. What ever you decide, your loyal followers will pick up their soiled clothing, load it in a battered suitcase and trudge up the mountain to sit at your feet and read your musings. Speaking of nazis, to quote one of the Troubled Birds of the MINCING MOCKINGBIRD gang : "I POOP ON FASCISTS"! Here's to a BLUE 2024
The problem is if you leave Substack they have one less thoughtful person who will fight for decency and truth. If you leave they win. You make me a proud mama! ❤️
Will can't fight it alone. We have to fight it together. That's the only way we can win this. This inconsistency of Substack is disturbing and morally reprehensible. I thank Will for bringing this to my attention. My experience with Substack has been following (is that even the right term now?) some serious, thoughtful work by teachers, lawyers, political scientists, former judges, journalists, constitutional scholars, and whatnot when I fled the hellscape that Elon decimated - with clinical and purposeful precision. He is not after a laissez-faire "marketplace." He's the seriously more dangerous Henry Ford of this generation. (See "Prequel"n by Rachel Maddow.) Will's post is a call to action - well worth an email, a post, a letter, a share - to let the owners of Substack know what we think. It takes pressure from the "marketplace." That's the job of all of us. BTW, you've raised a fabulous son, with his fabulous father, who I have known since we were both 12 years old.
Well said! As you point out, it's impossible to get through this life with completely clean hands, given how intertwined we are with the enormous commercial and informational infrastructure of the modern world, but when we have the chance to take a stand, we should, and you have my sympathy for the situation you're in and my admiration for your desire to conduct yourself with a sense of moral responsibility. Where you lead, I will follow, and I trust other loyal readers will do the same.
Steve, if we let measuring our actions by perfection govern us, we will only stifle our ability to change what we can effect. This is how the French Resistance was able to survive and make a difference in WWII. I recently looked up the actor Louis Jourdan for an inocuous reason after watching some movie. He was a teen during the war. His father had him print pamphlets, etc. and do other "little" things for the Resistance. He thought it was 'nothing,' and later realized how simple acts can change the tide. Will's potential act of walking away from Substack on principle, or so many of us who fled the hellscape now known as X, feel powerless. God knows, I get that. But holding the few new potential avenues accountable is our job. God knows the white supremacist right is not constrained by our rules, so we need to be heard. Our support of Will, and so many other voices - this is the "pamphlet-printing" of 70 years ago. And, also, what we fought for in the late 60s and early 70s. We never believed we'd see what we're seeing now in our lifetime. We owe it to the Wills and his lovely fiancee and their children to fight better and harder and braver. With a few emails to the owners of Substack. If they can't see that there is an audience for our centuries-old reverence for democracy, we'll go somewhere else.
Thanks for the candor and the unvarnished eye of the creator. This is a very tough nut to crack! Should Substack be left to the Nazi’s or should the overwhelmingly diverse and brilliant people not motivated by hate and antisemitism stay and shout them down in the battle of ideas and thought? Can subscribers win this for the good guys by buying all the good content and ignoring the hate? Who do we complain to and how do we make it financially more challenging for Substack without becoming the censors we abhor? Tough stuff! In the end, wherever you go, there I’ll be!
Sadly, the lack of proper common-sense policing of content is endemic to the Internet. There should be no equivocation regarding hate speech. Nazi hate speech is particularly abhorrent to me. As I said to you in the past, I believe there are better platforms for your work. My offer to assist you with finding a better one still stands.
I was ready to give Substack the benefit of the doubt until reading your observation that they have censored other objectionable content. If a publicity and pressure campaign to get them to act on blatant Nazi content is unsuccessful, I would not blame you for seeking another platform.
Really well said!!! As usual!! Just let us know where you go and we all will be there. I will not support any platform that allows hate speech or dangerous people blabbering their awful content. Good for you, Will!! you have dignity and courage!!!
You’ve elicited an excellent discussion, which is what a good blog does! So a question for you: What’s the best way to reach out to Substack about our concerns?
#1: Fuck Nazi’s. #2: Do what’s right for you. You’re the one that has to live with you. I’ll follow wherever you wanna go or stay and continue to comment useless snarky comments.
BRAVO, Will, for your stand against the hatred that is spewed on platforms that decry freedom of speech, yet know, morally, the overseers are creating a situation where you cannot "put the toothpaste back in the tube", I clearly understand your predicament. I see your conflict and admire you for calling out those who've added more anti-semitism to the bonfire. You appear to be leaning toward the higher ground, despite what Ms. Susan shared...(tough choice when your mom is whispering in your ear). Her thought is a choice and definitely makes sense. What ever you decide, your loyal followers will pick up their soiled clothing, load it in a battered suitcase and trudge up the mountain to sit at your feet and read your musings. Speaking of nazis, to quote one of the Troubled Birds of the MINCING MOCKINGBIRD gang : "I POOP ON FASCISTS"! Here's to a BLUE 2024
The problem is if you leave Substack they have one less thoughtful person who will fight for decency and truth. If you leave they win. You make me a proud mama! ❤️
Will can't fight it alone. We have to fight it together. That's the only way we can win this. This inconsistency of Substack is disturbing and morally reprehensible. I thank Will for bringing this to my attention. My experience with Substack has been following (is that even the right term now?) some serious, thoughtful work by teachers, lawyers, political scientists, former judges, journalists, constitutional scholars, and whatnot when I fled the hellscape that Elon decimated - with clinical and purposeful precision. He is not after a laissez-faire "marketplace." He's the seriously more dangerous Henry Ford of this generation. (See "Prequel"n by Rachel Maddow.) Will's post is a call to action - well worth an email, a post, a letter, a share - to let the owners of Substack know what we think. It takes pressure from the "marketplace." That's the job of all of us. BTW, you've raised a fabulous son, with his fabulous father, who I have known since we were both 12 years old.
Well said! As you point out, it's impossible to get through this life with completely clean hands, given how intertwined we are with the enormous commercial and informational infrastructure of the modern world, but when we have the chance to take a stand, we should, and you have my sympathy for the situation you're in and my admiration for your desire to conduct yourself with a sense of moral responsibility. Where you lead, I will follow, and I trust other loyal readers will do the same.
Steve, if we let measuring our actions by perfection govern us, we will only stifle our ability to change what we can effect. This is how the French Resistance was able to survive and make a difference in WWII. I recently looked up the actor Louis Jourdan for an inocuous reason after watching some movie. He was a teen during the war. His father had him print pamphlets, etc. and do other "little" things for the Resistance. He thought it was 'nothing,' and later realized how simple acts can change the tide. Will's potential act of walking away from Substack on principle, or so many of us who fled the hellscape now known as X, feel powerless. God knows, I get that. But holding the few new potential avenues accountable is our job. God knows the white supremacist right is not constrained by our rules, so we need to be heard. Our support of Will, and so many other voices - this is the "pamphlet-printing" of 70 years ago. And, also, what we fought for in the late 60s and early 70s. We never believed we'd see what we're seeing now in our lifetime. We owe it to the Wills and his lovely fiancee and their children to fight better and harder and braver. With a few emails to the owners of Substack. If they can't see that there is an audience for our centuries-old reverence for democracy, we'll go somewhere else.
Thanks for this well reasoned and passionate response. Susan feels the same way.
Ugh - I used "effect" when I meant "affect." I'm a stickler for that stuff!
You’re forgiven.
Thanks for the candor and the unvarnished eye of the creator. This is a very tough nut to crack! Should Substack be left to the Nazi’s or should the overwhelmingly diverse and brilliant people not motivated by hate and antisemitism stay and shout them down in the battle of ideas and thought? Can subscribers win this for the good guys by buying all the good content and ignoring the hate? Who do we complain to and how do we make it financially more challenging for Substack without becoming the censors we abhor? Tough stuff! In the end, wherever you go, there I’ll be!
Sadly, the lack of proper common-sense policing of content is endemic to the Internet. There should be no equivocation regarding hate speech. Nazi hate speech is particularly abhorrent to me. As I said to you in the past, I believe there are better platforms for your work. My offer to assist you with finding a better one still stands.
I was ready to give Substack the benefit of the doubt until reading your observation that they have censored other objectionable content. If a publicity and pressure campaign to get them to act on blatant Nazi content is unsuccessful, I would not blame you for seeking another platform.
Really well said!!! As usual!! Just let us know where you go and we all will be there. I will not support any platform that allows hate speech or dangerous people blabbering their awful content. Good for you, Will!! you have dignity and courage!!!
You’ve elicited an excellent discussion, which is what a good blog does! So a question for you: What’s the best way to reach out to Substack about our concerns?
#1: Fuck Nazi’s. #2: Do what’s right for you. You’re the one that has to live with you. I’ll follow wherever you wanna go or stay and continue to comment useless snarky comments.