As much as I wish I had enough time in the world to commit to nothing but the slow, careful consideration of long-form rationalistic writing, my current economic circumstances won’t allow it to happen. I need stability at this time in my life, and the only way I can know for sure what will be in my bank account at the end of the month is my predictable 9-5 day job. But with the commute and the meal prep included, that’s ~12 of my 16 waking hours gone already. Factor in the volatile climate which one must study to be a political writer, and we need to set aside another time block to maintain our sanity. Trying to build up a career in these constraints, a full-time self motivated “job,” is close to impossible. Most of the in-between content on this blog is just signal boosting, even as I do pour my heart (and brain) out to produce work that I stand by as examples of my Serious Business writing.

To that end, I achieved something that was a pretty big milestone in my pursuit of this career. I got published in a bonafide paper, paid in real cash muneh for my work. I earned more in that one piece than I have in all my time at FTB.

I didn’t really blow this up or promote with as much fanfare as I now think I should have. It is a remarkable transition from “blogger” to “writer.” I can put this on my CV now. I have.

But there’s a problem. I could get published on The Establishment precisely because its editorial guidelines has written into its code a willingness to challenge, rather than placate, existing power structures. That in itself limits my publishing prospects. Most big papers aren’t willing to publish something as radical as “trans people are human.” (I’m only being half-facetious here.) But all the money for sustainable publications remains isolated in a relatively small sphere of media outlets–and where the money goes, the radical voices, no matter how carefully evidenced and reasoned, are pushed out. One consequence is that advocates are often volunteering huge portions of their time for this work for other publications that don’t compensate their writers at all.

The Establishment was my best option… but its finances are running thin. It needs reader support. Frankly, all the writers you read regularly need your support, especially if you want to see more of their higher quality content.

Please, given that The Establishment is one of the very rare papers out there willing to both publish the voices of progressives and pay them for that work, please consider supporting them with one of these options.

-Shiv