> but I have also watched from afar as it transformed into something quite unrecognisable from an ethical, intellectual, cultural, even moral standpoint.
Oh, that world hasn't really changed, you're just now seeing it for what it always was.
I am trying to convince people not to use Substack. As a physician, I abhor concierge medicine, medical care for those who can pay extra. I also abhor information and opinion for those who can pay extra-the model Substack best represents. My local NPR station was doing a pledge drive. They acknowledged that many listeners don't pay but encouraged folks to pledge so that other people are not stuck behind paywalls. Substack wants people stuck behind paywalls. What kind of society will that produce? Isn't the answer obvious? Do we need more inequality? Surely you understand this. I encourage you to find another venue. Or convince Substack to have a "pay what you will" policy.
Oh I see what you mean. There is an option of paying five bucks a month as a minimum, but you are right that I don't think there's a tailored amount option. I suppose you could sign up for a 5 buck a month for 4 months?😬
But I very much appreciate the interest. As far as my convincing Substack of anything, that's a little unlikely right now. Might want to ask one of the huge accounts with millions of subs to take on that task! 🤣
A great article. At the moment in England there's a Twitter storm going on about someone's alleged sin, and someone said "Why not just apologize?" to which someone else replied, "Please name one person who has placated the mob by apologizing." Of course, they couldn't
Yes! 😂 If nothing else, our culture has shown me that belonging to the group, and prestige within the group, is the most potent, driving force in human nature.
The high school analogy is more true every day. My 45th reunion is this summer… (gasp.)
Every single one of the most snide, arrogant, blacklisting gatekeepersthat we all bowed down to, have turned out to be sad, desperate, insecure failures.
I’m starting to realize that they aren’t the ones who changed - at least not the desperate insecurity - that was always there. That’s precisely why they were so destructive, so quick to annihilate any threats.
But the naive, wide-eyed idealists, far down below on the pecking order only saw the hierarchy. We completely believed what they told us about their unquestioned superiority. That everyone wished to be part of the cool kids was never in question. There were moments of proximity - times when you might be allowed “in” for a bit - moments that would be savored long afterwards. But there was no real virtue there - just the power to be cruel.
Significant effort went into avoiding brutal rejection, and reinforcing the rejection of others was . (I was once thrown out of a second story classroom window for trying to inject myself between a group of the “cool” boys and their sobbing victim of the minute.)
Those kids in high school didn’t want/need solid, rational foundations for their ego-feeding cruelty, and neither do the little wannabe’s in legacy media. The power to sneer, the power to silence, the power to threaten and demand are all powers we GIVE THEM. It’s just incredibly hard to see that.
It gives me a lot of hope that there are so many former or current liberals who see through all of it. For a really long time, only conservatives saw it/cared/worried. I think of this type of person, the New Yorkers who believe in their own supremacy, as deeply insecure and grasping and empty. Desperate to be a cool kid, missing everything actually important in life. I’m glad those of you who may once have been there escaped. This is probably mean & unnecessary, but I think a lot of people in the other 48 states are glad they’re “flyover” & pray that the New Yorkers and Californians stay put.
Well said. I moved my family out of NYC last year- am sitting in Europe as I write. NYC is a bubble of provincial bullies. They are “boring” as Jenny wrote in a response to another comment. Tedious too. There’s a whole world out there of interesting and different people-and that certainly includes “flyover country” in my book.
This essay reminded me of John Bunyan’s “The Pilgrim’s Progress”- written in 1678 specifically the chapter - “ The Vanity Fair”. Jenny please read this book if you haven’t done so already. Your story shadows the chapter of “The Vanity Fair”. The Vanity Fair is the most ancient fair that is still going on today. Don’t you see? You, Paul Rossi and others are pilgrims rejecting that fair- and it is not easy. Jesus completely rejected it.
There is a beautiful hard cover illustrated edition that is available- I highly recommend it.
It is an interesting exercise to imagine what journalists are thinking when in the company of the canceled. I think some genuinely believe that this could never happen to them. But I think some realize it could. We as the observer are ever scrutinous in situations where we don’t know which is going through the interviewer’s head. It reminds me of how I would rewatch interviews of, say, Matt Lauer post-spectacular-fall, when he was hosting a recent victim of metoo. Was he thinking, “This poor woman?” Or, “Oh, fuck.” Lol.
I agree! A lot of the cancellations I think are driven by the insecure ones who worry that if they don't make a huge gesture to cancel someone they will be next. It's all very Death of Stalin.
> but I have also watched from afar as it transformed into something quite unrecognisable from an ethical, intellectual, cultural, even moral standpoint.
Oh, that world hasn't really changed, you're just now seeing it for what it always was.
Thank you Jenny… good article that I hadn’t seen.. and very refreshing to see a reference to Brendan Behan.
You understand. Thanks. That's why Substack is such a poor model for allowing everyone access to information they want and need.
I appreciate your stuff, but..............
I am trying to convince people not to use Substack. As a physician, I abhor concierge medicine, medical care for those who can pay extra. I also abhor information and opinion for those who can pay extra-the model Substack best represents. My local NPR station was doing a pledge drive. They acknowledged that many listeners don't pay but encouraged folks to pledge so that other people are not stuck behind paywalls. Substack wants people stuck behind paywalls. What kind of society will that produce? Isn't the answer obvious? Do we need more inequality? Surely you understand this. I encourage you to find another venue. Or convince Substack to have a "pay what you will" policy.
I already have “a pay what you will policy.” It’s up to the individual writer if they set up a paywall or not.
when I hit Subscribe there's no "pay what you will" option. So if I want to send you, say $20, how is that done?
Oh I see what you mean. There is an option of paying five bucks a month as a minimum, but you are right that I don't think there's a tailored amount option. I suppose you could sign up for a 5 buck a month for 4 months?😬
But I very much appreciate the interest. As far as my convincing Substack of anything, that's a little unlikely right now. Might want to ask one of the huge accounts with millions of subs to take on that task! 🤣
Kudos! Now convince Substack to make that their policy. Other writers told me you can't pay less than $50.
A great article. At the moment in England there's a Twitter storm going on about someone's alleged sin, and someone said "Why not just apologize?" to which someone else replied, "Please name one person who has placated the mob by apologizing." Of course, they couldn't
Yes, this is very true. The only way out of this craziness is to never apologise. How many times must we see this proven correct before people get it?
Weird, isn't it? It's what Dr Johnson might have called the triumph of hope over experience.
Yes! 😂 If nothing else, our culture has shown me that belonging to the group, and prestige within the group, is the most potent, driving force in human nature.
Yes, but one can choose the group to belong to! Although I concede that it might be difficult if you have a mortgage etc. I often half joke that I've never been offered a knighthood because I say what I think (see the footnote here, for example: https://open.substack.com/pub/terryfreedman/p/experiments-in-style-punctuation?utm_source=direct&r=18suih&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web). I like Bessie Smith's comment myself: "If you don't like my potatoes, why did you dig so deep? 😂
For those that are “cancelled”. Substack opens their arms to you.
As Matt Walsh (whether you love him or hate him) says, you’re only cancelled if you allow yourself to be cancelled.
Wonderful piece. As usual.
The distance of the current New Yorker from its golden period in the 60s into the 70s is like the distance of Stephen Colbert from Jack Paar.
The high school analogy is more true every day. My 45th reunion is this summer… (gasp.)
Every single one of the most snide, arrogant, blacklisting gatekeepersthat we all bowed down to, have turned out to be sad, desperate, insecure failures.
I’m starting to realize that they aren’t the ones who changed - at least not the desperate insecurity - that was always there. That’s precisely why they were so destructive, so quick to annihilate any threats.
But the naive, wide-eyed idealists, far down below on the pecking order only saw the hierarchy. We completely believed what they told us about their unquestioned superiority. That everyone wished to be part of the cool kids was never in question. There were moments of proximity - times when you might be allowed “in” for a bit - moments that would be savored long afterwards. But there was no real virtue there - just the power to be cruel.
Significant effort went into avoiding brutal rejection, and reinforcing the rejection of others was . (I was once thrown out of a second story classroom window for trying to inject myself between a group of the “cool” boys and their sobbing victim of the minute.)
Those kids in high school didn’t want/need solid, rational foundations for their ego-feeding cruelty, and neither do the little wannabe’s in legacy media. The power to sneer, the power to silence, the power to threaten and demand are all powers we GIVE THEM. It’s just incredibly hard to see that.
It gives me a lot of hope that there are so many former or current liberals who see through all of it. For a really long time, only conservatives saw it/cared/worried. I think of this type of person, the New Yorkers who believe in their own supremacy, as deeply insecure and grasping and empty. Desperate to be a cool kid, missing everything actually important in life. I’m glad those of you who may once have been there escaped. This is probably mean & unnecessary, but I think a lot of people in the other 48 states are glad they’re “flyover” & pray that the New Yorkers and Californians stay put.
Well said. I moved my family out of NYC last year- am sitting in Europe as I write. NYC is a bubble of provincial bullies. They are “boring” as Jenny wrote in a response to another comment. Tedious too. There’s a whole world out there of interesting and different people-and that certainly includes “flyover country” in my book.
Legacy media is a wasteland and that's why I am thankful every day for substack and the writers who take a chance on us, the wandering readers.
This essay reminded me of John Bunyan’s “The Pilgrim’s Progress”- written in 1678 specifically the chapter - “ The Vanity Fair”. Jenny please read this book if you haven’t done so already. Your story shadows the chapter of “The Vanity Fair”. The Vanity Fair is the most ancient fair that is still going on today. Don’t you see? You, Paul Rossi and others are pilgrims rejecting that fair- and it is not easy. Jesus completely rejected it.
There is a beautiful hard cover illustrated edition that is available- I highly recommend it.
It is an interesting exercise to imagine what journalists are thinking when in the company of the canceled. I think some genuinely believe that this could never happen to them. But I think some realize it could. We as the observer are ever scrutinous in situations where we don’t know which is going through the interviewer’s head. It reminds me of how I would rewatch interviews of, say, Matt Lauer post-spectacular-fall, when he was hosting a recent victim of metoo. Was he thinking, “This poor woman?” Or, “Oh, fuck.” Lol.
I agree! A lot of the cancellations I think are driven by the insecure ones who worry that if they don't make a huge gesture to cancel someone they will be next. It's all very Death of Stalin.
Excellent article. Thank you.
Jenny I think it's great you interact with your readers, I just wanted to say thank you!
You are welcome -- but I really should be thanking you guys for giving me the opportunity!
Yet another excellent piece. Thank you so much Jenny. I’m very grateful to you.
Well I'm very grateful to you also.