Note on paid subscriptions

An offer you can refuse

Recently, I paywalled an essay for the first time. The initial reason was that I was on holiday trying to relax when it was published and did not want to deal with the fact that many people, especially in my professional and social network, would hate it. (The essay, Contra Critical Theory, explores and criticises how the left-wing monoculture of academia often creates a weird status game in which scholars are incentivised to concoct novel ways of criticising and condemning Western societies).

Contra critical theory

Although I had never placed anything behind a paywall, some people had already become paid subscribers. (I am incredibly grateful for that.) By paywalling the post, I figured I could at least share the essay with a small group of readers who might appreciate it.

As it happened, some people became paid subscribers to read the post. This made me reflect. Previously, it had not occurred to me to regularly place essays behind a paywall. Partly, this was because I thought people would not pay to read them. However, it was also because I am more interested in influencing public discourse than making money.

Nevertheless, after reflecting, I have decided to place roughly between 1/4 and 1/5 of my future articles behind a paywall. I have also decided to paywall some of my previous essays.

Some justifications and clarifications

I put enormous time and effort into this blog. I have now published 37 essays, totalling roughly 100,000 words. Moreover, these essays are typically substantial and substantive, attempting to improve the epistemic commons with thoughtful, evidence-based, and balanced contributions.

To be clear, this never feels like work. Blogging and the activities involved in blogging (thinking, reading, engaging with the great community here, etc.) are my passions and hobbies, and I benefit from them in countless ways.

However, in purely financial terms, the ratio of time I invest in this blog to the money I have made from it means I have been working significantly below the UK minimum wage.

Moreover, blogging does not benefit me professionally at all. In fact, given that the time I spend blogging could be spent publishing in academic journals, it carries significant opportunity costs in this domain.

Finally, the reputational effects of blogging are also complex. Unlike publishing in prestigious liberal outlets (e.g., The New York Times, The New Yorker, The London Review of Books, etc.), blogging is still mostly considered low status in my professional and social milieu. More importantly, the contents of my blog posts, which are sometimes quite heterodox, might actively damage my reputation among some people, potentially in consequential ways. (It is difficult to know how paranoid I should be about this.)

I am not trying to depict myself as a heroic truth-teller. It is simply that the communities whose opinions I care most about are often distinct from the communities whose opinions matter most directly to my immediate social and professional success.

Given all this, if I sit back and reflect, economist-style, on the costs and benefits of paywalling, it makes sense to place some posts behind a paywall.

Nevertheless, I never want a lack of financial resources to be a reason somebody cannot read an article they would like to read. Given this, if you ever want to read a paywalled article but cannot afford a subscription, send me a message, and I will gift you a complimentary subscription, no questions asked.

Thank you to all those who subscribe to and support this blog. I am immensely grateful. In the “draft” section on my Substack, I have 126 posts, reflecting that I generally have far more things I am interested in writing about than I have time to blog.

I look forward to engaging with the many readers who give their excellent thoughts, feedback, and criticisms in the comments on these posts.