Marketing, money and manipulation in the Alternative Media

[Mike]

Well said Flash! I'd love to see a great researcher like Dolan get rich! I really would. But not thru gimmicks and novelties. It just cheapens everything. And as a leader in our community, he indirectly makes this process okay for everyone else. He's very influential, and rightfully so, and therefore has a responsibility to do better.

And to Dave's point, it is quite possible that Richard is being influenced in this direction by his wife. I dunno. I hesitate to go too far down that path. All I know is, I once built an altar to Saturn on the advice of a girlfriend. That's not a joke, sad to say. I think about that maybe once a week, and I literally sweat with embarrassment. I keep confessing that to the people around me, the thinking being I'll purge it from my system thru the heat of humiliation. But it doesn't go away...it just continues to haunt me, and frequently emerges to ruin my good mood by tapping me on the shoulder to say things like, dude, you once built an altar to Saturn...just shut up.

Point being...men, we're a sorry lot. We are easily influenced by the women in our lives. It starts out harmlessly, but then one day you find yourself building altars to Saturn and sitting down when you pee. Bill once started a thread where Richard was doing his knight in shining armor bit, declaring loyalty to his wife and so on, and it all felt a bit manufactured to me. I think that may have been a red flag. I have mixed feelings tho. He looks like a man in love to me, pleased to be collaborating with his lovely wife, and I can't help but feel happy for him in that sense. But it's a delicate balance that I don't think he's quite mastered yet (I'm not knockin him, that's a tough one to pull off).

[Bill Ryan]

From Robert Pirsig's classic 1970s masterwork, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance:

• http://avalonlibrary.net/ebooks/Robe...aintenance.pdf

It is the little, pathetic attempts at Quality that kill. The plaster false fireplace in the apartment, shaped and waiting to contain a flame that can never exist. Or the hedge in front of the apartment building with a few square feet of grass behind it. A few square feet of grass, after Montana. If they just left out the hedge and grass it would be all right. Now it serves only to draw attention to what has been lost.

[Pam]

Posted by Mike (here)

Posted by Rachel (here)

Posted by Mike (here)
Omg, please tell me this is a joke. He must be ****ing kidding.

Well Bill did ask where all this is headed in the OP, there’s his answer - $24:95 for a poster with shipping. We can buy a book for that much.

Posters too? Oy vey...(edit: i intially thought the 'hope' thing was a tshirt, having skimmed the thread while at work. well, posters are just as bad)

It appears we're seeing the end of Dolan the researcher, and the emergence of Dolan the brand.

No one "sells out" overnight. It's sort of akin to David Icke's totalitarian tiptoe concept, where ideas are presented in a slow drip so as to not alarm the public. It's a subtle dance between seller and buyer, where the seller is ever so slowly hemorrhaging his integrity in a feeling out process with a buyer who is ever so slowly hemorrhaging theirs..which ultimately amounts to an unspoken game of ethics "chicken" to see who'll blink first. It becomes an insidious circle of justification between buyer and seller, and eventually what was previously regarded as "selling out" becomes acceptable and even encouraged under the mantra of "there's nothing wrong with trying to make a buck!"

And there is nothing wrong with making a buck, so long as you're not selling your soul to do it. It's easy to dismiss a tshirt or poster as being no big deal, but it never ends there, does it? One novelty begets another and another, and as it slowly becomes acceptable, one becomes a novelty. No one notices it happening initially, because it all moves in a slow trickle. Then, one day, someone starts a thread on a forum like ours titled, what the heck happened to Richard Dolan?..and we all queue up to attempt to figure out exactly where it all went wrong.

Well, it appears to be going wrong now.

So the question is when does someone decide to make some of the information a novelty as well? Just a tiny bit added for drama at first, then more to keep them coming. It's a slippery slope and once compromised the slide down is easier.

[bobme]

The alternitive media seems to me, is mirroring the real mainstream media.

Just a new buisness all the same, a buisness whit no boundries or ethics of anything,but profit.

An example, Two weeks ago I was told by my insurance company< auto, that they had to increase my monthly paymenys by twenty dollars, because I had no credit, what so ever.

I tried to get cheaper quotes from other insurance companies, and they could not find any evidence I existed.

Figure that one out.

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by bobme (here)
The alternative media seems to me, is mirroring the real mainstream media.

Yes it is. It's a form of Stockholm Syndrome.* We're adopting the values and practices of the enemy that surrounds us.

* Stockholm Syndrome: a condition that causes hostages to develop a psychological alliance with their captors as a survival strategy during captivity.

[Innocent Warrior]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)

Posted by bobme (here)
The alternative media seems to me, is mirroring the real mainstream media.

Yes it is. It's a form of Stockholm Syndrome.* We're adopting the values and practices of the enemy that surrounds us.

* Stockholm Syndrome: a condition that causes hostages to develop a psychological alliance with their captors as a survival strategy during captivity.

It’s an understandable strategy, which means the adaptation will be more readily accepted, as we are seeing now. A few questions that keep swirling around my head..

• What is the solution?
• How do we tackle this issue without hurting those we want to strengthen?
• Have we done this to ourselves by placing too much importance on the messengers and not enough on the message?
• Are we ‘fighting a losing battle’ with this issue at this point, is it too far gone?

[Franny]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
It's a form of Stockholm Syndrome.* We're adopting the values and practices of the enemy that surrounds us.

Things like this remind me of several writers but Don Juan often comes to mind - "They gave us their mind". Don Juan's predator is quite similar to the Demiurge of the Gnostics.

It's interesting to note that he compares us to farm animals for the predator. They gave us their mind and we made farms, now factory CAFOs, concentrated animal feeding operations - another name for hell on earth.

I suspect they also gave us money.

“We have a predator that came from the depths of the cosmos and took over the rule of our lives. Human beings are its prisoners. The Predator is our lord and master. It has rendered us docile, helpless. If we want to protest, it suppresses our protest. If we want to act independently, it demands that we don't do so... I have been beating around the bush all this time, insinuating to you that something is holding us prisoner. Indeed we are held prisoner!

"This was an energetic fact for the sorcerers of ancient Mexico ... They took us over because we are food for them, and they squeeze us mercilessly because we are their sustenance. just as we rear chickens in chicken coops, the predators rear us in human coops, humaneros. Therefore, their food is always available to them."

"No, no, no, no," [Carlos replies] "This is absurd don Juan. What you're saying is something monstrous. It simply can't be true, for sorcerers or for average men, or for anyone."

"Why not?" don Juan asked calmly. "Why not? Because it infuriates you? ... You haven't heard all the claims yet. I want to appeal to your analytical mind. Think for a moment, and tell me how you would explain the contradictions between the intelligence of man the engineer and the stupidity of his systems of beliefs, or the stupidity of his contradictory behaviour. Sorcerers believe that the predators have given us our systems of belief, our ideas of good and evil, our social mores. They are the ones who set up our hopes and expectations and dreams of success or failure. They have given us covetousness, greed, and cowardice. It is the predators who make us complacent, routinary, and egomaniacal."

"'But how can they do this, don Juan? [Carlos] asked, somehow angered further by what [don Juan] was saying. "'Do they whisper all that in our ears while we are asleep?"

"'No, they don't do it that way. That's idiotic!" don Juan said, smiling. "They are infinitely more efficient and organized than that. In order to keep us obedient and meek and weak, the predators engaged themselves in a stupendous manoeuvre stupendous, of course, from the point of view of a fighting strategist. A horrendous manoeuvre from the point of view of those who suffer it. They gave us their mind! Do you hear me? The predators give us their mind, which becomes our mind. The predators' mind is baroque, contradictory, morose, filled with the fear of being discovered any minute now."

"I know that even though you have never suffered hunger... you have food anxiety, which is none other than the anxiety of the predator who fears that any moment now its manoeuvre is going to be uncovered and food is going to be denied. Through the mind, which, after all, is their mind, the predators inject into the lives of human beings whatever is convenient for them. And they ensure, in this manner, a degree of security to act as a buffer against their fear."

"The sorcerers of ancient Mexico were quite ill at ease with the idea of when [the predator] made its appearance on Earth. They reasoned that man must have been a complete being at one point, with stupendous insights, feats of awareness that are mythological legends nowadays. And then, everything seems to disappear, and we have now a sedated man. What I'm saying is that what we have against us is not a simple predator. It is very smart, and organized. It follows a methodical system to render us useless. Man, the magical being that he is destined to be, is no longer magical. He's an average piece of meat."

― Carlos Castaneda, The Active Side of Infinity

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Rachel (here)

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)

Posted by bobme (here)
The alternative media seems to me, is mirroring the real mainstream media.

Yes it is. It's a form of Stockholm Syndrome.* We're adopting the values and practices of the enemy that surrounds us.

* Stockholm Syndrome: a condition that causes hostages to develop a psychological alliance with their captors as a survival strategy during captivity.

It’s an understandable strategy, which means the adaptation will be more readily accepted, as we are seeing now. A few questions that keep swirling around my head..

• What is the solution?
• How do we tackle this issue without hurting those we want to strengthen?
• Have we done this to ourselves by placing too much importance on the messengers and not enough on the message?
• Are we ‘fighting a losing battle’ with this issue at this point, is it too far gone?

Good questions. The main problem is this is (at least on the surface) to some degree a matter of aesthetic values. What offends, what pleases, etc. That's not amenable to logic.

Meaning, a highly intelligent, educated person might really like a piece of art that's a gaudy eyesore. Or cheap, low-quality 'music'. Or feel at home surrounded by inner city graffiti, while having no interest in National Parks and the beautiful wilderness.

One needs Emotional Intelligence, and Spiritual Intelligence (not IQ) to appreciate those. This can't be taught. It's a state of deep mind (or maybe, deep spirit).

It rubs off by example. That's how parents can support their children to appreciate real beauty. But it'll never be a class at school.

Here's what I'd show Richard. I hope he may see it. I'd not say anything at all, apart from: Look at this alternative.

[Flash]

Your approach towards the 14% (see my previous post) is toi British Bill for Americans🤷‍♀️🥴 even educated ones. (Comments without prejudice lol)

I think someone a bit hair disorganised, a nice sweater (not a t-shirt, too geek), and the phrasing less well, less British. Lol

Like: Always the truth, to the best of our or my abilities

Doing more, thinking further

Richard Dolan

Ok, I got this out in a few seconds, usually it takes a few hours of brainstorming with a group of people and then has to be tested on a small sample. My family has sometimes been the group of people brainstorming at family gatherings (For my sister).

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Flash (here)
Like:

Always the truth, to the best of our or my abilities
Doing more, thinking further
Richard Dolan

That's very good!

I agree re the 'British' wordiness. I just wrote it out, as well. But I took rather more care over the image.

The quality portrayed there I think is self-evident. No stylistic gimmickry. Richard isn't about gimmicks. (Or, certainly shouldn't be. I'd also suggest it's a good idea to look as little like Obama as possible!)

[Flash]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)

Posted by Flash (here)
Like:

Always the truth, to the best of our or my abilities
Doing more, thinking further
Richard Dolan

That's very good!

I agree re the 'British' wordiness. I just wrote it out, as well. But I took rather more care over the image.

The quality portrayed there I think is self-evident. No stylistic gimmickry. Richard isn't about gimmicks. (Or, certainly shouldn't be. I'd also suggest it's a good idea to look as little like Obama as possible!)

you are right, Obama is not the way to go, because it targets the leftists only first, and second because it does not look sincere. If it is for a fun experiment, it has to be mentioned. I would have elected Dolan over Obama in the second round anytime lollllll viewed that way..

the thing is that even my wording may not be appropriate.

A strategy has to be designed towards the section of the population that is the target of one's writings or videos. This includes positioning oneself (taking a position or a place) within a global strategy. Then all the wording goes in the same direction for a good while.

For this, one has to take the time to do it.

And then, on a second ulterior step, you think of increase in reach.

Apart from Goode and Wilcox (who are not good ones), I don't think many real good ones have done it on the market.

I was listening to The Dark Journalist yesterday, he has oustanding research on very complex topics, his videos are so long that you cannot ever get to be on par with his production, no time to listen to it all, yet he has a good group of followers. He has positioned himself within his listeners category.
For a further reach, I would brake down a bit further his videos though.

Then I listen to Jordan Peterson. I am becoming a fan of him, great guy - with his compulsive behaviors, which make him nerdy professor, his straightforwardness, etc. He has positioned himself innerly than outwardly, which shows in every single interviews he does. He does not deviate from it because it is him, the position is complete truth, and it shows everywhere.

For his marketing, the pusblisher does a real great job as well as the Canadian government with its stupid laws and universities with their stupid rules for shutting up professors. By negative advertising, they had him sold millions of books that are now being translated into 40 languages. Jordan did not even expect it, but he took the ball and is running with it.

One think interesting he said was that videos are listened moslty by males, over 70 percent of the time. Astonishing (I must be out of the ordinary). So know that you are reachng males with videos first and foremost, only you do something specific to females.(pretty sure a good part of Goode listeners are women, a feeling, therefore what has he done to reach them)

Anyhow, all this has to be taken into account.

[Innocent Warrior]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)

Posted by Rachel (here)

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)

Posted by bobme (here)
The alternative media seems to me, is mirroring the real mainstream media.

Yes it is. It's a form of Stockholm Syndrome.* We're adopting the values and practices of the enemy that surrounds us.

* Stockholm Syndrome: a condition that causes hostages to develop a psychological alliance with their captors as a survival strategy during captivity.

It’s an understandable strategy, which means the adaptation will be more readily accepted, as we are seeing now. A few questions that keep swirling around my head..

• What is the solution?
• How do we tackle this issue without hurting those we want to strengthen?
• Have we done this to ourselves by placing too much importance on the messengers and not enough on the message?
• Are we ‘fighting a losing battle’ with this issue at this point, is it too far gone?

Good questions. The main problem is this is (at least on the surface) to some degree a matter of aesthetic values. What offends, what pleases, etc. That's not amenable to logic.

Meaning, a highly intelligent, educated person might really like a piece of art that's a gaudy eyesore. Or cheap, low-quality 'music'. Or feel at home surrounded by inner city graffiti, while having no interest in National Parks and the beautiful wilderness.

One needs Emotional Intelligence, and Spiritual Intelligence (not IQ) to appreciate those. This can't be taught. It's a state of deep mind (or maybe, deep spirit).

It rubs off by example. That's how parents can support their children to appreciate real beauty. But it'll never be a class at school.

Here's what I'd show Richard. I hope he may see it. I'd not say anything at all, apart from: Look at this alternative.

In other words, it’s a problem of class, or rather - lack thereof.

I’ll add to that, especially in regards to the Stockholm Syndrome issue, that there’s a lack of authenticity and integrity. As Jordan Peterson states in the following short clip, we can withstand suffering without being corrupted by being centred. IMO, the simple exercise Peterson describes in the following clip is the most powerful and immediate way to being in alignment with one’s true self -

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=SRC2mVNNGhg

[James]

Richard Dolan is definitely one of the preeminent researchers of UAPs, and an all around stand-up guy, so I'm a little surprised at his recent partnership with Pursuing X.

Marketing is the act (and/or art!) of throwing a rock to make a splash in a pond. The act is easy, but the art, not so much!

The choice of rock will determine how the splash will sound - is it a small stone or a heavy boulder? Is it flat? Jagged? Smooth?

How the rock is thrown will also add an influence - is the rock whipped into the pond? Is it tossed? Aimed?

In addition to the sound the rock makes when it hits the water, the type of rock and way of throwing will also govern how the waves ripple from the source of impact.

A jagged heavy rock thrown with a strong arm at a good enough distance will make a meteoric impact that'll be heard across the pond.

I don't see Richard as a jagged heavy rock that needs to be hurled a great distance to produce the desired effects in the market at large - he is a thoughtful, well-studied, articulate, effective individual. This can be better leveraged in a way that doesn't require punchy graphics and an onslaught of force (high frequency video uploads.) Consider Jordan Peterson's web presence.

A Richard-like rock is more shaped/polished, and best thrown with an artful twist, so that the sound it makes when it hits the water is an intellectual snap - with waves that would appear to have been radiated from a much larger, rougher stone thrown with force.

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by peterpam (here)
I was listening to a Joseph P. Farrell talk yesterday and I couldn't help but notice how many times he tempted the listener with the "member only" information. He would talk a small amount about a topic and then refer to the "members only", payed site where one could get more information. So what was once given freely is now monetized, and where money enters the picture there will always be the temptation of corrupting the info or dishing it out slowly to keep the viewers coming. I think that falls under the category of monetizing information.

Last week, Richard Dolan interviewed abduction researcher Dr David Jacobs — whose work I greatly respect and value. The video is here. The title is (in upper case):

THIS PLANET WILL BE THEIRS.

That's dramatic, and is intended to attract attention. But David sincerely and urgently believes this. He maintains that his very meticulously conducted regression research shows this beyond any doubt. Richard takes him seriously, and the interview is 55 mins long.

It couldn't be a more important topic, if there's even the slightest truth to this.

But here's the rub. Is this entertainment, and/or a product to sell — or vital, essential information for us all to somehow grasp and understand?

At 56:19, at the end of the video, Richard says:

"To hear David and I continue this conversation, you can go to my website, richarddolanmembers.com, where he and I go quite a bit further with some of the aspects of this discussion."

So. Dr David Jacobs, a VERY smart and grounded researcher with a great deal of experience, has concluded — CONCLUDED, not 'has come to believe' — that the Earth is being covertly taken over, with a goal to colonize the planet and replace us with hybrids.

Listen up. We're being invaded. Sign up and pay, and then we'll tell you more.

***

If anyone's a member, please record the conversation in any way you can, and I'll publish it freely on this new thread.

[WalterBosley]

Yeah. Wow. I guess this is a new way to sell research and analysis or simply opinion without writing pesky books. Think about it. It could be kind of cynical on their part. "Gosh, people are too impatient to read a thought out report of research, findings, analysis and hypothesis and opinion in a format where they can go back and re-read and see data. They just want to hear us say what we think so it's the opinion that's the product not the data or material supporting the opinion. What the hell, let's just market us talking about it and giving our opinions. We've already done enough work on this stuff. Nothing new to find that may alter our conclusions. Make 'em pay for the talk that simply used to be the promotional material...".

I wonder how long Richard will give for this experiment?

[Rhogar]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)

Posted by peterpam (here)
I was listening to a Joseph P. Farrell talk yesterday and I couldn't help but notice how many times he tempted the listener with the "member only" information. He would talk a small amount about a topic and then refer to the "members only", payed site where one could get more information. So what was once given freely is now monetized, and where money enters the picture there will always be the temptation of corrupting the info or dishing it out slowly to keep the viewers coming. I think that falls under the category of monetizing information.

Last week, Richard Dolan interviewed abduction researcher Dr David Jacobs — whose work I greatly respect and value. The video is here. The title is (in upper case):

THIS PLANET WILL BE THEIRS.

That's dramatic, and is intended to attract attention. But David sincerely and urgently believes this. He maintains that his very meticulously conducted regression research shows this beyond any doubt. Richard takes him seriously, and the interview is 55 mins long.

It couldn't be a more important topic, if there's even the slightest truth to this.

But here's the rub. Is this entertainment, and/or a product to sell — or vital, essential information for us all to somehow grasp and understand?

At 56:19, at the end of the video, Richard says:

"To hear David and I continue this conversation, you can go to my website, richarddolanmembers.com, where he and I go quite a bit further with some of the aspects of this discussion."

So. Dr David Jacobs, a VERY smart and grounded researcher with a great deal of experience, has concluded — CONCLUDED, not 'has come to believe' — that the Earth is being covertly taken over, with a goal to colonize the planet and replace us with hybrids.

Listen up. We're being invaded. Sign up and pay, and then we'll tell you more.

***

If anyone's a member, please record the conversation in any way you can, and I'll publish it freely on this new thread.

Woah,never expected this from a person with that amount of intelligence and integrity, i'd hoped the alternative media stays away from the filth and lies that'd taken main stream but it seems to get worse every day.

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Rhogar (here)
i'd hoped the alternative media stays away from the filth and lies that'd taken main stream but it seems to get worse every day.

Yes. As I've mentioned several times, there's a kind of Stockholm Syndrome in play.

The alt media is becoming more and more like the 'enemy' that it vilifies and criticizes. What really concerns me is that many of the alt media personalities that make maximum use of the social media resources at their disposal don't appear to realize this.

[shaberon]

It's quite spooky to me.

I grew up almost right next door to "The Voice of Dissent", which was free, and a fore-runner of the now-internet, in terms of being a place everyone could make public statements about various dissenting views. It was a weekly rag that sold ads for its revenue, but, aside from that, no charge just to read the stuff. However, a lot of published material you would have to pay for, has always been in this category of "I've got something to sell". One I remarked about here before, in 1996, some veterinarian in Colorado put out a book about how Congress skipped repealing some of the emergency banking powers around 1976. Sold this book, went on successful speaking tours, and was true but not complete. The powers were stripped the following year. To this day, people still encounter the idea and believe it.

I spent most of my life training in disciplines that I always intended to pass for free, like a torch, and I've found you can't give the real thing away. You can only sell a sham. There definitely needs to be a free press with real investigative journalism that doesn't follow CIA orders, but what you have is a circus. I've lost the ability to contend with it or really even take any interest. The "alt" people are perhaps even worse, because with the "big guys", it's easy to figure out the agenda and expose it. And they still report truth to some degree, this belief that everything in MSM is a lie or that any military action is a false flag is kind of worn out by now. So I would have to agree, it is more and more like its supposed "enemy" and just turning into another shark tank for dominance.

One of the few I still go to is Information Clearing House, it has nothing to sell. It just collects from several sources, doesn't delve into anything particularly bizzarre, and has a decent comment section where I can still find people with a similar understanding, and sometimes learn a thing or two. Very plain, basic format like Avalon. I'm not likely to visit anything that has flash, blinking lights, sensationalized headlines, etc., which takes care of 90% of everything.

[WalterBosley]

I make a distinction between selling books and stringing people along for bucks. When I release a book, I've put everything there is to convey my points, to present my investigation and analyses, into that book, so when you purchase the 'product', you get the whole story, so to speak. I don't share two chapters for free and then sell the rest piecemeal, which was sort of done in publishing for a century, when you remember serialized pieces. Now when it comes to discussing and promoting said book, I consider that discussion greatly as a promotional marketing tool, i.e. by having the good fortune to be invited to talk about my work, I might motivate a listener to buy the book to explore it further. That discussion should be free to the listener for one very good reason among a few: Money is tight these days, people are particular about what they can spend and where. When you've lured them into a discussion for which they need to pay just to hear, that cuts into their budget. They may not have enough to buy the book, which is really the full story on what's being discussed anyway. Add to that the possibility that the discussion they've paid for ends up disappointing them and they're pissed off they had to spend money to hear two guys' opinions. That leaves the listener less inclined to buy a book. No offense to Richard Dolan or his guests, but neither he nor anyone he's ever had on the show is so brilliant that they're worth paying to hear with the added expectation that, should he or his guests actually have a book that further extrapolates on the discussion, the listener should pay additional for that. The optics are not good there. It's self-defeating for me to do something like that, from my perspective. I'd rather do hours and hours of podcasts and radio interviews that people can hear for free and decide if they want to spend a single dime on any of my works.

The other concern I have, as stated previously, is how soon paywalled interview discussions will be considered the 'work' and researchers might forego books to simply start asking for a piece of the paywall action, treating podcasts like live appearances wherein they present their main points and bullet statements of evidence etc. You could argue that the free media already presents this model ready for monetizing in the hosts some may consider equal to researchers, i.e. the popular host or documentary director somewhat adept at simply coordinating material (other people's work and theories) and their video bits perceived as 'works' of research.

I think what we're seeing here is like real estate. Developers and real estate agents crawl through neighborhoods and areas, looking for plots or houses to turn over and make money. Show biz minded developers and talent rep types have discovered the alt research community and are seeking to develop it the way movies, music and TV have been. This has been more prevalent in the last ten years, since Ancient Aliens has made a bunch of money for The History Channel. I've been on that show and others and am going to be doing my part on a Travel Channel show in January/February, plus I've sold the rights to my Empire of the Wheel books for development as a series. You bet I will do as much TV and movies as offered. Only a fool wouldn't (no matter how 'noble'). There's nothing wrong with any of it. The problem here that we're discussing is twofold: People being asked to pay to hear two guys talk looks pretentious (some might see it as 'greedy', though I don't see it that way). The other problem is that the now paywalled host/personality may lose some listeners/fans and hurt himself.

Personally, I wouldn't paywall my show. I would tell the 'showbiz pro' suggesting it 'No, thank you. I don't mind selling products but I'm not gonna make my listeners pay for what they have been enjoying free all along. I'd feel like a pretentious asshole, so let's move on to the next suggestion, thank you.'

Just my thoughts.

[Bill Ryan]

I do think this wonderful short video belongs here.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=H6y1kc8Equk

Tom Waits is clearly someone (a rare person!) who despises every aspect of sell-your-soul commercialism as much as I do.

If only those in the alternative media did as well — who are supposed to (but do they??) espouse all the values and principles we all desperately need for a better, ethical world.