How writers are making a killing by repeating the same old lies
Let’s face it. We all believe ourselves to be victims of some force that is out of our control from time to time. Whether it be health problems, financial issues, family issues, or the like, we all have times when we feel as though there is nothing we can do to better our situation. In this way, victimhood is one of the most relatable of human feelings. The feeling of hopelessness, while brief for most people, is more relatable than almost any other emotion. The despair and frustration that it brings is at times unbearable.
What if I told you that writers on Medium, and in western media in general, are exploiting this empathy? They’ve always done this, but it is becoming unbearable at this point for many of us. Open your home page on medium (after finishing this article of course!). How many articles do you see about racism or oppression or any other form of victimhood which finds the sufferer unable to do anything to better their own situation? Whether it’s Medium’s algorithms or our reading habits or just the sheer amount of people who make money from pumping this stuff out, we should ask ourselves why we accept this.
To write an article about shared suffering or about what you perceive to be a big issue is one thing. To form your entire career and make thousands of dollars from telling people they are victims and inciting hatred between the masses is another. The amount of articles I read promoting hatred of certain racial groups is absurd. Take this story for example if you think I’m being dramatic.
We need to ask ourselves what this is doing to our society. What do you believe the implications are of convincing nearly half of a society that the other half hates them, even if just on an implicit level? We should ask ourselves how this affects mental health. What are we to make of someone making a slightly off hand comment or not holding a door for us in public? Can anyone actually act in a way that doesn’t cause us to be paranoid that they might harbor some deep-seeded reason for hating you that is out of your control?
There are lots of people on this platform who are profiting off of making you feel miserable. And why shouldn’t they? Medium promotes their articles to the front page. Publishers jump at the chance to feature these self-loathing articles in their subscription list. It’s truly just business. There are a few ways you can fight against this ruthless exploitation of the most basic of human emotions.
- Write articles that challenge the status quo. Medium may not promote them. Publishers may not give you the opportunity to have your articles read by a million people. But trust that we are the majority. If you write articles that align with the viewpoint that not everyone is (insert bigoted mindset) and try to unite your readers around a core of common values, you will find success and more importantly, you are doing what is right.
- Report hateful articles. If an article is openly calling for the “cancellation” of an entire race, as the aforementioned one does, simply report it to Medium. It takes five seconds and if enough people report it, the article may even get taken down.
- Be confrontational in the comment section. People often open the comments of controversial articles and if you provide a sane, reasonable opinion, you can provide relief in a landscape that seemingly is filled with irrational, crazy ideas.
- Follow like-minded individuals and clap for/read their articles when they publish. If we want to generate momentum on good articles, we need a community of rational people to get the ball rolling.
Like I said, you may not get any help from Publishers or from the site, but trust that you are fighting the good fight and that it will pay off. More important than our own personal success is the promotion of the values that I know the majority of people hold. Together we are better than the hateful rhetoric that seems to be everywhere all of the sudden, and you should have faith in that.
