After April
Monthly Roundup #2
Dear Readers,
Welcome to my second monthly newsletter. I am finding that thus far I really do not like writing these, so make no guarantees that I continue, but I do think there is value in making my work easy to find for people who are not on social media, and I can hardly to tell you to google my name daily. Writing these is somewhat depressing, both because I am not getting published nearly enough, and because it causes me to realize I have no real memory of what has happened in the last month, though Iran and the ensuing problems has somewhat consumed all other news.
I do, however, have one piece of good news for fans of The Wayward Rabbler. As you probably saw, I have released my lovely wife Alexis from her obligation to host the podcast, which has never been profitable and which is frequently about topics on which she has little to say, leaving her to carry it with nothing but her natural charm, which, though substantial, isn’t ideal for a podcast host. That is certainly part of why she didn’t like doing it, as well as just finding the time or it often occupying what little time we without children. Anyway, the part which is good news, is that upon hearing of this, our former guest host Antoine has volunteered to take over the show, hopefully on a permanent basis. He both has more to say about these topics, and being a musician, which neither Alexis nor I are, has proper recording software and knows how to use it. This should also mean that in terms of topics we can expand somewhat into the worlds of music and sports, which present plenty of ridiculous stories that I know little about. It is his view that if put in charge of the production side, he can make things substantially higher quality, and I have no doubt that is true, because Alexis and I are using my shitty laptop, a $50 podcast mic on our table, and Audacity with perhaps 15 minutes of Youtube videos worth of instruction (Audacity is, in general, pretty well respected and powerful recording software, but nevertheless that relies on knowing how to use it.) I can’t say when the first new episode of Dispatches from Clown World will be as for the time being I am enjoying a little break, but I expect at least one episode this month.
Anyway, without further adieu, I will present some things which I have accomplished in the last month, which again is not nearly enough. I absolutely need to be publishing more, particularly when not focused on audience growth here, but I am doing much better about being methodical regarding coming up with ideas and sending pitches, so I must remain hopeful.
Firstly, at the beginning of the month, I did write one thread going over an article about how Israel is ethnically cleansing southern Lebanon:
Abysmal views there, the algorithm bullshit is another reason I gave up on focusing on growth. My home being quite cheap if I had 100k followers and got clicks it would be a substantial supplement to my income, but that is not something I can wait to come true.
I was back in The American Conservative for the first time in a year, which I am very happy about. I reviewed the book How Africa Works by Joe Studwell, which is a remarkable text about African economic development.
Following that, I had an article at the Libertarian Institute about the apparent new fashionability of smoking after a lifetime of nagging from everyone with power, one of the biggest reliefs of the “vibe shift.”
I did actually get a substack article written, which I suppose I will share here in case you missed it. I would say that while it is commentary on a book you surely haven’t read (but should!) the issues which it discusses are quite broad, and go a long way towards explaining what has happened to Britain. In short, you should read it if you did not already:
Finally, I had an article out about the absurd arguments for instituting universal conscription for abstract reasons instead of because of any necessity. I did not, in fact, argue that conscription is slavery, merely that I did not want to split hairs over that point, but it is obviously an enormous violation of personal liberty that does legitimately amount to forced labor.
Sadly that is all I had published this month. I do, however, have a piece with an editor at a publication where I have never appeared before, and have two features commissioned that I need to write this month, which means that, at least in May, I will hit my income target. I do have a substack article I hope to write about constitutional changes that could fix America, which I hope to squeeze in before working on either of those features, which are due 10 days apart (this probably goes without saying, but the way freelancing works is it does not take more than a few days to write an article but one generally procrastinates for a month before doing any work.) Anyway, if I don’t get another commission I will try to find time to get that in. Unfortunately, for the roughly 50 paid subscribers I am stuck at I simply can’t prioritize this, as I have said. Even 100 I would be able to justify at least trying to strike a balance, but that is not forthcoming. I do, however, enjoy freelancing and think this will ultimately go well, it is just of course inherently unstable. I would, overall, much prefer to primarily only do the Substack and merely write articles for others now and again when I have an idea I really want to express to a different audience.
Anyway, I suppose that is all for now. Hopefully May is a good month for everyone and not a disaster. They say the global oil crisis is about to hit critical mass and that farmers can’t afford to plant, but I am not particularly well positioned to make a credible assessment in either case. Trump is claiming they will be escorting ships out of the Gulf starting tomorrow, but of course even if that is somehow successful it doesn’t solve the core problem that 20% of the world’s oil comes from the Gulf and that supply is simply impossible to replace; it is not as if those ships are intending to return if things stay as they are. So, in short, good luck out there.
Thank you for reading! The Wayward Rabbler is written by Brad Pearce. If you enjoyed this content please subscribe and share. I am available for freelance work and can be contacted here, on Twitter, or by emailing me at pearcebrad@hotmail.com. My main articles are free but paid subscriptions help me a huge amount. I also have a tip jar at Ko-Fi. My Facebook page is The Wayward Rabbler. You can see my shitposting and serious commentary on Twitter @WaywardRabbler.