Yves here. In 2019, when we published a “fake news” fundraiser post by Rev Kev (below) about what might happen if Naked Capitalism were to shut down, it seemed like a harmless joke. But a shutdown is now no longer a joking matter.
We are so far behind our normal fundraising pace that unless things pick up sharply, I am faced with having to make serious cuts. We have three people on our team who depend on the income from the site, so I can’t ask them to take less, and it is not as if we have any fat in this operation to begin with.
So the only solution would be for me to take no pay over the next 12 months. I might even have to dig into my (not very ample) savings to fund operations. That is not sustainable. We would be on track for me to greatly shrink or even shut down Naked Capitalism next year.
I feel terrible about having to consider this possibility, particularly given all the notes readers have saying how much Naked Capitalism means to them. For instance, just yesterday, from Scotty E:
I am so grateful for this community, which over the years has become my primary source of information, conversation, and sanity.
And Samah S:
Thank you for running a fantastic news site.
Our average donation level is in line with past years but our number of donations is continuing to lag. Since we have not made any major changes in our take on major issues since last year, we don’t believe that our content is the problem. We also started super-early last year but that didn’t seem to be a huge impediment (we were a bit short but held a tacky mini-fundraiser in November to top up). But perhaps people are more stressed this year and in a less confident mood.
Generally, all publishers experience reader churn, and the persistent long-term campaign against independent media, particularly wrong-thinking independent media, makes it harder to attract new audience members when some current ones drift away. Sites are able to fundraise off overt attacks, as the Intercept is doing now over Facebook throttling shares of its posts to 20% of their recent level.
But it’s harder to get backers to rally in the face of slow-motion draining of the oxygen supply, particularly in the form of unsexy but still deadly developments like Google repeatedly tweaking its algo so as to not serve up articles from small fry like us, even on narrowly-targeted searches. Lambert says Google doesn’t even serve up posts he’s 100% sure he wrote!
I also suspect that we have been harder hit by Covid than other sites, despite our stellar Covid coverage, in that reader meetups were an important way of rallying the community. But we can’t justify holding what would turn out to be super-spreader events.
Some may wonder why I am discussing not being able to fund all the site’s content only now, when the goal (“Karōshi Prevention“) is having the site’s publisher and lead writer – me – take time off to rest and refit. If you have been though our fundraisers, every year we go through the same series of targets, because they are all part of the foundation we must have in place to deliver original content, which is our final appeal. If we started with original content, we were advised that many would not be receptive to supporting all the other elements that are essential to run the site, such as our hosting and other tech plumbing. But as things are going now, we won’t reach our original content target at all, or if we do, at a level well short of what you have come to expect (and deserve). And original content is the point of the site!
So please, particularly if you gave last year and haven’t yet this year, proceed to the donation page and give as generously as you can. And with that, to Rev Kev’s prescient post.
This post first appeared on October 4, 2019
By The Rev Kev from Down Under
It is with deep regret that we at Naked Capitalism announce the closure of our site due to lack of financial resources. We thank our contributors and readership over the years. We suggest that for news and analysis, that they peruse other websites such as the Washington Post, MSNBC, Daily Kos, the New York Times, Infowars, CNN and Fox News.
Yeah, obviously “fake news” but just writing this put the wind up me when I realized what a loss Naked Capitalism would be. I have seen great websites just disappear and it’s not a good feeling. So please, go to the Tip Jar right now, as in right the hell now. If you can give a little, give a little, and if you can give a lot, really give a lot.
It is a funny feeling daily visiting the Lord Voldemort of the internet as in they-who-must-not-be-named. At this stage of the game I think that a lot of “serious” people would sooner admit to visiting P***H** than Naked Capitalism. But visit they do. It is rumored that Ben Bernanke himself used to peek at Naked Capitalism articles surreptitiously to find out what sort of mess Alan Greenspan had left for him.
You gotta love a site that falls foul of mobs like Google and the Washington Post. Seriously, it is not like you can respect the opposition these days anyway. If you were holding a party, would you really invite the likes of people like Jeff Bezos or Mark Zuckerberg? Talk about your buzzkills. Far better to have people like Marshall Auerback, Michael Hudson, Bill Black, Rajiv Sethi, and Wolf Richter come over. So to continue to hang out with them, proceed to the Tip Jar, donate, and if you can, make it big!
I no longer know how many years ago it was that I first found Naked Capitalism. I was trying to get background on what caused the financial crash after 2008 to understand the bullet dodge we experienced. I found myself coming back here again and again because of the stories – and more importantly – the analysis of how it came about. Stuff you would never, ever see in the regular news. Stuff that should have been. Just the stories explaining what MERS was and how it worked were an eye-opener for me that hooked me in.
And I have been coming here ever since and eventually piping up. But along with the articles I found just as valuable the comments posted by such a wide variety of people from different backgrounds, different countries and so many with their own areas of expertise – comments that can be weird, wonderful, and even profound. It is a real community of like-minded people at work here.
So Yves will put up a post on Brexit and highly informative and perceptive remarks from people Like PlutoniumKun, Clive, vlade, David, and Colonel Smithers soon appear. Lambert, after putting on his yellow waders, will delve into the intricacies of American politics and observations flow in from all corners of the country – readers like flora, Wukchumni, Cal2, polecat, VietnamVet, Henry Moon Pie, Watt4Bob, pretzelattack, and ambrit. Jerri-Lynn will post an article on plastics or other environmental issues and commenters like Synoia, drumlin woodchuckles, Amfortas the hippie, OpenThePodBayDoorsHAL, witters and many others weigh in. And I have only named but a few but you all know who you are.
Before I forget… If there any members from any of the three-letter agencies reading this site as part of their daily duties… Fellas: You’ve got a good gig here. You get to read all these articles and great comments and get paid to do it. You owe it to yourselves to dig deep and do your part to keep this site going. See that Tip Jar with those begging snow leopards? Do it for your conscience – and don’t forget to charge it to government accounts. If you don’t, you may find yourselves being sent back to dig through the comments sections of Daily Kos and Breitbart!
There is an old American acronym that goes back to the 1930s which is TANSTAAFL – “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch” and such is the case here. Naked Capitalism needs your help to keep up all its good work. Look, times are tough. You know it and so do I. I get it.
But if you want to find out why times are tough, who did it to you, how they did it and why, then that is why you have Naked Capitalism. When you put in a contribution, it is not only money you are donating but a vote of support to Yves, Lambert, Jerri-Lynn, and the rest of the crew. You are saying that you want to have their backs and value what they do. So give, for them, and for yourself too. It is time to give something back.
You may find too that you not only want to put in a contribution in your own name but that you would also like to make it on behalf of another person who, for one reason or another, are unable to make a contribution themselves. That being said, I therefore personally will be making a contribution in the name of Marcie Frost of Sacramento, California.
72 comments
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Cant donate via Paypal. Says:
“Donations to this recipient arn’t supported in this country
Return to Aurora Advisors Incorporated”
I am accessing from HK via EVPN.
I am so sorry. I hate the payment provider situation. Many countries in Asia are barred from donations. If your credit is not with a bank in Asia or Australasia, set your VPN to the US.
An alternative is spreading your donation out over 12 months and subscribing. Weirdly PayPal considers that to be a purchase and seem OK with that.
Or you could try Clover.
Or if you use Wise, e-mail me at yves-at-nakedcapitalism-dot-com with “Wise” in the subject line. That will definitely work but you have to have the Wise app.
Again sorry for the hassle. I very much appreciate your desire to support our work.
I thought I’d try Clover, but it wants a ZIP code which we don’t have in Canada or anywhere else outside the US; we have postal codes but they aren’t accepted. I did pony up through paypal. Hope it helps.
More uninformed than naive here, but can you send a check? That’s what I do to Lambert. Good luck to everyone.
Yves always says she prefers checks.
Bsn – The address for sending checks is:
Aurora Advisors, Inc.
P.O. Box 110105
Brooklyn, NY 11211-0105
I’ve been slow to respond…but will finally make a contribution. Not sure this meager amount will push the site dramatically forward but every bit is going to help. Added, if I did not make a contribution I’d feel like I am cheating the site, which is such an excellent and deep store of content. Please keep at it, and honestly I concur that 2023 has presented unique challenges to many.
I’ll hit the button during the afternoon hours, east coast standard.
Trying to think outside the box here but would some non-monetary help be of use? Specifically, I often see certain regulars in the commentariat who I think “you’d be a good moderator”. It might, if spread across enough people, be practical (person x does a certain 2 hours this day weekly) and reduce burden on the core writers? Just a thought.
Not meaning to pile on, but what would be so terrible about resuming meetups?
Here in Tucson, there are more lovely outdoor venues than one could shake the proverbial stick at. Heck, we could even have a potluck picnic, especially now, when the weather is becoming more agreeable by the day.
I’d be more than willing to host. Who else is in?
Outdoor meetups would be great. That time window is closing though in the northern half of the US.
I went to one of Slim’s meetups in Tucson and it was great, but it’s a long way to drive from Phoenix.
Does anybody in Phoenix read NC?
I’ll be in Tucson for the bike swap in November, by the way.
I freaking love, love, LOVE the bike swap! And it’s right next to Armory Park!
You in for a meetup, albrt? Look for a short of stature, slight of build Arizona Slim in a neon yellow safety vest and covering the noggin with an orange bike helmet. I’ll be with my black bike, which answers to Stealth Mode.
Slim
If there’s one next year I’ll try and make it!
Never was directed to NC via any search engine – I discovered this wonderful site thanks to PropOrNot.
Yves
I will send another cheque.
Well, Alex, are you up for a spring meetup here in Tucson?
I’ll be selling bikes with the Rusty Spoke group. I could probably arrange to stick around for a meetup.
I attended 3 or 4 NC in-person events in NYC between 2017 and 2019 and enjoyed them all. I realize that 2 of the 3 staffers then lived in NYC; that wouldn’t be the case now. I remain more cautious than most people here (e.g., mask on busses trains and in movies) but nonetheless go to meet-ups in bars and restaurants. If there are people with similar post-COVID comfort levels here, we could probably work something out.
What about just planning on two fundraisers per year? I typically send the same amount whenever a site that I am supporting asks, so two fundraisers would automatically double your income from people like me.
I second that emotion!
I am sad to hear this. I gave this year and I have been following Naked Capitalism since the financial crisis. I have experienced Google destroying precise search in favor of I don’t know what except ads and spam and more ads and spam.. People seeking human created content have been adding reddit as a suffix to their searches because human created content on blogs is so hard to find these days. So many forums moved to reddit because if they didn’t they died. Now there is centripetal movement away from Facebook, Reddit and Twitter for good reasons. But most people have forgotten about specialized blogs like this one.
Thanks to discussions about problems with search on tech forums on a nonprofit site I follow called Tildes, I discovered the following search engines. Vivaldi. Crowdview.ai. Search.marginalia.nu. Marginalia in particular is designed to focus on and prioritize human created micro content. (anyone curious about Tildes.net can lurk, or get an invitation at invites@tildes.net)
I think a campaign to publicize alternative search engines that prioritize human created content could gain a lot of traction among thoughtful curious people right now but I don’t know how it can happen. There is a lot of frustration right now over the massive social media, their policies and their unsympathetic owners/ceos. There is also huge frustration about useless seo optimized spam content and the shittification of search.
I really hope Naked Capitalism survives. You all have meant a lot to me over the years.
Oh my, I’m really into it this a.m. Been a very busy couple weeks with harvest coming in, ball cock bouncing on the canner, fruit and vegetables on all the counters and chopping wood for winter …… that being said, thanks so much Oakland (I lived on Sacto and Univ for a long time and played many concerts in Lake Merritt).
More invaluable info via Naked Capitalism. Can’t wait to send another check.
Can’t wait to experiment with your advice. Never been on social media, though I’m on the computer right now. I will research your alternative search engines. Learn something new everyday, via NC. Sorry for so many posts.
PS …. having trouble accessing Automatic Earth this (in my region) a.m. Anyone else getting a 404? Let’s not allow this to happen to NC.
This may seem like a random thought, but I know how observant the NC commentariat is, and – if Google search has become as sketchy as people say – then I wonder how teens are doing term papers. I had to learn how to make professional citations, which sucked at the time but was very valuable. This is a doom scenario for our youth.
Robert Hahl’s idea of two “smaller” fundraisers a year would be more labour intensive for the site admins, but perhaps more income producing. Many of us out here “in the wild” are in straitened circumstances. Income has not kept up with inflation at all. Phyl and I are cutting back on our charitable giving, small though it was to begin with. (Naked Capitalism is not in that class of activity for me. It is more of a communitarian self preservation activity, so, not charity.) No more “donations” to panhandlers, no more eating out, of any sort, no more purchasing “snacks” at the grocery store, {did you know that potato chips are a “Class 4 controlled substance” in our house?,} no more streaming movie ‘rentals,’ etc. With a bi-annual fundraiser, I suspect that you could accept more, if smaller, donations and thus end up ‘ahead’ in the long run. {Did the “tacky” November fundraiser achieve it’s goals?)
Short version; many of us don’t have much if any disposable income now. Sorry, but that’s just the way things are today.
A small donation is on it’s way via PayPal, (yes, I did have my issues with them, but a ‘modus vivendi’ has been arranged.)
Stay safe!
I’m sorry to hear you are so stressed ambrit. I hope your circumstances improve soon.
I just made a second contribution for this fundraiser because I can’t stand the idea of NC cutting back or disappearing.
I consider it a way to make up for those who can’t contribute as much (or any) as they would like to right now. That includes you.
Be well, stay safe.
Thanks for the ‘backup’ Mr. Zelnicker. Sometimes it takes a bit of humility to admit to myself that others can help where I cannot. Untempered Ego can be a real problem. One of the biggest personal failings I have had to work myself out of, with varying degrees of success, is the centrality of Competition that was drilled into me at school.
With the resumption of Student Peonage Debt Repayments and the “phasing out” of various tax “incentives,” I’d imagine your business next spring will become tangled indeed. When does the main tax preparation “surge” happen? I’m ignorant about this subject. [Quarterlies were always a hassle.]
You stay safe too. Keep masking, and maybe the smokes are protecting you in a roundabout manner.
It’s funny how personal stimulus works. Whenever I have a beer, not often nowadays, I want a cigarette too.
We are always a work-in-progress continually improving.
My business gets busy from the first of the year because of payroll clients and W-2’s to file. Tax prep surges beginning of Feb., drops a bit and then surges again last week of March.
Stay safe.
I will send a donation, Yves, but won’t able to get it to you for a couple weeks.
Also, I sent you a check a few months ago, Lambert – you should cash it!
Check is in the mail–$250.
I thank you.
Thank YOU!!!
Even fundraisers, adverts and Madison Ave. can be humorous. Short, 3 min. musical interlude: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovm6WpepvLo (give it time)
Go NC and crew!
Well dang, should I win the lottery then you would have no problem but unfortunately I’m an oft laid off construction worker nearing retirement. Losing Naked Capitalism would be akin to losing a dear friend who shares a coffee with me every morning. Unfortunately despite my sharing, referencing and talking up at work not too many acquaintances want to wake up and smell the coffee. No one want’s NC to become Don Quixote and you’ve done more than your fair share, but being a class traitor brings most succor to the poor. Those with the wherewithal do not have the ears to hear in the majority. I give my meagre amount every fundraiser, but alas, I give too little and you give too much.
I just donated a second time. I think we’re in a transition period where most people haven’t processed the changes to the internet – quality content isn’t going to be promoted by Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai, and isn’t going to be free.
The state of search is bad compared to 15 years ago. I’ll try Marginalia, mentioned above. But information is still more available today than the days when you had to subscribe to I.F. Stone Weekly to know what was going on.
One change many of us could make is to recognized that the internet capitalists aren’t going to do the organizing for us, and get used to spreading the word in real life. I’ve found that my real life acquaintances seem more open to hearing about Naked Capitalism in the last year or so, but I pitch it as the place where I get most of my news. If you pitch it as the place to get the real scoop on COVID or the Deep State everybody assumes it’s a crazy conspiracy site.
And by the way, Karoshi Prevention is extremely important for this site. The proprietor does not allow herself much slack.
Will send a donation through tomorrow, will be a decent but not stellar amount. Wish the AUD/USD exchange rate wasn’t this bad, as even ignoring the middleman fees, your hardworking team doesn’t end up getting much when it converts over to USD
You can say that again. You give a good donation but by the time it is converted into US dollars, it becomes at best modest.
Well, to add to what ambrit said above, I am seeing signs of increasing poverty all around. At the neighborhood clinic there are lines at the door when they open now, which was not the case even six months ago. The big thrift shop I go to for clothes has less stuff on the racks and more people in the store. Plus, even the food bank a good friend goes to is distributing less food each week.
The one budget bright spot these days is Aldi. I am literally saving over $100/mo by staying out of Publix or Kroger, fwiw.
Myself, I am creaking by on Social Security as my sole source of income, but I am the daughter of a frugal bookkeeper so I am a world class champ at budgeting. I will be doing the vintage thing and sending a check for at least $100 and more if I can swing it.
Like so many others, I find this site an island of sanity in the ocean of fake news and propaganda that threatens to drown us. As priorities go, supporting sites like this one is right up there with food and housing as an essential cost.
This. I see people walking along the deadly 4 lane major road here often, which is to say, about once a week. A year and a half ago, I never saw that. Still a small sample size. It’s all rural, so it’s not like there’s a sidewalk. It’s just the nonexistent shoulder and the not mowed grass, occasional business parking lot. Not a pleasant looking 5+ mile walk.
It has been several years since I last donated. I donated a meager amount several days ago amount despite falling on hard times. This seems like a good time to discuss my years long fight with the Social Security Agency (SSA) over my disability. My medical problems (neuropathy) pervade my entire life such that any sort of professional work is nigh impossible. I am telling you about my health because I know the ultimate problem is not medical. It is social, political, and financial. Seemingly everything causes me neuropathic pain, yet I don’t care about the pain that much insofar as I know how to prevent the pain and how to alleviate it after its onset. The real problem is we have a society where it is impossible to survive without money, and very wealthy people (who became wealthy either by stealing it or inheriting it) have laws written in their favor to funnel money upwards from poor laborers like myself. Like most poor laborers, I did not in the past operate a monopoly or own property, and thus I suffered poor wages from my former employers. Unlike most poor laborers, I unfortunately have reached a point where my medical problems are exacerbated anywhere but home. In theory, if I had complete control over my working environment (i.e. fans, air conditioning, thermostats, windows, machinery noises, phones, computers, office lights, restrooms, etc.), I could work without experiencing any pain. In practice, there will be pain. Thus, I have to supplicate the SSA to throw me a dime or two on account of my disability. If you know any wealthy single women seeking a trophy husband, let me know where to submit my application.
It gets worse. I have no social life because of Covid-19. I have no professional life because of my rare neurological problems. On the occasion I need to do something in the world, I have a minute long conversation with the grocery store cashier or the receptionist at the doctor’s office. And somehow, none of this bothers me. Why? One reason is Yves often noting that neoliberalism has successfully commandeered social and governmental institutions and diminished community ties. Another reason is Michael Hudson stating that finance is essentially warfare and that the oligarchs who control information have deceived the precarious poor into blaming themselves for being poor. Sure, I have no friends or money, but at least I understand that it’s not entirely my fault.
Occasionally, I am coerced into a social situation where I have to see family. Through the lens of my family and the invisible friends that I don’t have, I can see the fabric of our society being torn asunder. I have crazy family members who push their crazy political beliefs on me. With great restraint, I avoid discussing my political views. They truly believe that global warming is fake. They truly believe that Covid is mild and if we ignore Covid and “go back to normal” and go back to our jobs, then Covid will magically disappear. They truly believe that poor people should just shut up and find a better paying job. Although nobody in my extended family is rich, they do not see the discrepancy between their beliefs and my disability because they truly believe that government should never redistribute money and wealth. Besides the government—which ostensibly could help the disabled instead of giving free money to the Pentagon or enormous tax benefits for the entire oil industry—who else am I supposed to ask for money?
It took me ten years to convince my friends and family that my neurological problems are severe, and I am not malingering. It took five years to convince my doctors, and 24 out of 25 doctors have confirmed how rare my neuropathies are. (One doctor was unscrupulous, accusing me of malingering.) And despite all of this, despite not having an income, despite being unable to work, despite very ordinary things like smartphones causing me mild pain, I still donated a little bit to NC and the community it has created.
Here is one final mostly unrelated thought. My crazy family members, who are neoliberal or libertarians, neocons, right-wing supporters, conspiracy believers, and Christian dogmatists, belong to churches. These churches always seem to have money, and they are self-funded by the members. How do the church leaders convince their members to donate annually and fund their own generous salaries?
Sorry for the rant. I need a hug. And Yves needs some donations.
Sorry to hear that you are suffering. I also have a neurological condition, but am so far knock on wood, able to work.
I hope you can find community, online or in person. The sociology study Bowling Alone was published decades ago and the loneliness problem has only gotten worse to the point that the surgeon general is writing about it.
I am late to respond. How terrible! Have you found any online support groups?
The pain is bad enough but the isolation on top of it….I am very introverted but I find it to be cheering to have familiar faces who recognized me, even if (now) it is (as it was in Alabama) the staff at the gym or the pharmacy.
If I may ask Yves, where are you now?
I am sending a second donation today. The first one I managed to do through Clover, by entering a French numerical departmental code for the “Zip” code they asked for. I have a suspicion that they will actually accept any string of five numbers. Worth trying, anyway.
For the rest, two things. For years now, I have been systematically telling people to go to NC for their news, and recommending it in anything I write on different sites, under various names. I would suggest that we all make a sustained effort to gain more converts. Secondly, with all the expertise we have here, can’t we think of a way round the Google problem, or at least a way of mitigating it? There used to be a thing called Google-bombing a long time ago: isn’t there some similar clever but ethical way of ensuring that NC gets the profile it deserves?
this is one of the three sites I check when I get up. I put in a $100 and hope the donations pick up.
Have done an ongoing $5 subscription on paypal, wish I could do more
Second donation sent, $50 more. Not a lot, but I hope a lot of others can do the same. NC is too important.
Revealed preferences and all.
Cheers to everyone
Like Amfortas, my income is primarily a meager SS check- an application for slightly higher benefits through SSI is hung up in “Covid limbo”. The good news is I’ve been stuck in a skilled nursing facility for the past year recuperating from (successful) spinal cord surgery relearning how to walk and play guitar and bass so my room and board costs are covered by Medicare/ MediCal which allows to toss a second $100 into the tip jar. Life would be sooo much more hopeless without NC. May it outlive us all!!
Check will be in the mail once the damn lumbago subsides. Cheers,
Will send another check today.
I made á second donation, though it’s a bit of a stretch- thank you Yves, Lambert, Nick, Conor, all working behind the scenes, and all who comment here. This site is valuable in so many ways.
Let’s keep trying to spread the word and maybe in 12 months there’ll be some new readers chipping in…
I was confused re the remark about ‘ZIP’ codes above. This is a US term for its ‘postal code.’ It comes in two forms: a 5 digit form and a 9 digit form.
I suspect that ‘postal codes’ are nearly ubiquitous now, i.e., are in place in most of the world. Writing an app that acepts these codes and not requiring in any program any particular code of any particular country is trivial. The table of postal codes is available.
Thanks for the address for good old fashioned bank checks.
We’re too lucky (got a nest egg, and we live on the CA Central Coast – maybe the only spot in the US that had a cool summer like usual) to not give a little more. Another check coming your way.
That was the nudge I needed to get off my procrastinating @$$. Just donated what I could which unfortunately is not much this year.
Thank you for this wonderful news site and community.
NC is an essential part of my daily information hygiene regime, and I can’t bear the thought of losing it. So I’ve sent a 2nd donation of $100 via PayPal. I’ve just retired, and am waiting for various income streams to kick in, so I’m hoping to be able to be more generous next year!
Donated via PayPal. Woulda sent a check/que but I assume you’d get hit with a fee for exchanging my $CDN to $US anyway.
I’d assume you don’t, but if you do keep a record of what emails gave what, because I used my regular default box there won’t be a record of the email I use here (with my posts) having given [the word “working” is in my “regular” email url]. I came back, and gave again. My money situation is lousy. This is only one of two sites I give to (NC IMO can’t be beaten for covid coverage). Tried to donate to a third, and the login was so messed up [for me] they finally let me in free for life. I would have given if I could have; but, even if I could have, giving to only three would have made me feel as guilty as I feel now. Lord, if I’d only gone to trade school and stuck with it instead of the other place.
Here’s my fav podcast. Powerpoint or flashcards…whatever it is, Ray made it work (relevant to “unprovoked”). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUuVOzE-sRY&t=524s
I will send a second donation today as well. This site is essential!
We’ll pitch in again for $200. The idea of two fundraisers a year sounds good, though might be underestimating what it requires from you.
I’ve been feeling so flat from the emotional contortions the war drive is putting me through that I, chock full of hostility, haven’t been able to muster the strong affirmation NC deserves. It’s part of the backbone of an emerging alternative news analysis framework and must be maintained. Please don’t hold back from further updates on financial requirements.
Thank you for all you’re doing.
Just now donated via credit card! Please let NC survive and thrive!
A second donation will be sent today.
Shocked to see an NC reader use the term “post-Covid”. I read NC (including Water Cooler) every day. So, I am fully aware that the Covid pandemic is not over. Yves is absolutely correct about a meetup being a super-spreader event.
I just added a second small donation. Naked Capitalism keeps me sanish and well-informed in this crazy world that is just going to get crazier. I hope it survives.
The shortfalls in contributions and contributors to Naked Capitalism are both a surprise and disconcerting. Based on what I had thought were a growing number of new monikers among commenters I had been hopeful the Naked Capitalism community was growing. I suppose that might still be the case but fewer of us are contributing financial support. After reading many of the comments to this post I am left with a sense that there is no lack of will to support Naked Capitalism as much as there is lack of way. After reading the comments to this post I am also very disturbed by an impression — a strong feeling — that many of the commenters are not fairing well as the Empire destroys itself and our Polity crumbles. This feeling disturbs me even more than the slowing of flow financial support for Naked Capitalism.
I am not flush but I think I can dig a little deeper to send my meager help in funding this website. I hope those of you who can will also, as indeed appears likely based on many of the comments here. We are entering dark times I would greatly fear without the light emanating from the analysis and insightful comments I find at Naked Capitalism.
Sorry for being so tardy! Things are just a bit tight this year. Donation sent via PayPal. NakedCapitalism is indispensable and I, for one, will not go without it!
$500 ($750 if things look OK when I check my account) will be winging its way to you on a check tomorrow. It will come from a 98052 address, and the initials on the account will be JP.
Second donation is coming in about a week. Am currently traveling with limited access.
Sorry I can’t send a second donation (no income but SS and a teeny pension). What I can do, however, is make sure I include the “h/t naked capitalism” tag to every report that links to NC. I post several NC stories a week to various local FB pages (and even X when I think of it). I had been making sure that tag went on stories that I got from NC but then, with the press of other activities, fell off doing it. At least resuming this will help spread the word of NC to other readers, some of whom might be more flush than me. Incidentally, I believe I was turned on to the book “Breaking Together” (Jem Bendall) by NC. It is a fantastic resource as society collapses.
I downloaded the free epub version of “Breaking Together” tonight after seeing your comment, and have gone through the introduction. While there are significant differences between Bendell’s viewpoint and my own, I am eager to keep reading. Thanks for mentioning it.
We/ve been driving from Ellensberg to Long Beach today and I’ve been thinking about why you’re seeing a slower fundraising and smaller donations. For one thing, a lot of older folks may be on vacation like us. Lots of older people out on the road, many trailers and fifth wheelers motoring around. Some of your readers are taking a break about now… it’s what used to be referred to as ‘shoulder season’.
But generally, I’ve been tracking it too locally, there are fewer shoppers everywhere except for essentials and then you’ll find them at places where essentials are cheapest. People are holding on to money if they have any to hold on to. I’d be curious to know how many are on the move, changing locations while they still can and digging in. Moving is very expensive. The bars and restaurants are busy though like they were throwing an ‘End of the World’ party.
I just made my third donation. I am trying to pay off a big amount of debt but I can’t be without Naked Capitalism which I read every night.
I’m giving a 2nd time. I have to admit, there was a time about a year ago or two when I became a NC slacker, but the news was so depressing (probably around the time of the beginning of the Ukraine conflict). I have returned, and I am so appreciative of the constancy of every morning at 4am my time. By the way, I use Paypal and – even though my most previous use of Paypal was to give to Aurora Advisors – that name did not come up in the Paypal search, and I couldn’t click on my prior donation to do it again. I really appreciate this site & all the hard work that goes into it. I’m a workhouse, and I know one when I see one.
There’s no need to do a search, just click on the Paypal link on this page, https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/tip-jar. I too was doing a search through Paypal, but couldn’t pull up Aurora Advisors although I had donated before, and then I decided to click on the Tip Jar, and voila.
Will send another check tomorrow.
I’ve subscribed at the lowest tier. I’ll try to increase these payments next year, but I’m not in a good place for long-term financial planing just now.
Thanks to all!
Sending my donation in today. This site is essential in combatting misinformation, propaganda, and government lies.
Maybe a less negative way to put it would be that our constitutional right to freedom of speech is supported by Naked Capitalism, both in commenters like IMDoc, Nick Corbishley, and others, and in taking the time and effort to cultivate a comment section including regular schmoes like me.
I truly appreciate the time and effort Yves, Lambert, and others put into this site. It has become a part of my daily routine.