The Death of the American Dream: Substack=Rebirth
-For the Uncensored!
As a person of varying degree of talent, sometimes being depressed is the only way an artist can manage to create something. When a person isn’t accepted and you’re turning into a fruit cup thinking you’re a fit bodybuilder, you have no idea why and how you should change. But I guess being a fruitcup for so long, and not being able to turn yourself into what you want to be.
Sometimes a creative person needs a platform. They need to find what they want to say. For a while it used to be Wordpress, but you have to pay a site fee in order to maintain the domain name and you can’t really make any money off the articles. Or set up a paywall.
If you’re constantly applying to publications and they say, “We can’t hire you right now” maybe it is you. Maybe it’s because you have too much to say. Companies don’t want to hire people who are political or have an opinion that could be mistaken for “wrong think.”
A lack of ambition can kill creative people, and if people don’t see your work, it can also lead to worse addictions. Being unpleasant at a day job. Constantly seeking others validation when you don’t need it. Always walking around with a sullen look on your face as if you’re about to shoot yourself. A lack of sleep. All these things can ruin a creative person’s life. But the modern society is plagued by one simple idea: Recognition.
If recognition means money and you can live out your dreams doing what you love, we equate that with the American Dream. The American Dream, to be paid for what you want. Drawing, writing, making a product so that other people can see or enjoy it. It’s not that you can’t do it, but recognition is a bullshit term if you’re individual minded. Recognition often gets confused with Fame. Being paid. Making money. It used to be false, but Hunter S. Thompson’s pursuits are now true.
The American Dream represents that and a plethora of ideas. If the consequence of being famous is being recognized, then what do you want to be recognized for? For a writer, it’s a place to be read and debated and given some praise or coin. It’s not that you don’t have any ambition, but without being seen, you can’t expose your ideas to people.
Anger can cause great artists to be better than they are. Sometimes it can gnaw away while you hide under the stairs at your day job wanting pity or realizing that you are a failure. Being a failure is a good thing. Once you realize it, you can die or create a piece of art or a critique that people can read and give praise or negativity.
But applying for work jobs and learning what rejection is, that can be another cancer onto yourself. Your soul, your mind, self preservation. This has plagued modern man for the longest time. Being seen, being recognized.
Substack, in all its glory, proves that artistry is no longer just a feasible reason of daytime dreams that you won’t be able to accomplish. Substack makes it a reality. You can get paid for what you want to be in this world. While it is good that writers like Sir Salman Rushdie, Adrian Tomine, and many other creative geniuses are publishing their work online, shows that being paid to write can work.
If that doesn’t excite you, you can create your own podcast and upload it. And Substack doesn’t charge you for it. To be able to hear yourself and put your ideas out there, is amazing. It’s probably the best site, unless you’re famous. I can say that is the only caveat, but it’s given so many people the chance to address their thoughts and concerns. Its helped me be seen.
So, it makes no sense to apply for writing jobs when all you hear is “No.” I think the phrase from Futurama spoken by Bender, “We’ll make our own casino, with blackjack and hookers, you know what forget the casino” is what the millennials know and love. But without that we would be isolated again. People can blame social media all they like, but Substack has its own social media thread too. You can post small thoughts that don’t require an article. With politics, it can be just that. And also it’s a free speech platform, so you’re allowed to be as bold and crass as you want. You can be who you want to be, with no restrictions at all. After my generation experienced censorship, who wants to be paid but not have freedom of speech?
So, self-expression doesn’t have to be monitored or recognized by a large media corporation that doesn’t care about you either. That’s the closure to this argument. Awards don’t automatically validate your talent either. A whole generation of people had to find the world through corporate media, and now they don’t. When people don’t believe the news anymore, it makes people like myself and many others have a chance for success. It’s how people should be accepted, but sometimes you have to realize who you are and what you have to give. It’s what we all deserve. And corporate media status is not going to mean you are talented. And you can have your readers and subscriber base.
It makes sense after when you apply for jobs that can’t let you express your words or thoughts and being paid for it isn’t enough. Because money can’t buy freedom of speech or good ideas anymore.
-Louis Bruno is the author of more than 19 books, including, The Michael Project, The Michael Project: Book 2: The Lost Children of Eve, Thy Kingdom Come, The Disintegrating Bloodline (and the original text re-released in 2019), Apocalypse Soldier, The Data Chase, Selection: The First Book of the Life and Death Saga, and Blinking Eyes: The Second Book of the Life and Death Saga, Hierarchy of Dwindling Sheep, The City of Sand, To the Moon and Back, The Villain Lives and The Villain Lives: The Divided Pinpoint, Come Home, Young One. He has a Bachelor of Arts in English from University of Phoenix. His books can be found on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Lulu. He can be found on Gab, https://gab.com/thereallouistbruno, Minds https://www.minds.com/lbruno8063/. Instagram @lbrruno8063 and @louisbrunoofficialbook. Our Freedom Book https://www.ourfreedombook.com/thereallouistbruno17. He has written for the Intellectual Conservative and Ephemere. His next series, City of Sand is out now:https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/louis-bruno/city-of-sand/hardcover/product-rke9jz.html?page=1&pageSize=4. Also, if you can’t subscribe so that you can get members only content, please be sure to share the articles, as well. Subscribe as well so you can get my articles in your inbox every time. Every little bit helps in the war against Big Tech. Thanks for reading.