I'm Back and Ready to Work

Hello Everyone!I’m pleased to report that I was able to make an international trip without incident. To be honest, I was pretty terrified about it. The United States is involved in an illegal war, they’ve fired far too many air traffic controllers, there was talk of shutting down the airports in sanctuary cities, the list goes on and on.But it had been two years since my kids had seen their grandma and grandpa and those years are precious. We had to go. We stayed with family and kept our expenses low. When we’re abroad, we always take advantage of inexpensive services and it usually ends up saving us quite a bit of money.Allowing for a little distance gave me a better perspective on my stress level. We’re all feeling it, but I didn’t fully understand what “it” was until I crawled out from the shadow of the thumb.I’ve been having some issues with my right eye. I’m not sure if it’s from stress or from staring at computer screens too much, but my vision has been impacted. My wife’s mom is a nurse and she gave me some eye drops that have helped. I’ve also resolved to give up my smart phone. I can’t be a “screenager” anymore. Plus, it’s just not good for us to try to watch television as we simultaneously scroll.Out in airports and in public, I came across far too many people who had been “captured” by their screens. I’m starting to develop a real sense of discomfort when I see people walking around with phone in hand. I don’t want to be one of those people. It’s already bad enough, but if it also has the side effect of making you go blind then no way.I’m pleased to report that I got through immigrations with no issue at all. In fact, I didn’t even have to show my passport to anyone. The hit piece that Fox news ran on my interview with Melat Kiros came out just as we landed in Peru. That made me fear that there’d be some facial recognition consequences.When you go through immigrations these days, they just have you stand in front of a camera. It takes your picture and the agent hands you a green card that you have to present at the door after you get your luggage. We flew into Chicago, where Pritzker has just passed some ICE accountability laws. I didn’t notice any ICE presence at the airports.Later this morning, I’ll do a live on Rise Together. If you don’t subscribe already, you can find that here:I want to get back into the flow and answer your questions. I’m still a bit groggy, but the dog is back home and that makes me happy. Also, the house was still standing, so that’s a relief.We are in peak primary season! The Wisconsin primary is on August 11th, but I understand that absentee in-person is open already. I’ll probably find a day to go and vote with my wife soon. I’ve talked with Emily Berge, Francesca Hong, Ginger Murray, and Chris Armstrong. Chris and Ginger are running for the same seat. I think all of these candidates have a strong chance of winning their primaries.It really does make me feel proud to know I had an influence on helping to turn red seats blue, and blue seats even bluer. It occurs to me that the work I did starting in August of last year is probably more important than what I’m doing today. For many candidates, I was among the first creators to offer them a platform. Those early stages of the race are the make or break moments, and just a little bit of attention or a little boost can go a long way.My platform isn’t big enough to be all that helpful now that the races are in full swing, but I’ll keep pushing. I’m also resolved to help out candidates for the next round. At this point, the general population of the country has a much better understanding of what we’re up against. We have to reeducate the whole country. We have to push back against the lies of rich people and insist on using public funds for public good. That’s a pretty simple concept, but it’s amazing how effective nefarious forces are at brainwashing, especially when they control all the major platforms.I posted this chart from my “growth sources” stats on Substack:This shows that as of August of 2025, I basically don’t get new subscribers from Substack. I mean, it’s been obvious that something’s been going on. My growth was through the roof in the first year, but then it’s stalled out. I am still growing thanks to all your shares and comments and interactions, but it’s slow.We knew in 2024 that the next two years were going to be VERY difficult for progressive creators. The money that funds reasonable and rational behavior has dried up. The regime has cut programs for cancer research and scientific advancement in favor of funding a secret police that murders people in the street.I’m hoping that, starting after the midterms, we might start seeing a little bit of revenue come our way again. The problem is that it takes a progressive media to get progressive candidates elected. The problem with the DNC for the last fifty years is that they don’t sponsor any voices that challenge the lies of the GOP. I’ve been trying to fill that void, and thanks to your generous sponsorships, we’ve made some progress.But I’d really like to grow to the point where I could have an even bigger impact on the zeitgeist. Getting visibility for quality candidates is a wonderful undertaking. Whether those candidates win or lose, we manage to pressure the general public to consider and discuss new ideas.That’s what we need.If we rely on an oligarch owned media, we only ever hear the same ideas over and over. If there’s anything modern times have shown us it’s that the old ideas don’t work. The people are fed up and change is coming, but our work isn’t done. We have to continue to actively workshop these ideas. We can’t just be resigned to sit back and listen to the lectures of rich politicians and journalists. They don’t know our lives. They don’t represent us. They’re not any better than us.We deserve to speak our truth.I’ll continue to do that! Thanks so much for being here. I felt kind of guilty being away for the last couple weeks, though I did work pretty hard even while I was on vacation. I’ve discovered that I really needed this change in perspective. I feel hopeful right now, like the winds of change have shifted and now they’re at our back. I’m hopeful that we have passed through the most difficult days already and there will be smoother sailing ahead.Again, thank you all for your support, your time, and your generosity. Never take food off your table to sponsor me, but if you could come on as a paid supporter at any level it helps elevate my visibility. I think next week I’ll do some sort of a pledge drive with a special offer. It’d be nice to get to the orange checkmark just to improve my credibility. I’ll create a coupon for any of you who want to be sponsors at a comfortable level. For now, here’s the standard round of discounts I’ve been offering:Thanks for your support: 30% off 💙 40% off 💙 50% off 💙 60% offI’ll be going live on Rise Together around 8AM CST. Ether drop by or check the replay. Also, if you like checking in with me but you don’t like being overwhelmed with emails, that’s the newsletter to sponsor. Again, I’m sorry for writing so much, but there are so many GOP lies that we have to contest. We can’t allow them to just roll over us all the time.Yesterday I posted a note that said, “We’ve all been screaming into the void for 2 years. It turns out the void has an echo, and resonance…”A lot of the writing and interviews I’ve done felt futile at the time. Will Fullwood always emphasizes that we have to live based on our integrity no matter what. I’ve tried to do that throughout my life, even though sometimes it felt like you were passing up on riches. Now, at age 51, I’m very proud of the choices I made. The truth is, those “riches” you think you’re passing up are just lies and corruption. Also, you never get anything. Essentially, all the pressures we face make us pass up on a happy life and we get nothing in return.Everything about capitalism is an empty promise and a justification for abuse. That’s what we’ve learned.But today, finally, it feels like more and more people are starting to see that there is a better way. Take joy in that! Celebrate! But also know that our work is just beginning! I feel renewed. I feel energized. I’m ready for this next chapter. It feels good to have purpose. It feels good to march forward with resolve.Again, thanks so much for your generosity! It has been my privilege to speak to you all for these tough years. You sustained me! You gave me hope! We are all in this together and we’re winning! Let’s keep growing so that we can give the next generation of good candidates their first platform on the way to greatness. Then we’ll help the next after that, and the next, and the next, and the next, until everyone is respected and they have all their basic needs met.What a dream! What a goal! Thanks to you all for making it possible!Thanks for your support: 30% off 💙 40% off 💙 50% off 💙 60% offI'd Rather Be Writing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to I'd Rather Be Writing at walterrhein.substack.com/subscribe