Substack Writers Are the People Who Offer the Power to Defeat Fascism

If you have the means, I greatly appreciate your support! Upgrade at 30% offOver the last 10 years I’ve been very diligent about cutting harmful people out of my life. Actually, I began cutting toxic people out of my life when my dad left our family and I moved to Peru.I understand that everyone is feeling a lot of anxiety. But for those of you who think the future seems hopeless, let me assure you that things can change very, very fast.I’ve had the advantage of living in another culture. I was surrounded by wonderful people who adopted me like a long lost son. They nursed me back to a healthy mental state by showing me kindness and compassion.All is not lost. We can reach people if we try.Some of you might be saying, “Well, why are you cutting toxic people out of your life then?”The answer is derived from the first thing you learn when you finally escape a toxic situation. The three most important things for you to consider are:* Yourself* Yourself* YourselfConsider the oxygen masks on airplanes. They tell you to put on your own mask before you help your children. The reason is they don’t want you to pass out before you can assist them leaving all of you dead.That’s a lesson you have to take to heart.I have a lot of patience for dealing with people who are still burdened by the taint of corruption. My wife tells me I have too much patience sometimes. I try to bring out the best in people. But I’ve been at this long enough to know that there are two kinds of people:* Those that are in pain who are sincerely trying to get better* Those that are in pain and who want to drag you down with themThe second group is toxic. You have to get away from them at least until they can admit that they have a problem. This can be difficult because they are highly manipulative. They can appear charming. They can bully you with their physical appearance and their intelligence.But they’re bad for you.These are the people who become angry when you block them rather than apologetic.These are the people who never practice accountability. They try to push through every difficult moment and compel you to forget it ever happened.These are the people who control politics and the media in the United States of America. They control the churches, and they exert a huge influence on our communities.It’s because of toxic people like these that you’re always pressured to “forget about your feelings” and try to carry on as if everything is fine.“How are you?”“Fine.”“Fine.”“Fine.”But the fact of the matter is that we are not fine. Even though the media constantly insists that everything is great. Even though our politicians claim that this is the best country in the world, deep in your heart you know that those things aren’t true.People are suffering.There are injustices in our society.Our government is targeting and harming innocent and marginalized populations.All of this is made possible because our politicians and our media do not give equal time to alternative perspectives.They only present the propaganda narrative that serves the ruling class of oligarchs. This is because the oligarchs own both the media and most politicians.Which brings me to Substack.I’ve worked on a variety of platforms. I first carved out a nice following on Medium, which remains a very important place for writers to share alternative and non-toxic ideas.Medium is a great option because the internal distribution mechanism allows you to be seen and start getting paid even if you haven’t developed a following.But once you do develop a following, Substack starts making more sense. It allows people to follow you directly and support your work.Now, I don’t expect anyone to read everything I write. I generally publish 3 articles a day. But this isn’t a novel. You don’t have to read everything in order to participate in this narrative.What I’m doing here is working towards a kind of social awakening. It’s similar to what I experienced when I moved to Peru and saw that, contrary to what I’d been told in the United States, it IS POSSIBLE for people to live prosperous and happy lives without believing all the toxic lies that are fundamental to American culture.We CAN have social programs that benefit all.We CAN be tolerant of other races and cultures.We CAN value education and responsible action.I’ve seen it in practice. Now, I’ll be the first to say that Peru isn’t a perfect country either. No place is. But there are many ways where Peru is superior to the United States.Why shouldn’t we look to the example of other countries and LEARN FROM THEM?Why do we have to persist in this belief that our nation is perfect and can’t be improved?Most important of all, how do we get the population of the United States to awaken to the fact that they’ve been lied to, they’ve been cheated, they’ve been stolen from, and a new and better life is well within their reach?That’s what I’m working on.This is not a fast process, but I work on it every single day. In some ways, I feel I’m uniquely suited for the challenges that lay before us.* I grew up in a conservative and highly authoritarian rural area* I had an abusive, patriarchal father* I almost succumbed to the lies I was told until I hit bottom and broke away* I spent 10 years detoxing from American lies and propaganda* Now, I’m 50, I’ve grown into a life, and I know what works and what doesn’tThe one silver lining that I’ve found since November 5th, 2024 was that Substack offers many wonderful tools for collaboration. I’ve been able to have conversations with a wide variety of diverse, educated, and intelligent people. We’ve been able to share our “puzzle pieces” to form a better picture of what’s actually happening and how we can move forward.I think, right now, the most important thing I can tell you is that you really need to get away from the toxic lies of the mainstream media. They simply are not accurately representing what’s going on today. The mainstream media presents all their information through a filter that has been approved by the oligarchs that control the networks.If there is truth that contradicts the “big American lie” then they simply suppress it. But here’s the key: You can’t ever achieve happiness if you only listen to the lies of the oppressors.Unfortunately, in the United States of America, the only way you ever get an understanding of decency is if you study the negative space where it has been removed from the fabric of our reality.That’s a tall order, but it can be done.If things are going to get better, we have to deliberately remove toxic influences from our life. Two years ago I gave up drinking and that serves as a convenient metaphor.Every time we take a drink, we know it’s bad for us. However, we suppress our recognition that it’s bad in favor of enjoying the brief moment of intoxication.Even the word “intoxication” contains the word “toxic.”You know it’s bad for you.You know it’s bad for you to indulge in absurd, flag-waving patriotism.You know it’s bad for you to plop down into a chair and ingest the easiest source of “news” you can find.You know it’s bad for you to deny that your country, or your family, or your friends have problems that it’s easier just not to recognize.You know all those things are bad for you and you do it anyway. I include myself in this assessment because there are still things that I do which I know are bad for me… but I’m getting better. One by one, I’m removing them.Friends, I assure you that life gets better when you’re sober.Life gets better when you stop ingesting lies.Life gets better when you cut toxic people out of your life.I’m not saying it’s easy. It’s a long, long path. But the one thing it gives you is a sense of hope. Even when the rest of the world feels like it’s going down in flames, you can find the safe havens to wait out the blaze.The first thing I will tell you is that the best thing you can do right now to improve your mental health is to delete all the old social media apps from your phone. Download the kid photos and delete your accounts. Those places are doing nothing but spreading hysteria inducing lies that direct violence at all the wrong people.Do all that you can to get your friends off those platforms too.Then, come over to Substack and find the independent journalists who have the courage to tell you the truth about the world. Start with Heather Cox Richardson and Arturo Dominguez. I’ve interviewed Arturo a couple times. If you have specific questions for him, pass them on to me and I’ll ask him personally (he’ll probably answer you too).After that, you’ll find a lot of useful voices on Substack. The people that bring me comfort are Will Fullwood, Zuri Stevens, Marlon Weems, William Spivey, The Opinionated Ogre, The Mouthy Renegade Writer, Ben Ulansey, Robin Wilding, Dana DuBois, Lawrence Winnerman, Peter William Murphy, Untrickled by Michelle Teheux, Melissa Corrigan, she/her, Robert Danna and many more.I promise you that if you give up on all the other toxic stuff that is constantly washing over you, and you find your tribe on Substack, you’ll start to feel better.The big thing that will happen is that you’ll be exposed to REAL people who are talking about REAL problems and it will be made up of stuff that makes SENSE to you.These are people writing about the problems in our society. We’re discussing getting groceries and getting a good education for our children and our real world fears.These are NOT stories written by rich people who own their own yachts and private islands and who have never had to pick up or wash their own clothing.That’s the difference.The people on Substack are speaking from YOUR reality.The people on mainstream media are speaking the propaganda of a deranged wealth fantasy by which the oligarchs try to lull us all into inaction. It’s this massive gaslighting mechanism and it is very effective. It hits you like a perpetual hangover.But you can break that cycle, get on Substack, get sober and then work towards true enlightenment!The miraculous thing is that I feel we’re already gathering up a tremendous amount of power. Since the election, I’ve been hitting the writing gig HARD. I’ve had a few people ask, “Walter, how are you able to maintain this output?”I’ll give you the answer.FEAR.I’m f*****g terrified right now. I’m up to my eyeballs in anxiety. I feel compelled to write and think and understand at a level I’ve never even tried to maintain before. My brain is hot to the touch. What you see on Substack is only about half of what I’ve written. I have a folder on my desktop with notes for another 100 articles. I have yet another folder with 1,000 voice notes. I have 100 articles scheduled to be published.I’m kind of pissed off too because I wish previous generations had figured all these problems out. But they haven’t, it’s on us, so my sleeves are rolled up and I’m typing.As we peel back the layers of deceit, we get closer to the glowing center of truth. Once you start making progress in the right direction, you start to feel reinvigorated. Even if the world is crumbling to pieces all around you (and it is), you have hope because you’re at least moving in the direction of the perfect harmonious center of the universe.Bit by bit by bit by bit.Like I said, you don’t have to read everything I write every single day. But if you swing by every couple of days, you’ll find something useful. When I sit down to write an article, it’s to convey some sort of new piece of understanding. Some of them are bigger than others, but everything is a breakthrough. Everything is another puzzle piece that I’ve gotten to fit into place. Bit by bit by bit by bit.And we’re getting there. We’re making progress. We’re gathering strength. We’ve awakened, and we’re slowly figuring out how to awaken others. We’ve spent our whole lives swimming through putrid waters, and now it feels like, at last, the water is beginning to clear. We’re getting somewhere. I don’t know where we’re getting to, but it has to be better than where we started.So keep all that in mind the next time you feel some despair. That despair is because you feel hopeless. When that happens, find a tiny little kernel of hope. Find a grain of sand of hope. Find a molecule of hope. It doesn’t have to be much, but make it your whole world. Go in the direction of that light. Even if you only travel a millimeter at a time, you’ll start to feel renewed.This is how we get through this.Find real people and collaborate with them. Leave comments, share articles, sponsor the ones you can, but most important of all, just be there. Be present. Listen thoughtfully and offer your own observations when you are ready.We’re going to win goddamn it. There’s no other alternative.You all make this newsletter happen! Thanks for your sponsorship! I have payment tiers starting at as little as twenty dollars a year.Upgrade at 30% offUpgrade at 40% offUpgrade at 50% offUpgrade at 60% offI'm so happy you're here, and I'm looking forward to sharing more thoughts with you tomorrow.My CoSchedule referral linkHere’s my referral link to my preferred headline analyzer tool. If you sign up through this, it’s another way to support this newsletter (thank you).I'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