Jack Preston King , I’ve been saying this for years but Ev & Co. just doesn’t trust us to spend our own money. Ev Williams is afraid we’ll spend it on writers that he doesn’t personally approve of so he insists we give our money to him so that he can give the money to the writers he likes. We are treated like children who are too stupid to know what we like. That is why I refuse to pay for membership. If I am going to pay my hard-earned money into a membership that pays writers then I want a say as to which writers my money goes to. But the current membership system does not allow us any say whatsoever in which writers get paid.

Instead we are given the illusion of having more say with the clap system. I checked with my landlord, though, and he vehemently refuses to accept claps in payment for rent. So claps are essentially worthless. They are just an illusion to trick members into thinking they might now have more control over their money. But in truth Ev retains full absolute control over the members’ money and how it is spent. That is not something worthy of my applause.