S Lynn Knight , I understand where you’re coming from. I mostly agree with all that you are saying. But there is always more than one side to things.

Yes, if Medium is to continue it needs money. Well guess what? So do I. The way I see it, I am already contributing to Medium. I don’t have any money to contribute to Medium but I contribute a lot of content — content that I work very hard at producing but for which I am not compensated for with so much as a penny. They say nothing is free in life but Medium has been getting an awful lot of my hard work for free. If Medium wants money to keep going then I want money to keep writing. Is that not fair?

We old fogeys on fixed incomes that can’t keep up with inflation have to make choices. I really, really wanted to subscribe to The Weekly Knob but I just can’t. Why? Because my rent went up at the first of the year. Because of that there is simply no way I can add any new monthly expense even if it’s just a buck. Instead I’m desperately trying to figure out how to cut all my current expenses in order to cover the rent increase. I’ve already cut all my expenses to the bare bones and it has come down to the basic truth that I simply must eat less.

Yet I spend 25 to 40 hours a week writing on Medium and don’t get a penny for my work. I write for publications so that they can make money but I don’t get a red cent. I work my ass off for Medium and it’s all for free. Am I nuts, or what?

I am keeping my fingers crossed and hoping Medium comes up with a system that enables ALL writers to be compensated and not just the top-tier writers and for ALL publications to have monetization enabled not just the top-tier publications. If this doesn’t happen I will simply have no choice but to leave because I simply cannot afford to pay Medium for the hard work that I have been doing for free. To do it for free is bad enough but to pay in order to hand over your free work is an abomination I will not subscribe to.

I am truly hoping that Ev Williams understands this and I am truly hoping that I will be able to afford to keep passionately writing from my heart here on Medium. Meanwhile we all wait with baited breath for what happens.