People Like Us Are Meant To Be Subscribers, Not Writers
You have to fund the club, but you can not join in!
Medium. I have fallen in love with this platform and the people within. The writers with the quality of the ideas they pour down are incredibly astounding. I got many exceptional yet unpopular insights from various topics: from relationships to social and cultural discourses. I can’t lie; those articles here are also part of my paradigm to view my own world.
However, I also have to spit the truth. No matter how excellent this platform is, Medium is not that inclusive for all writers worldwide. Because, maybe, we’re just meant to be the consumers.
You’re welcome as a writer, but we won’t pay you. Lol.
Write as much as you want, and please bow down to the guidelines criteria.
Wait,
You come here to earn money as well?
You definitely can, honey.
Do you have more than 100 followers?
Have you posted at least a story?
Then apply it!
Oh my God, I’m sorry.
You live outside our gang, honey.
But, don’t worry, you can still write to us:)
That sucks.
I live in Indonesia. That means I’m not in: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States.
And consequently, I can not monetize my own work here. And seeing those eligible countries are like EU gangs with western colonialist backgrounds in the past hang out together to exploit the other developing countries in the Southern sides, except Mexico.
At the same time, that means — Third World country citizens like me can not get equal access or rights, such as incentives, no matter how desirable my qualification is.
I’m not only talking about me. But I’m also talking about the other friends who have similar circumstances to mine. Folks who live in African countries to Southeast Asian regions (except Singapore) are the same.
Imagine you come to a company because you’re eligible for their criteria. But since you’re the outsider, they still welcome you to volunteer and exploit your potential, but absolutely, you won’t be paid.
That just haunts me.
Well, saying it as exploitation is quite an accusation. But it feels like Medium is an indirectly perpetuating system that creates a disparity between so-called First World countries and “the other ones.” The system disincentives outsider writers to produce their works. Then, writers are reluctant to write because their time and ideas are not worth even a penny. Then we — the other ones — just ended up being a customer again.
Well, some writers can monetize it behind the doors. Why don’t you do that too?
The question is, until when we’re treated like the backdoor people? I’m so done with this notion. We are always taught to circumvent the legal system. And I don’t care if you call it hustling baby or whatever. It makes us more like the cunning person who tricks the system just to earn our rights. It’s a corrupted culture, honey. Aren’t you aware of that?
Then, just don’t write on Medium?
This is what people say to alienate people and sustain the disparity gap.
Medium at the same time: if you still want to read high-quality writing, we can definitely charge you money. Lol
Let’s just wonder why we can’t monetize our work while readers who reside not in those countries are still being charged some money? Doesn’t it sound like we’re meant to be the readers, not the writers?
Harshly, It means like; Third World Countries are still systematically represented as consumers, and we’re not “allowed” to be the producers with equal rights as the other First World producers.
Hey, it’s just $5 a month; please be nice.
Let’s just begin with the income disparity you all know when you earn in First World countries vs. Third World countries.
I have to work my ass off to pay $50/year for reading more than 5 articles on Medium in a month. Just bear in mind, that amount of money is way too pricey even for me. That money can sustain my life for 10 days in Indonesia. And for the context, fortunately, I have such privilege to pay that.
But can you get the point? It feels like people like me don’t have equal access to join the club, but we have to fund the club. Doesn’t it sound like the bourgeoisie extract money from the stupid proletariat like me?
Then don’t come here.
Lol, okay, savvy capitalist.
Final Thought
Medium, if you believe in an inclusive society, please consider how’s like your system for “other” writers (or readers) outside the eligible countries. And please, don’t blame Stripe. You guys can work better than that:)
I don’t have Stripe. So would you mind to buy me koffie https://ko-fi.com/renipeb 👉👈
