Dear Medium, It’s the Principle Not the Promise

You need to add more slices to the pie.

Photo by pure julia on Unsplash

You need to get with it, Medium and extend your Partner Program to more than the thirty or so countries you are currently offering it to. Writers like me cannot make money from our work. When we try to sign up we get some lame-arse excuse that says we cannot be a member because our particular country is not supported at this time. We are therefore asked to register and Stripe will work towards getting us added.

I am a paying Medium subscriber and you never once told me that my $5 monthly contribution could not be accepted. You happily sign onto PayPal to accept my payment and then with persnickety, you tell me that you cannot pay me through the same PayPal or any other third party platform.

In this 21st century where the tools are there to send and receive payments almost to any part of the globe, including my 2x4 Caribbean island, you really do not have an excuse. One former president of the United States had an adjective for countries like mine, and it makes me wonder if you have yours as well.

It is the money, yes. I can do so much with the $5.27. I might earn monthly (for starters, to pay my subscription) but more so, it’s the principal. I wish that you would use the means available, to allow you to offer the Partner Program to all writers, and not just the Group of Thirty.

The urge to write this piece woke me up at 4 in the morning. I was annoyed by the fact that I was awakened after just a few hours of sleep and then even more annoyed that I was guided to write on a topic like this, which is not my usual style. But who knows?

Perhaps this was meant to be written and shared.

Perhaps Medium will now look into ways of supporting all writers in its Partner Program.

Perhaps I can go back to bed and get a few more hours of sleep.

Perhaps the cow really jumped over the moon.