This technology. The internet. This platform. Substack.

Contradictions surround us.

Contradictions R Us is opening another outlet in your mind.

Snow is beautiful when it first falls. That white carpet untouched except for a few bird or animal tracks. The sunrise arrives and dawn brings a change to that quiet blanket.

Substack, this platform, seemed to be a place for joy, education, literature, humour, art, and creativity. These things still exist here in large quantities.

Substack state this on their Home Page:

Substack is the home for great culture

Defining great culture will be fraught with contradictions.

Substack also says this on their website:
Access to a community of peers.

Independence loves company. We bring Substack writers together so they can help each other, collaborate, and learn together.

Capitalism does not have a moral compass.

In 2025, the world’s 12 richest men owned more wealth than half of humanity.

Substack built a platform for writers/creators to broadcast, publish and for some, to thrive with paid subscriptions. Substack takes 10% of the proceeds.

Here is where the Substack moral compass has run into a magnetic field of money.

Andrew Tate now publishes his shite on Substack and has over 1 million followers. These are not all paid subscribers. The majority are just following his account.

Andrew Tate, an online influencer known for his chauvinistic views and brash displays of wealth, and his brother Tristan are under criminal investigation in multiple countries.

In Britain, the Tate brothers are facing criminal charges of rape and trafficking.

In Romania, prosecutors have accused them of trafficking more than 30 women, including a 17-year-old, into their pornography operation. Andrew Tate has also been accused of rape, and of having sex with and beating a minor.

And in the United States, a New York Times investigation found, they have been under investigation by Homeland Security anti-trafficking agents and federal prosecutors since 2023. This year, Florida’s attorney general opened a criminal investigation into the Tates.(New York Times-Isabella Kwai-Dec 2025)

There are always going to be rotten apples in any community. People will argue 1st amendment for all. The Tate Brothers have come home to roost in Florida. What is it about Florida and fucked up chauvinistic men?

Ron DeSantis, right-wing governor of the USA State of Florida, has said the Tate Brothers brand of toxic masculinity was “not welcome” in his state. They are also under criminal investigation in Florida.

Substack started out as a place for writers, and it has increasingly come to resemble Instagram and YouTube. Podcasts and short videos abound. I have removed the Substack App from my phone because it had become another distraction in that device we all carry around.

Exhaust fumes have extinguished the beauty of the virgin snow. As the heat rises, we shall see where this melting of Substack takes many other writers, who like me, still have a moral compass.

Chris Best…Co-founder and CEO of Substack….how do you vote? With a moral compass or your bank account?

Of course, it is exhausting, having to reason all the time in a universe that wasn’t meant to be reasonable.- K.Vonnegut

AEIOU…..

“State Of The Art (A.E.I.O.U.)”
Daylight come
Daylight go
How far will it reach?
Ain’t nobody know

And when the dawn breaks
The cradle will fall
And down come baby
Cradle and all

Now I know you need the dark
Just as much as the sun
But you’re silent on forever
When you ink it in blood

A-E-I-O-U, E-I-O-U, A-E-I-O-U, I

I use the state of the art
Technology
Suppose to make for better living
Are we better human beings?
We’ve got our wires all crossed
Our tubes are all tied
And I’m straining to remember
Just what means to be alive

A life worth living
Now you can feel it in your chest
Building like little bullets
Just building up the nest
And you build it up strong
And you fill it up with love
And you pray for good rain
All from the Lord above

A-E-I-O-U, E-I-O-U, A-E-I-O-U, I

I use my state of the art
Technology
Now don’t you forget it
It ain’t using me
Cause when the power goes out
I got other means...
Cause the power’s going out
I hear the power’s going out
I mean it the power’s going out
I really mean it the power’s going out

Jim James Songwriter

Take A Step Outside My Inside

Jim James-State of the Art (A.E.I.O.U…