Courtesy of wikipedia.org
I met Noam Chomsky in graduate school. I say “met” metaphorically. His work was required reading for my degree. He had an idea that language was natural to the human brain, then went about proving it with linguistics–an almost mathematical formulation of how languages worked. Alfred North Whitehead and Bertrand Russell preceded him in Principia Mathematica.
In that work they attempted to describe mathematical propositions in symbols rather than imprecise words. They failed in their task when another genius pointed out that no finite system can describe the whole of mathematics.
I’ll say no more about these two subjects as I’m unqualified to do so. My point is that as a writer, I treasure that language is flexible rather than precise. So, Chomsky and I are destined to be at odds. Even so, I was sad to learn that at the age of 96, he suffered a heart attack that impaired his speech.
Chomsky’s words will remain ageless across the internet, however, as will those of many others. Not surprisingly, almost everyone has something to say these days. Artificial Intelligence is also filling the airwaves.
A few months ago, a woman on Facebook announced she had joined Substack, an online platform that supports subscription newsletters. I heard nothing more about the venture until a line appeared about her in the Feb/March edition of AARP Magazine. It announced that her subscriber numbers had doubled over the past few months.
I confess to feeling a twinge of envy at the time. I’ve been producing my Write Away blogs for nearly 15 years and the high point in my conversation with readers occurs when one of them points out a typo. Should I take the hint and fall silent like Chomsky? Or, is it possible that people might value my words more if they paid for them?
Writing a blog is work and tantamount to generating a newspaper column. After choosing a worthy topic, a period of research follows. After that, as would any journalist, I cull through the data in search of a nugget. That is the hardest part. Eric Hoeffer thought 6 nuggets were enough for a book. For a blog, I content myself with one. Then I write and write and rewrite.
So much work makes me feel entitled to a financial reward, but I doubt others would agree. The internet thrums with the thoughts of greater minds, Hoeffer and Chomsky, and Rebecca Solnit among them.
Nonetheless, it’s not modesty that keeps me from joining Substack. It’s arrogance. Simply put, my thoughts are not for sale. If they were, I’d have to worry about my readers’ response and, at age 88, I hold myself accountable to no one.
Soon I will turn 89, which means I’ve seen a thing or two in my life and my blogs represent what I’ve learned. Folks are free to peer over my shoulder and drop a comment or two. They are welcome to my world, but it is my world. Perhaps I shouldn’t call these scribbling blogs at all. Maybe I’m writing a diary.
This brings me to the purpose of today’s entry. The time has come to remind those of you who catch me on social media that in 2026, I will disappear from Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. If you wish to stay with me, you will be obliged to sign up for a free subscription on my webpage. If you choose not to do so, I will miss you, but I’ve decided to leave the madding crowd.
BOYCOTT TESLA
