My first post on Ghost

Originally written for Substack.

We’ve all been there.

Like so many tech companies before it, Substack has reached the Nazi phase of its life cycle. I won’t belabour the point, David Farrier’s explanation for leaving the site lays it out better than I could. Like him, I’m not super keen on stuff I write being promoted alongside Nazi propaganda so I’m ditching it

Substack isn’t unique in this regard. Most tech companies are run by bloodless psychos (or psychos who have an over-abundance of blood) and on a long enough time scale, their political evolution tends to bend towards the fascistic. The fact that there’s no ethical consumption under capitalism is seen by so many people as a Get Out of Jail Free card when it should encourage one to be targeted and strategic in their consumption choices. That’s why I’m making the targeted and strategic choice to ditch Substack.

When Mayor Tory Whanau presented an amendment to adopt a BDS approach to the Disaster Resilience Fund last month, the bad-faith arguments against it were predictable. Right-wing councillors spouted the usual nonsense:

“It makes things too complicated for fund managers!”*

“Why don’t you care about other overseas conflicts?”†

“What about all the good Israeli companies!”‡

Of course there’s a litany of companies with blood on their hands but that’s no excuse to be defeatist or defensive. You’ve got to do what you can with the levers that are available to you to make things better. There’s nothing worse than someone who has a cry because their love of Subway sandwiches or Thom Yorke is so essential to their sense of self that they see a boycott as a personal attack on them. THIS ISN’T ABOUT YOU!

At the same time, my decision to move away from Substack should not be seen as a blanket condemnation of those who are sticking around. Many rely on the platform for their income (I don’t). Many (especially Palestinians) don’t have the luxury of being picky when so few mainstream platforms are available to them. Many are probably in the process of moving away from Substack but need to get their ducks in a row (God knows it took me long enough).

Luckily, Substack is just like real life: when you leave Substack you come back as a Ghost.

Ghost is the site that people like Farrier are using now and it makes things super easy. If you’re subscribed to my Substack, you should already be migrated over but you can always check out my page here.

I’ve had a crazy month with a new job, the film festival and my book launch (thanks to all who came but if you missed it, you can buy my book here) but I hope to have a bit more space for writing for the rest of the year. Those pieces, about film, politics and stuff that only I care about will be sent exclusively from Ghost for as long as that site continues to be Nazi-free.

*When people in finance talk a big game about how difficult their job is, it’s simply a way to justify themselves. The whole point of the specific, targeted approach of BDS is that all the work is already done for those making decisions about investment and consumption. There is literally no analysis required, just a pre-prepared list of exclusions.

† I don’t want my rates invested in any genocide! If someone puts forward an amendment about divesting from companies involved in the Sudan Genocide then I’d want my elected officials supporting that (I’m not sure if there are genuine concerns about WCC interests in Sudan given it is mostly used as a bad-faith rhetorical device).

‡This question from Ray Chung (who else???) was one of my favourite because it shows how clueless he is. The BDS list is mostly American multinational corporations like Coca Cola and Disney. Does he think WCC is investing in a bunch of well-meaning mum and dad businesses in the occupied West Bank