The 20th anniversary of my starting this blog has, finally, arrived.
The first post was no grand announcement, largely because, in practice, there had been a previous version of this blog running for several weeks before it shifted to this self-hosted version, which has run ever since.
There are no special events or anything very much to mark this day. But three things happened over the weekend that showed me that there is still life in the idea that there is a need for a platform to discuss alternative or heterodox approaches to issues in the current political economy.
The first was the surprising success of our latest e-book.
I admit that when I announced this here on Thursday and on Substack on Friday, the reaction was muted at best, and even slightly disappointing. Then I promoted it on YouTube in both a video and a community post on Saturday, and the reaction was very different.
There have now been almost 2,000 downloads, and as any author or publisher will confirm, that is a strong first weekend performance.
To put this in context, I always remember a statistic that was once reported, which suggested that 30% of all materials available for download on the World Bank website had never had a single download in their history.
So, first of all, my thanks to all those who have downloaded this book. I hope it is interesting.
And then, my thanks to all those who also donated. You are encouraging us to look at producing more materials of this in-depth sort, which is a process now in development.
The second encouraging sign was that, perhaps as a consequence of the book, this blog had what is, for it, exceptional traffic over the weekend.
It is not unusual for blog traffic to dip a bit at the weekend. When bots have been eliminated, the usual readership at the weekend is just over 20,000 per day, but this weekend, on both days, traffic exceeded 35,000 views, and that is exceptional, once again.
The third notable reason for pleasure this morning is the reaction to yesterday's video, which was entitled "You're not crazy".
Some of the videos I make take quite a lot of planning, research, and thought before I ever sit down in front of the camera. This was not one of them.
To make this one, I told Thomas that there was a video I wanted to make and that it would be called "You're not crazy", but there was no script, no plan, and almost no preparation. Apart from the opening few sentences, about which I had some idea, this was going to be a simple free flow to see what happened.
I asked Thomas to turn the camera on, and I just talked to it. Or rather, I talked through it.
The video was made in one take, as is true of most of ours. I must have made one or two mistakes on the way, because I can see that edits were made, and I correct mistakes as I go, which is why those edits appear, but the flow was uninterrupted as the video was made.
And then, as I usually do when I think a video is complete and the camera has been turned off again, I asked Thomas if he thought it was okay, and he confirmed that he thought that one would work.
He was right; it did.
It has not been as big as some of our videos, but at 58,000 views yesterday, it obviously spoke to a lot of people, and I am grateful for the comments. It felt like the right thing to say at this moment, and quite a lot of people agreed. So, thank you once again.
I know I spend a lot of time thinking about ideas, writing, video making, and more. In total, I think I spend more than 60 hours a week engaged in those processes, but if a retired person spent the same amount of time pursuing a hobby, nobody would be very surprised.
And since no one asks me to do this, you could describe it as my hobby, and it is one I enjoy sharing.
I will be candid, though. There may not be another 20 years of life in this blog now.
Who knows whether I will make 88 or do so with the energy I have now?
If I am in reasonable health, I would like to do the first, but I am realistically aware that at some point my energy must fade a bit, although as yet I have seen absolutely no sign of it, and everyone keeps telling me that it should have happened by now. So, let me just hope that things can continue for as long as possible.
That is my wish. I hope you might stick around.
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Congratulations ! (:
May you and your work live a long and healthy life.
I don’t often watch your videos now, but your sane voice is my start to the day Richard.
I’m of a very similar age l, and like you, hope to continue pursuing what I hold dear to me.
I’ll certainly stick around for as long as you are willing to continue (assuming I live too, obvs)
Thanks
I was musing on this only the other day when the number ’68’ appears on your blog. You’re eight years ahead of me age wise. It’s been worth it so far.
I shall be 73 tomorrow. The celebration organised so far is limited to a shingles jab at noon.
🙂
Happy birthday
Pilgrim, you should worry! I’m almost 20 years older to you.
I expect I shall have to read your posts until I get too old to come here.
But lads, Richard and Pilgrim, keep going, you do a great service.
KUTGW team
🙂
I’m now 86. Physically I can do much less than I could even 5 years ago. Deep coversations of more than an hour exhaust me. My concentration isn’t what it was, either. But I am still learning and changing, and that shows no sign of slowing down. So be of good heart; even less energy doesns’t mean not achieving what you want to. It varies so much from one person to another that averages don’t apply individually.
Thanks, and go well!
Many happy returns, Richard. You’ve only just started.
I think you may be right
Congratulations.
Good luck.
Thank you.
Thank you
“You’re not crazy”.
The transcript of the “You’re not crazy” video needs to memorized by every non-neoliberal political candidate running for office in the UK and USA.
The non-neoliberal political candidates need to look into the camera and repeat the transcript, with the same enthusiasm as Richard, every time they are being interviewed, giving a speech or ask for comments by a journalists.
I am amazed at the quantity of material you manage to produce day after day. Being 9 hours ahead of UK time I might be among the first to read the earliest material, clearly produced when any self-respecting retired couple should still be abed. After another 20 years you might have slowed to the pace that the majority of content producers already consider to be a strain on their personal resources.
Much of your content is inevitably repetitive and after a few weeks of following you I am already selecting which items to read in full based on the initial precis, partly because there are other things I have to do than read every word you write each day and partly because there is increasingly less and less important new knowledge for me to learn from. I am already convinced!
I understand your use of the 3rd person in this series, especially with the use of AI but find it too remote. You are obviously not trying to create a personality cult but attracting more viewers/readers must include an element of that. Never forget that back when we were young TV newsreaders used to be popular celebrities despite their scripts being written for them by the day’s events. ITN and the BBC competed for viewers with the help of Michael Aspel, Reginald Bosanquet, Moira Stewart and Angela Ripon. BBC radio also had many respected voices that people trusted (Brian Redhead again!).
Thank you
ooops! My last was meant to be a reply to “Your view on…” But the submit button has no ‘edit’ function.
Some additional waffle for “stick around…”:
My humble advice for the start of the next 20 years would be to focus on a smaller quantity of material produced in ways that will attract a larger audience. Whether the line “Comedy and a bit with a dog, that’s what they want” from the film Shakespeare In Love is entirely appropriate is not for me to decide. More discussions and interviews with other people, which are often entertaining as well as informative might be one option to consider. Perhaps even get the general pubic (who are the people you most need to convince) involved. Go out onto the streets of Ely and ask the natives what they think is meant by “The National Debt”.
Whatever options you choose going forward, please keep up the very important work. Eventually the truth will out.
I find podcasting hard
And vox-pop would be a nightmare and massively t8me consuming
That means I’ve been reading your blog for nearly 20 years!
This blog has been such a great sanity check for me – maybe for others?
Back in the early 2000s we’d had 20 odd years of Thatcherite triumphalism and one would read about the new common sense on issues like economics and tax from the usual outlets and wonder if the real country I stepped out into each morning was the same one I’d read about in those pages. Relentless propaganda makes you think you’re going nuts.
Your blog genuinely helped. Thanks so much for it.
Thank you
Dear Richard.
Thank you for your work here.
“God only knows where we’d be without you and your family”
That there is an alternative to the absolute drivel of Thatcherism/Neoliberalism means we can all aspire to a better world. It actually makes politics fun.
“Funding the Future” is genius.
Well, I think that might be overstating it, but thank you