The stickers? 
A week left to go in the month and we’re just over half-way to the Green Zone (see graph). I hoped that having stickers available – free, to any person who tosses a few bills our way – would boost things a little.
Does anyone want one? Or was it a mistake to invest in them?
Dood, I just received my stickers in the mail!
They are top notch, Mang!
I think so, too!
Trying to think where is the best spot to put it. Front windshield, or rear, and where on it? We should start a pictures thread of sticker locations.
I want one. 407 N. 4083 E. Rigby, ID 83442
I am a monthly donater but I will drop you a few bucks in a one time donation tonight. Don’t sell, bro. Don’t do it.
Thanks, Ancap… sending today!
Tom Woods has a great video on YouTube called, “the problem with the libertarian moocher”. On my phone, I can’t post a live link. Maybe not on my computer either….but it is good stuff. Watch and enjoy, especially tor. I know he can find it since he is a pro at posting myriad info on this site, probably many more. Think about the good he could do by sparing $1 per month out if the time he spends posting all of his stuff……$1 per, say 100 hours.
I like Tom; done his show a couple of times now and hope to be a guest again soon.
On Tor: He’s obviously smart, definitely witty and seems like a good egg. I appreciate his contributions to the site, too. I just don;t understand why someone who spends as much time here as he does (which implies he finds the site useful or entertaining or both) is not willing to support it in the one way that’s essential to its continued survival.
And I don’t mean to single out Tor. Nor toot my own horn. I am speaking in general terms.
If you get value out of something, give value in return.
That is all.
I agree with all that you said. Think of the good tor could do. I’m nowhere as prolific as tor. I can’t even post live links for hell sake.
http://www.gofundme.com/mvc.php?route=search&term=24079 Here are the 573 gofundme campaigns near Copper Hill, VA. Any one can start one of these campaigns for any purpose, the site takes 8% from the donations.
How about a sticker, Tor?
C’mon… help a brutha out!
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/verawylde/" Because I'm 100% financially committed to becoming a sista, I can only offer my time to my fellow freedom bruthas at this time, thanks for understanding.
Does that mean you’re a transvstite, aka a chick with a dick?
just tryna be hooman and cool like u all and post deep stuff on the internet and walk around on 2 legs like I own everything and I’m in charge blah blah blah
I’m not sure what that means, Tor… can you explain?
And – seriously now – who among us hasn’t got $5 to spare? I’m not demanding; just saying.
If half of the 80,000-plus people who came to this site each just tossed in $1 a month, I could afford a staff. Copy editors and researchers. We could do projects – like take an old VW and update it with a few inexpensive modern features such as TBI, to see what sort of mileage we could get out of it.
I could certainly afford to pay Dom.
And everyone can afford to spend $1 month. Even a homeless guy.
As things are, however, I am barely able to pay expenses. Because it’s hard to get even one out of ten people who come here regularly to send in anything, even if only the equivalent of a cup or two of coffee at Starbucks.
It’s frustrating as hell.
We’ve got a good product – something people seem to be interested in. It’s just that most of them expect it to keep magically appearing, for “free.”
I suppose I’m a dumb-ass for continuing to provide it for “free.” I’ve held on to the idea that people who believe in value for value would see the value here – and we’d have no problems. Unfortunately, our problems are serious – and unrelenting.
Lord knows (figuratively speaking) what the future holds. I hold out hope this is going to work out. The sticker thing seemed promising to me. But the fact is I’m just treading water and – if some company made me a decent offer, it would be very hard to turn it down.
Captain: You gonna get used to wearing them chains after a while, Luke. Don’t you never stop listening to them clinking, ’cause they gonna remind you what I been saying for your own good.
Luke: I wish you’d stop being so good to me, Cap’n.
Captain: Don’t you ever talk that way to me. (pause, then hitting him) NEVER! NEVER! (Luke rolls down hill; to other prisoners) What we’ve got here is failure to communicate. Some men you just can’t reach. So you get what we had here last week, which is the way he wants it. Well, he gets it. I don’t like it any more than you men.
Hi Tor,
Er… ok!
Paul Newman has a cool hand.
Eric,
I hear what you’re saying.
I’d point out that bad money drives out good, in multiple ways.
You are analogous to Apple: high-quality, user-friendly, quality product. (think Apple IIc or II gs).
The others – the IBM clones – are beating you out by sheer subsidized costs. IE, crap.
Apple: SCSI drives, RISC processors, user-friendly system, first mouse, first GUI.
IBM Clones: CISC processors, no GUI (Dr DOS, DOS 3.0, PCDOS, OS/2, etc), originally only a keyboard…
But Bill Gates bought a cheap OS from someone (forget who), and kept the rights to distribute it not only with IBM, but with ANY computer system… And then made predatory business practices the norm. (E.G., you couldn’t install Program X without destroying Windows, or making ti run at 1/100th the performance.) then he got it bundled into every clone he could find…. even encouraged piracy and free copying. Achieved market dominance between those two paths.
Now guess who’s leading the charges on copyright protection….?
Similar to Tesla/Westinghouse and Edison General Electric/JPMorgan. Note that it wasn’t Edison that destroyed Tesla, but his financer, JP Morgan – who, along the way, removed the Edison name, too. And was willing to use baseless lawsuits to destroy Westinghouse.
You need a John Galt financier… I don’t think you’ll find one, though. I drop a chunk in the kitty when I can, but (for example) we’re overdrawn right now… But I’ll give a grant when I can…
People never consider the “hidden costs” or Opportunity Costs.
Most “humans” are about the level of an ape, and have almost as much forethought (time or future awareness). Myself included, I fear, or I’d be flush ALL the time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uKbIkYGsIg
Oh, why don’t you save all the money you earn?
If I didn’t eat, I’d have money to burn.
Or, not in the linked version…
Why don’t you work like other folks do
How can I get a job when you’re holding down two?
😉 😛
Hi Jean,
Thanks.
Libertarians, though, ought to take care of their own – or practice what they preach.
True story: About a week ago, I stopped at a Starbucks to grab a cup (I exist on strong coffee and plenty of sugar…diabee-tus). Went over to the little stand where you add said sugar and cream, etc. Noticed a receipt folded in half, with several bills in between. Couple twenties and some loose ones and fives. It was just “there” and “free.” I could have pocketed it and walked off. But I turned it in to the counter girl, told her I’d found it there.
I don’t expect (much less demand) that everyone who occasionally visits this site send in monetary support. But with the readership we have (tens of thousands of people) it’s absurd that we can barely meet expenses, let alone anything more.
Libertarianism rests on voluntaryism; on doing the right thing just because – not because one has to. No popular Libertarian site (not merely EPautos) ought to have to sweat money. And yet, almost all of them do.
“We could do projects – like take an old VW and update it with a few inexpensive modern features such as TBI, to see what sort of mileage we could get out of it. ”
I think you may have just hit on a great idea. Do the project as a TV show. Eric Peters Retro-Mod Garage or such. If you do an even halfway decent job you can’t help but have a better show than the standard Discovery Channel ‘reality shows’ of truckers, miners, fishermen, etc.
For an example, check out the ‘A …… Is Born’ series.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Is_Born_series
Low budget and a bit goofy/cheesy but if you want income and turn wrenches, this looks like a not bad way. I know I would rather watch a Retro-mod build than some dancing idiots or toothless illiterate miners performing ‘reality’ for the camera.
I agree, Me – and (cue OJ) I would love to.
But the Catch-22 for me is… I’m just barely able to pay my bills. I have no discretionary money available for projects. Hell, I am about to sell off one of my bikes to gin up some cash.
The VW project would entail:
Finding/buying a decent “driver” old Beetle – figure $3k or so.
Buying the TBI – prolly another $800 for a universal fit/self-learning unit.
That’s about $4k I haven’t got right now.
If I can get the sticker (and coffee cup, etc.) thing off the ground, all of this will be doable. That’s my hope/goal.
We’ll see…
I understand your dilemma. However seed money for a project is out there. With so many channels and so little decent content, producers are desperate for content.
With a bit of time fleshing out the project on paper, I suspect seed money, some cameras and a vehicle would arrive at your door courtesy of a producer. You may need to run it past a few but like I said, they are desperate for content. The amount of start up money you would need is probably less than what these guys blow on lattes every year and they can write it off so I think you would have a fair chance of success.
What about Kickstarter or crowdsourcing the PROJECT, instead of specifically tying it to EPAutos?
Don’t know if it would matter, but the “tutorial” could be the draw, the crowdsourcing be the funds, and the whole project is then auctioned off as well?
With links to EPAutos, of course, peppered into the video and the Libertarian thought woven into the discussion (usually by analogies as you explain how things work: IE, Clear up-pipe & down-pipe for the turbo, instead of the stock L-bend tubing, means better throughput, means faster spooling, means faster and better power. So it’s like removing subsidies from the free market… you remove the barriers to entry of cronyism, and everything hums faster and better…..)
Just trying to make an example from my limited auto knowledge.
Also, you could look to going “freemium” here, probably, though I’d hate it. 😉
But THIS month’s articles are locked – only a teaser. Say, first paragraph. (Especially car reviews). Next month, it’ll be free, but for now, it’s $1 or so to view the article – with the donation allowing access to everything.
I think Tor suggested similar, and there was a reason not to, but I can’t recall the full exchange now.
Would people steal the password? Sure! but if you get even 10%, you’re in the green, right?
Actually…. One problem there, many T*’s end up dead. Suicide is common; homicide happens. then there are accidental deaths due to the “lifestyle”, which leads many to self-medicate with booze and drugs – sometimes fatally, sometimes without any real “evidence”… IE, many T*’s are invisible: Manly men with beards, barrel chests, almost furry. Often with family – who may not even know.
But it’s not like the world is very tolerant. E.G., LGBTQ? Each letter hates the others, essentially. (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer… may also include other things, like bestiality, necrophilia, pedophilia, f*ck if I know… I’m not part of “the movement.”)
My point was, even NOW, in our “enlightened” times: Many young people do NOT “come out” until they’re on their own – once the skeleton has solidified into a masculine or feminine form, and the hormones – a PRIMARY drive for them – do far less to change the body. Which means they are then FREAKS by most people’s standards. Google Kathoey or Lady-boy; compare to even the passable porn-site “shemales” or “TVs” – you’ll see a MASSIVE difference. Because in Thailand, while they are still bottom of the social ladder – they are “accepted” (As bottom of the ladder, but it beats being beaten to death by the football team, just because you were walking down teh road and they knew who/what you were)….
And also, Thailand (and most of the civilized world) has the hormones OTC, and at significantly lower costs – no insurance required.
Whereas, in the US? No college degree, no girly good looks, no family, no support, no income… “Broke” IS a common decorating scheme, if they even have a place to stay. And while Starbucks may be “accepting” of the Gay Lifestyle – it’s kind of hard to make a living as a barista.
Now, I THINK Tor was just being a wise-ass, but I figured I’d add some real conversation there for edumacation purposes… 😉
And while it’s human nature to look funny at people who are really “weird,” it IS impolite to stare, and IS improper to treat these people as freaks….
Until they earn it, at which point, all bets are off (Q.V. Cancer references elsewhere, and the Cancer isn’t their “lifestyle,” but the real problems they are causing. )
I’m already on the $5/month plan. Don’t really need a sticker, just happy to support the site.
Adam Curry, host of the No Agenda podcast (best podcast in the universe), calls it “value for value.” (actally Ayn Rand said it first)
Thank you, Eric!
(And if you ever decide that you’d like a sticker, just let me know…)
I’d have to donate more because I’m in the wrong country and postage isn’t particularly cheap. Not that I care about that, but I no longer have a credit card and money is a rare element in my life at the moment.
Don’t worry Eric, I’m sure that eventually your stockpile will diminish to zero.
Hi Rev,
I understand – no worries.
The “game” is one of numbers. Not everyone – or every nine out of ten – is necessary to make this work. But we do need to get that one person out of every ten who is a regular reader to toss in. It doesn’t even need to be the same people. Just 5-10 percent of the total readership each month.
Every non-MSM media outlet faces the same challenge. You can have a big audience. But getting it to the point of financial viability is very, very tough.
I honestly could not do this – would have had to give up doing this a long time ago – were it not for the fact that I moved us to a “remote location” several years back and we don’t have a house payment. Still, I’m barely hanging on. It’s a constant struggle to just pay the bills. And while I am not a very materialistic guy and live a modest life, I also want to avoid going broke.
I intend to work as hard as I am able for as long as I am able, but a point may come when I just can’t afford to do this anymore. The awful truth is that if one of the big MSM outlets I used to write for were to offer me a decent salary to write car reviews for them – and shut up about philosophy/politics – I’d be very tempted.
One eventually gets tired.
I want one! info will be coming your way by my usual snail mail method, don’t really trust the Internet with financial stuff; not to mention the NSA and all the rest of the douchebag gunverment busybodies.
Excellent – thanks, Mike!