2020-10-07 Subscribing to samharris.com

I once subscribed to Sam Harris' site to support his work, but let the subscription lapse once he got on his feet. I still get emails left over from then and today's said if money is an issue, they will give you a subscription, no questions asked. The benefit is you don't have to listen to truncated versions of his podcasts, wrapped in up sell segments. I sent an email explaining myself as if I were writing to Sam directly. I am a difficult customer when it comes to supporting non profits. I don't have a cell phone, which goes against expectations. And I am very resistant to using surveillance friendly payment systems. I will send cash to a snail mail address and that is about it. The response came back promptly from a person on his support team. I understood the dynamics: I was writing to Sam Harris, Inc., not Sam Harris, the person. The experience was of a piece with other organizations I have dealt with. The people in them can be wonderful people, and I can love them dearly one on one. But dealing with people acting on behalf of a group, even a small group, changes the equation in ways I find difficult to deal with especially when money is involved. The purpose of the discourse with Sam's support staff isn't Spinoza's friendship bonding with lovers of truth. His podcasts themselves fulfill half of that desire. For the full loving relationship one needs to find another like minded nobody in meat space.