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All of our institutions are headed by the likes of Caligula, Nero and Elagabalus so it's only ever a matter of time before the charlatans in charge set it on fire themselves. Never count on anything lasting longer than a year. Motivations can change overnight.

With one exception, there are no instances of anything crowdsourced/community-supported that aren't later paywalled, gatekept or destroyed to prevent exfiltration. It's always an advance-fee scheme. The longer the duration of time, the more the terms are corrupted until the people expecting delivery on the original promise end up being told "what promise?" (The exception is piracy sites. Ironically the illegal nature of the activity seems to keep the owners honest.)

Never work for free, for any promise of long-term future payout, "exposure," or any other bullshit. When they fuck you over--and they will, because you made it so easy--you'll be too broke (and broken) to sue. Every inch, every day you give them is just more time for them to find ways to cheat you.

(You'll learn this lesson the hardest way in making concessions to a high-conflict ex-spouse armed with a 50/50 child custody agreement...they get you to agree to let the kid stay with them during your scheduled time, more and more, until they can prove the kid is basically with them 100% of the time-- then you get slapped with a vastly-increased child support order. You can't claw anything back because they have commitments now. Thus, you get cheated out of both your relationship and your money.)




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