I Won’t Put the Truth Behind a Paywall — Even if It Costs Me

Why I write seven days a week, what it’s costing me, and how you can help keep the truth free.

You’ve probably done this before.

You click on a Substack post that looks promising, start reading a few paragraphs, and then the screen fades into a paywall.

I don’t fault anyone for that. Writers deserve to be paid for their work. But I have chosen a different path. It may not be the smartest one, but it is the honest one.

Every so often, something happens that reminds me why I stay on this path.

A man named Donald Best, someone I don’t know, never interacted with, and didn’t even follow, shared my article Make McCarthyism Great Again with the words:

“Worth your time to read the article and to follow Chris Arnell on X and Substack.”

Then another reader, + Alberta Angel +, replied beneath it:

“This is one of the best articles I have ever read. Thank you for sharing. Will definitely pass along to others who really need to read it.”

Crazy, right? Two complete strangers, not bots, not friends, not followers. Just people who found it and felt compelled to share it.

Moments like that mean more than any paycheck. They are the entire point of this mission — proving that truth can still travel on its own, without algorithms or sponsors pushing it.

It’s that mission that keeps me writing seven days a week. I don’t chase headlines or echo what television hosts already said. I write about the things that are ignored, buried, or deliberately distorted. The truth is not always popular, but it is always necessary.

That is why I have never put a paywall on any of my writing. The truth is already behind enough walls as it is.

Take the piece I wrote yesterday on Joseph McCarthy. No one in modern journalism is willing to revisit that story without the propaganda attached to it. Or An Inconvenient Black Truth, which said out loud what most people only whisper. I write these things because they matter, and because silence has already done enough damage.

However, telling the truth comes at a cost.
I work full-time on this mission and still make less than minimum wage. I am not complaining. I chose this path. But it means that building something bigger, like the nonprofit I have been planning, is nearly impossible when every dollar goes toward keeping this desk running.

That nonprofit matters

I aim to establish an organization that educates and mentors the next generation. Young people are not being educated; they are being conditioned. If we do not reach them with truth, someone else will get them with lies.

To those who already stand with me, the paid subscribers, the one-time donors, and those who share my work across platforms — thank you. You are the reason this mission continues to move forward. Every share, every donation, every word of encouragement is proof that truth still has a home. Together, we have built something larger than any single writer could have achieved on their own. One voice became many because others refused to stay silent.

I cannot do that alone

If my work has ever made you stop, think, or see the world a little more clearly, then you already understand why this matters. The truth will not defend itself. It needs people willing to fight for it, fund it, and carry it forward.

The choice is simple. They can silence one voice if you let them, or we can build something they can never shut down.

Become a Paid Subscriber today.
Show them that their censorship, their smears, and their attacks only make us stronger.
https://mrchr.is/help

Are you in a position to do more?
Then, become a cornerstone of this movement.
Help me build what the truth deserves - something lasting.
https://mrchr.is/resist

Not ready for that step, but still want to help?
You can still keep the lights on and the mission alive.
https://mrchr.is/give

Sharing and restacking my work matters more than most people realize. Every repost, every mention, every link shared helps the truth break through the walls built to contain it. That’s precisely how strangers found my work this week because someone cared enough to share it.

The Left funds chaos. We fund truth.
And if truth is ever going to stand on its own again, it will take all of us to hold the line together.

Best regards,
Chris