The Left Hook Needs You!

Dear friends and readers, I must step out of my comfort zone and do something immigrant kids are taught never to do: openly ask for your support and help.

I have a very important and sobering confession to make to readers and fans of The Left Hook Substack.

I am a terrible capitalist.

Yes, it’s true. Even though I was born to hard-working Pakistani immigrant parents and raised in this country where the color green trumps all else, I have not drunk from the Gordon Gekko Kool-Aid.

I’d be a lousy Republican and One Percenter.

Alas, I am what I am which is a writer who believes that the pursuit of truth, democracy, fairness, goodness, and occasional forays into pop culture and Bay Area sports talk is more valauble than monetary profit.

I say all this as a prelude to a necessary but uncomfortable request I must make of all of you.

This Substack began nearly 3 months ago with humble expectations. I imagined I’d write around, eh, three or so pieces a week. But, I have a lot on my mind, and there’s a lot of foolishness that must be addressed and corrected.

As such, I’ve been pretty busy updating the site regularly with columns and in depth conversations with subject matter experts who speak beyond sound bites and simplistic talking points.

You all seem to enjoy it, and every day the Substack’s community grows.

Like the terrible, failed capitalist I am, I have made every single post free. Yup, every single one. (Go and check! I swear!)

Substack folks tell me to charge the audience for some of the content, but I feel the information is too important and there’s too much at stake this election. We have to defeat an authoritarian, right-wing movement that wants to hijack the Delorean and take us back to 1853.

Not gonna happen on my watch.

As such, I have resolved to keep every post free leading up to the election. Ideally, I’d prefer to keep the whole site free so anyone can enjoy it.

However, I also have to find a way to make this feasible so I can keep writing, engage with you, and, you know, also feed my three kids.

So, here’s my honorable, sincere, and hopefully not too shameless request. If you have enjoyed what I’ve been writing and producing for the past 3 months, please become a paid subscriber.

I’ve kept it super affordable.

• $5 a month

• $50 for a year

• or $250 as a gift

That’s it.

If each reader chips in even $5, The Left Hook can really take off in a big way and free me to produce more content, write more articles, invite guest columnists, and interview amazing subject matter experts.

Thank you for reading, and now I will go have a strong cup of chai and apologize to my immigrant family for writing this post and asking you for your help.

Onward!