Fuck you. Pay me.

Photo by Jp Valery on Unsplash🍕 I’m JA Westenberg. I write essays about technology, philosophy, productivity, and what it means to be human. If you like ideas that take their time, you’re in the right place.While you’re here, a few things I’ve built: Kerouac, a writing app | Post Through It, a solo microblogging tool | Distributism.ai, my MCP platform | Laterware, all the AI news you need | Studio Self, a thought leadership agency for founders x VCs.You can buy my book Permissionless here.Everyone wants something for free.Everyone wants you to give them your labor and your value for free.They’ll offer you exposure, or they’ll offer you a chance to build your portfolio, and none of it means jack. They’ll devalue the years - literally, years - you’ve spent growing and honing and building your skills, through sheer blood, sweat, and tears, by trying to barter it out of you for exactly zilch.And when you say no? When you tell them you can’t afford to work for free, because you still have…