But I was always reticent to do so. First of all, because we wanted to maintain complete editorial independence. It is obviously out of the question for us to receive any “aid” whatsoever from governments. Private donors can, for their part, sometimes try to influence an organization’s positions, or at the very least, there can be a tendency to censor oneself in order not to displease them, particularly when an organization is just starting out.

          And all matters of money obviously entail paperwork. One has to keep books and declare all revenue to avoid any problems with the taxman. There is also the fact that advertizing or calls for contributions can be annoying, and we do not want to bother our readers while we’re trying to reach them with our ideas.

          Finally, I consider the propagation of ideas to be a mission that gives meaning to my life, not a way to make money. Doing it on a voluntary basis was even more important given the fact that we face a persistent prejudice as libertarians. The caricature of the defender of the free market that pervades in right-thinking circles is that of a millionaire in a three-piece suit, smoking big cigars and constantly checking his stocks. He thinks only of money and never gets involved in any enterprise without first determining how it will profit him financially.

          Those who understand the philosophy of liberty know that this caricature could not be farther from the truth. It does not describe us either. If we continue to devote so much of our time to this mission of spreading the libertarian philosophy, it is because we believe in it; because we feel a responsibility toward our collaborators and our readers; because we created an institution, and thousands of people in Quebec, France, the U.S. and around the world count on this publication; and because we have already had a certain influence and wish to continue to have one in the long run.

          All of which to say that as long as we could afford to continue to function in this manner, I never saw the point of trying to transform this involvement into a for-profit activity.

          You may nonetheless have noticed the arrival of “Donate” and “Faire un don” buttons on the pages of QL. What made me change my mind? Most recently, it was a message from a reader asking us how he could contribute financially to the magazine. We had to inform him that we were not set up to accept donations.

          There are other reasons. We no longer need to prove that we are not simple “profiteers” trying to get rich by defending the interests of the wealthy. Since 1998, Gilles Guénette and I have written, edited, and published thousands of articles on QL and the Blogue du QL. We have spent countless hours solving computer problems and answering emails, not to mention organizing get-togethers and unremunerated media appearances, as well as incurring the hosting costs of the two websites.

          A quick calculation gives a sense of the magnitude of this “investment.” With an average of some 10 hours a week devoted to the two sites for over eleven years, each one of us has to date put in approximately 6,000 hours on this project. Assuming an hourly rate of $20/hour, say, that amounts to a total of $240,000, for which we have yet to see any “dividends.” For evil capitalists like us, there must surely be better ways to make money!

          We will also soon be moving to the country. We can do so because the bulk of our incomes now come from remote work contracts and the Internet has made telecommuting feasible. But this remoteness makes us more dependent on these contracts and cuts off most of the other potential jobs we could hold in Montreal if the contracts became less frequent, which increases our financial uncertainty.

          Finally, regardless of our financial situation, we would like to be able to work less and devote more time to this mission. Reading, reflecting, and writing require a lot of time and mental energy. The blog is sometimes inactive for several days, not because I lack ideas for subjects to address—I have enough to write 10 articles a day!—but because I have more urgent work to do, other preoccupations that keep me from focusing, or because I would need to read several sources before writing something sufficiently intelligent and I don’t happen to have the time to read 100 pages just then.

          So, then, why donate to the QL? Not because there is any danger the site will disappear. We will continue to host it one way or another. Not, either, to finance our princely lifestyle! But rather and especially to contribute to our financial stability and to help us pursue and devote more time and energy to this mission of spreading the ideas of liberty. It is for this reason that we are asking for your support.

          How much is QL worth to you? How much would you be prepared to contribute to the spread of our philosophy? If you had to subscribe to read QL, what would you consider an acceptable subscription price? If your finances permit, we invite you to send us an annual donation of $ 25, or € 20. We will obviously gladly accept all other contributions. We thank you in advance.