Walter: I have a different take on this matter.

As far as I am concerned, Medium has allowed me to get past the traditional gatekeepers. I have been able to interact with about 4000 people in the past four years about my alternative democracy. In the "good old days" of flogging manuscripts to publishers, I might have had a reach of 100 in the same time.

I have attained a big focus group of left-leaning, well educated people. They have basically told me that they prefer reading dystopia to actual solutions. If I were to flog my manuscript to publishers, they would be justified in rejecting it.

Whether that is the right conclusion or not is irrelevant. Although I am still a "bottom" writer here, I have found an audience to sample my work. I can't complain about that.