Top Stories of 2024
Happy New Year! Here's a look at the top five articles from the Freelance Busting website during its first year online.
I launched the Freelance Busting website in early June 2024 and have published a little more than 60 articles since then about the need to protect everyone’s freedom of self-employment.
The site has seen a steady increase in subscribers, with thousands of readers a month now checking out the stories. Readers have shown a great deal of interest in articles about the recent history of freelance busting, breaking news about government efforts that target independent contractors, and a new book about left-wing authoritarianism and how it relates to this policy area.
Here’s a look at the top five articles from the site during its first year online.
Thanks so much for reading—and for caring about everyone’s freedom to choose self-employment. I appreciate everyone’s support as we head into 2025!
No. 5: Well, That Escalated Quickly
“It’s been a while since the freelance-busting brigade unleashed a tirade of social-media bile in my direction. Back when the Protecting the Right to Organize Act was in play, the hate bombs would drop fairly regularly, up to and including comparing me to a Nazi. Lately, these folks have been more subdued.
“That is, until yesterday’s torrent of rage. … What sparked their anger? A vote that took place yesterday in the U.S. Senate—suggesting that we are about to enter a new era of policymaking (please let it be true) that ends the use of government as a cudgel for union organizers against everybody else.”
No. 4: Make America Work Again
“I think the Republican Party has a real chance right now to grow its tent, bigly, in a way that is smart.
“Republicans don’t have to make the same mistake the Democratic Party made, when it decided that policy had to be for unions versus all the rest of us. Instead, the GOP can create an inclusive table where policy is made for us all.”
No. 3: The A-Word
“Those of us who are happily self-employed—the vast majority of independent contractors in America—are trying to keep our right to earn a living as independent contractors. Democratic Party lawmakers say they’re giving us the ‘freedom to join a union’ as they push policies that would restrict or eliminate our right to be self-employed. When I say that their policymaking feels authoritarian, am I interpreting your work correctly?”
A Q&A with psychology professor Luke Conway, author of the book Liberal Bullies.
No. 2: The Highest Stakes
“This past weekend, one of the candidates on a presidential ticket was (finally! at long last!) asked a direct question about the Protecting the Right to Organize Act. …
“Here are the facts on the PRO Act, and what a vote for either side in the upcoming election means for independent contractors going forward.”
No. 1: If We’re Divided, They Conquer
“Real-estate agents have launched a social-media campaign to try and get Congress to protect their status as independent contractors. They want lawmakers to pass a bill—H.R. 5419—that says no matter what the freelance-busting crowd tries next, the term ‘employee’ cannot mean ‘any direct seller or qualified real estate agent.’ …
“This is exactly what the freelance-busting crowd wants in their quest to restrict or eliminate our right to choose self-employment. If they can sideline and silence the professions that are most able to fight, then the rest of us lose, and overall, they win.”
A Q&A with Freelancers Against AB5 co-founder Karen Anderson.