Terms of Despair

Last updated: 27 July 2026

These terms cover your use of Why We Can't Have Nice Things ("the site," "we," "us") — reading it, commenting on it, or signing up as a member. This site is self-hosted and independently run; it isn't affiliated with Ghost Foundation, which just makes the software it runs on. By using the site, you agree to these terms. If you don't agree, the only enforcement mechanism we have is asking you nicely to close the tab.

Using the site

You're welcome to read and share anything published here. You must be at least 16 years old to create a member account or leave a comment.

Accounts and membership

Signing up gives you a member account tied to your email address. Keep your sign-in link private — anyone with it can access your account. One account per person; we may suspend or remove accounts used for abuse, spam, or evading a previous suspension.

Payments and refunds

Some membership tiers are paid, processed by Stripe — we don’t store your card details ourselves. All tiers grant identical access (the ability to comment); higher tiers exist only to send us more money.

If you’re an EU consumer, you have a statutory 14-day right of withdrawal on your subscription. Per a July 2026 ECJ ruling (C-234/25) on personalized digital subscriptions, this right survives even if you agreed to immediate access — it isn’t waived by a checkbox. Withdraw within 14 days and we’ll refund you, minus a proportional amount for any time you already had access, since you asked for it to start right away.

Outside that window, subscriptions can be cancelled anytime and stay active until the end of the current billing period; we don’t refund unused time beyond what’s required above. A valid refund or withdrawal ends your paid access immediately.

Comments

You own what you write in the comments, but by posting a comment you give us a license to display it on the site for as long as it remains up. Keep it civil and on-topic. We can remove any comment, and suspend or terminate the account behind it, for any reason — including comments that are abusive, spammy, off-topic, or illegal.

The content we publish

Posts on this site are commentary and satire, written from public reporting (sources are cited at the bottom of each post). We do our best to get the underlying facts right, but nothing here is warranted for completeness or accuracy, and none of it is legal, financial, or professional advice. Opinions and framing are ours, not the companies or people described.

The text, design, and original artwork on this site belong to us unless stated otherwise. You're welcome to quote and link to posts with attribution; ask first if you want to republish something in full.

Other websites

Posts sometimes link to outside sources and reporting. We don't control those sites and aren't responsible for their content, availability, or how they handle your data.

Disclaimers and liability

The site is provided "as is," without warranties of any kind. To the extent allowed by law, we aren't liable for damages arising from your use of the site or reliance on anything published here.

Changes

We may update these terms as the site changes. If we do, we'll update the date at the top of this page. Continuing to use the site after a change means you accept the update.

Contact

Questions about these terms? Email contact@whywecanthavenicethings.info.

Everything is fine, except everything — but at least now it's in writing.