As I write this Monday evening, there have been half a million visits to DailyKos so far today - and the night is young.
Even if the average visit is just a few seconds, that is more than 4,000 person-hours spent here each day. And not just any person-hours: thoughtful informed liberal progressive political activist person-hours. What's that worth?
DailyKos and sites like it have been invaluable to me the last couple years: they give me the stories the mainstream media is unwilling or incompetent to report, and a place to rant or just ask questions.
But they also pose a little danger. Just like playing NBA Jam is not the same as shooting baskets in the park, reading and posting to dKos may be fun and addictive, but it's not the same as getting out in your neighborhood and trying to help a cause you believe in.
So here's my simple challenge to you (and to myself): If you spend over one hour per day on dKos, I challenge you to spend one hour per week away from the keyboard working for a political cause.
Details and suggestion for a mojo rave below.
I know some of you already give your time -- please post below what you do & how much time you spend on it, so we (or at least I) can shower you with 4s. Here's a great story about sidewalk protests in Laramie, Wyoming that
kainah left as a
comment that I just loved in my
last diary:
Funny to read this today for me because I've been standing on a downtown street corner in Laramie, WY for a half hour every Friday protesting the war for 2 1/2 years.
...Cheney came to Laramie and a group of people got together to protest his appearance. We didn't want that group to dissolve so we formed Stand Up for Peace and we began standing on the downtown street corner every Friday afternoon for half an hour in early January 2003. We've been there ever since. Sometimes only one person can make it, but someone is there. Even when it was 30 degrees below zero one night. (I admit that we only lasted about 15 minutes that night.)
The great thing is that, after a while, you become totally immune to whatever reaction we get. If you have to do it alone, you know it's because other people are busy and they're with you in spirit. And we know that people drive down there just to honk for us so you always have a reason to go. We always get some hostility. It was pretty nasty for a while right after the war started. But we have signs that say HONK FOR PEACE and we get a tremendous amount of support as well.
We often get people stopping to join us -- we always have extra signs -- and people have even written letters to the editor of the local newspaper thanking us for what we do. When we started, we said we wanted to provide people a space where they felt comfortable expressing their dissent. (This was back when lots of people wouldn't say anything because no one wanted to hear anything but the bush line.) These days, we know that many people depend on 3rd and Grand at 4:45 on Friday afternoons to honk their horn and say they disagree!!!
Getting mooned was a first. We just yelled "thank you" to them. It confused them. It's very easy to confuse our critics usually. Many people yell "support the troops" -- but the problem with that is that, on your average Friday, we have three vets standing there (with a combined 45 years of service) and the mother of two Marines currently in Iraq. Plus, since 2003, we've probably sent at least $300 worth of stuff to local troops in Iraq.
The thing I want to say, though, is this -- ANYONE ANYWHERE can do this. Just make yourself a sign (HONK FOR PEACE is a good one) and grab a friend for moral support and then DO IT!!!! It's great fun and very rewarding.
If you're not bold enough yet for streetcorner activism, there is a lot you can do. Just don't procrastinate -- don't spend time researching the different causes and trying to imagine how you can contribute. Just send a few emails, tell them you can give about an hour per week in your neighborhood, and let them come to you. Grassroots groups are well-organized and after they get back to you, you can decide whether you want to follow through.
That's how I got started. I stepped outside into the political world from behind the keyboard for the first time two weeks ago, volunteering for a Democrat's mayoral campaign here in NYC (as of this weekend I am conflicted about the candidate, but that will be another story). Here's what my first time was like (from Marching Orders):
I'm sitting in the lobby of the building I work in, just outside the cafeteria, next to a huge colorful wall sculpture named "Moby Dick." I've got two Gifford Miller for Mayor signs taped up behind me, flyers spread out on the bench next to me, and I'm holding a ballot petition.
I am feeling very awkward.
I'm not someone who is comfortable, say, at parties. Or at bars. Basically, anywhere where there are a lot of people and I need to walk up to them and say something. I am more at ease, for example, sitting home and writing a blog entry. Standing in the lobby with my big Gifford signs, I am, to put it mildly, outside my comfort zone.
...Beyond the fear of approaching people and making a fool of myself, there is another problem I have. I feel like a proselytizer. I would not stand in a hallway and try to sell people a religion, or a toothpaste or candybar - how can I be comfortable selling them my politics? Plus, I hate it when petitioners confront me on the sidewalk. I don't want to do it.
So, I take a much more low-key approach than I probably should. I sit in my chair, posters up, flyers beside me. I smile at everyone, I say hello to those who make eye-contact. My friends, of course, come over to talk, and I explain what I'm doing. If anyone else takes a second look, or comes over to read the flyer... I start a conversation...
I get a few interesting reactions. A couple of guys speaking Spanish walk by, look at me, say something, shake their heads and start laughing.
...A guy I know sees me, sees the sign, smirks, asks "You're running for mayor now?" A woman walks by, slowly, and with great confusion asks "Are... you... Gifford Miller?"
A man tells me he will sign, that Gifford Miller is a good man and he'll vote for him, but it turns out he's a registered Republican (one must be in the party to sign that party's primary petition). Some of his co-workers come over and give me a hard time, joking with him whether they should call security to throw me out: they're all Republicans. But an hour later he comes back with his wife, a registered Democrat, who signs.
Four or five people stop by and have fairly involved political talks with me. It's a good experience. Reading and posting to blogs has actually been of some use: it's given me experience in how to make (and not make) political arguments, and to raise brief direct substantive points. Sometimes.
...I collect a paltry 16 signatures. ...But a few hundred people see me sitting there, see the posters, read the name. Maybe I have some effect on them.
And at the end, I feel like I did something. I proved to myself I can step outside the closet as someone with political opinions. I can talk to people and act for a cause without feeling like a proselytizer or vacuum-cleaner salesman. I can't necessarily do it well, but it's a start. And I collected a few signatures, and introduced the name of my candidate to the people I work with.
To answer the woman's question, no, I'm no Gifford Miller - not yet, anyhow. But if stepping out from behind the keyboard is a first step, then I've at least set one foot forward... one clumsy, hesitant, painfully awkward foot forward.
So again, here's the challenge:
if you already volunteer for a political cause or campaign, tell me about it. You're guaranteed a 4 for your trouble, hopefully some others will join me, and I will excerpt some of your stories to the front page of MarchingOrders.
if you don't already volunteer, but you spend more than an hour each day online talking politics, then why not give it a try? Just one hour each week. Start by clicking here and typing your zip code in the box to the right of the map (don't click the map). It will show you a list of Democratic groups in your area. Or, post where you live below and ask for suggestions.
You don't need to offer too much in your email: just tell them you are interested, and see if they have something you'd like to do. Once you've sent your email, tell me about it - you'll get a 4 for your trouble, I promise, and a good feeling too. You will also be thinner, smarter, and more beautiful. Just do it.
For everyone else - support the challenge to convert dKos-hours into liberal volunteer-hours - take the pledge below.