I, like many here, did not get to go to Yearly Kos. The main reason was lack of money. I've been seeing this, every now and again, tucked away in various threads related to YKos. Comments like:
Barely broke even this month, paid rent late... Having to ask my friends in the food industries to "hook me up".....
YearlyKos was a distant dream for me:(
Maybe next year.
-- astronautagogo
And sure, I've been banging this drum loudly myself for the past few days. But apparently to a mostly empty room.
It seems to be a theme here, especially related to rural poverty in particular, that sounds awfully like the right wing's "I got mine, too bad for you."
I've been banging the drum of "why wasn't YKos a sliding scale?" "why wasn't a collection taken up so poor people could also attend?" "why was there no discussion of scholarships, grants, or other ways for poverty-stricken Kossacks to go and be heard?" "what ever happened to that rural issues discussion/caucus?" "was there any discussion or caucus on poverty?" and I've gotten little to no response. A few scattered 4's, and that's about it.
Why?
This was clearly THE EVENT to get your ass to if you wanted to meet some of the movers and shakers of today's Progressive politics. But it was held in a location that is difficult to get to for pretty much everyone, in an expensive hotel, with lots of expensive perks like fancy badge lanyards, an open bar, giant video screens, custom lighting, ice sculptures, and so on.
What did I do this weekend?
* Thursday hubby and I both applied for jobs.
* Friday I applied for jobs, hubby did web programming.
* Saturday I worked an info booth and gave a short workshop on sustainable living at a local Earth Festival.
* Sunday we did yard work and listed more stuff on eBay.
There are some of us out here who care very deeply and passionately about our current political landscape. We vote, we support candidates, we do what we can in our own ways. But we are in poverty, more and more are with us every day. I read an article yesterday that the amount of food pantry demand has increased nearly tenfold in the past 10 years in the suburbs. So when I see some of these perks and niceties in Las Vegas, of all places, it rubs me the wrong way.
What did I do with the money others spent on YKos?
* Gasoline
* Food
* Car insurance
* Electricity bill (behind on that $200)
* Medical bills
And you know what? I honestly couldn't even afford the $10 to see any of the video on the AAR website.
Some kind soul did say "I'd think every county's Dem committee should go ahead and foot the bill for as part of their networking and conferencing expenditures." and I just had to laugh... we are talking about a county with 15% of the population below the poverty line (in California, where the cost of gas and rent magnifies this even more). Not only does our Dem committee not have a "networking and conferencing expenditure" budget, we can barely put out a monthly newsletter.
And look, I'm not posting this to be a pain in the ass, or say that other people shouldn't have gone, or that YKos shouldn't have happened. Not at all. Quite the opposite, in fact. I'm thrilled to have seen the pics, and that others here were able to go in my stead to help make a difference and shape the future.
The reason I'm saying this is because in the past I've been rebuffed by many Kossacks for speaking out about rural poverty. Many of the replies I've gotten have been along the lines of "tough shit, I'm not subsidizing your stupid decision to live there, move to the city where there are more jobs."
Ignoring the idiocy of the blanket assumption that I could automatically find a decent job if I simply moved to the city, the sheer callousness of this is what gets to me. On a site that's supposed to support Progressive ideas and ideals, I'm continually surprised and even shocked that so many here have the selfish "I got mine, too bad for you" attitude.
Is the world really that caught up in itself? Is politics only for the well-off? It looks like that from here, anyway. I didn't want it to be true, but I guess it is even for liberals. Weren't we supposed to be about helping others?
So I guess what I'm trying to say is that next year, please try to find a way that a few of us who have no money can also be allowed to attend. Even a sliding scale or something would have helped. Because even though I really, honestly do appreciate the reporting here and photos, it feels to me like I am only welcome if I can cough up the coin... like poor people are invisible, even here on DKos... like the only ones who matter in modern politics are those who can pay to play.
I just don't think that's right.