Readers Write on Sustainer Pledge Drive
January 13, 2013 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
From a reader and current sustainer: I completely agree that there is nothing out there like Revolution newspaper and feel very distressed to learn about the financial difficulties the paper is experiencing. As you say, it would be a disaster if this paper could not continue. Why do I say this? I have been a supporter and fellow traveler for many years. Living under this hellish system, which is responsible for so much misery to people here and all over the world, is a hard thing to do when you know there is a better way and things don’t have to be this way forever. The weight of this system and all other reactionary systems and ideologies goes a long way in crushing people’s spirit and strivings for another world. Without this paper and the RCP and its chairman, Bob Avakian, there would be no guiding light and real alternative to the ugliness that’s out here in all its many forms... For myself, I plan to increase the amount I give per month. Just think about our prospects for achieving a world worth living in without this paper and let this guide your decision.
Correspondence on the Revolution pledge drive: As the new year was approaching, three of us got together for tea and to talk about the emergency funding crisis facing Revolution. We started our get-together by reading through the call entitled “A Message to Our Readers: THIS PAPER, AND REVCOM.US, CANNOT CONTINUE WITHOUT YOUR FINANCIAL SUPPORT!” (December 23, 2012). It was refreshing and enriching to walk thru the unique role of this newspaper and website being the “hub and pivot of a movement for revolution—a way that that movement gets guidance, shares experiences, and keeps track of ‘where we are in the game’ in terms of preparing for, while hastening the moment when a real chance at a successful revolution emerges.”
Sometimes, we lose sight of the dynamics involved here because we are working intensely on doing what we are doing. Just to step back for a moment—we can see that we are involved in a very active and changing the world process that links people up not only within the U.S. but worldwide, and these links being forged actually move things closer to actually being able to win a revolution when that time emerges. This is in sharp contrast to the notion that the role of the newspaper is to educate people one by one for the end goal of absorbing knowledge and self-edification.
One of us made the observation that there are a variety of leftist or progressive publications that do provide information that is hidden from the public eye—but Revolution excavates not only what has been hidden, but links it to the workings of a capitalist-imperialist system worldwide and points to revolution being the solution—and this is the case even for those who are not convinced of the need for that kind of radical change. He reflected on how frustrated he feels about people falling for the “Obamalade” for another four years and how relentless Revolution has been about repeatedly exposing this—referring to the article about the “Six Ways That Obama Has Been Worse Than Bush” (March 25, 2012). His conclusion was that we just need to just keep at it—again and again—to peel off those illusions. But how are we going to “keep at it” if this paper cannot continue to come out?!?
We got into the sober and accurate assessment of the extreme financial crisis expressed in this article. We talked about the concretes of what is required to keep producing this newspaper—perhaps obvious to some people, but nonetheless needed to be said. Then, we got busy with percolating ideas to change this situation. Various ideas were put on the table: someone mentioned how a progressive radio station in this area used to sponsor a big one- or two-day flea market in one of the supermarket parking lots, an event where people broadly were asked to contribute items and also come to purchase items; another idea came up about producing a pay-per-view podcast featuring a Revolution reporter on a certain topic that has been covered in the newspaper, or it can be something as simple as just reading one of the articles from Revolution.
One of us committed to double her sustainer amount. Someone else, an artist, reached up on his bookshelf and pulled down a book with a shiny colored cover with 20 pages or so of photographs of artwork from an artist. We looked through this book and he suggested the idea of making such a book that would be a kind of gallery of photos that have been in Revolution along with the captions. He said that selling this gallery book would not only be a way to raise funds but to promote the print edition and website. We discussed the steps involved in doing this, but resolved that this project is a good one to pursue and involve other people. And just for starters—we perused through some old printed issues and the website for photos and WOW, what a colorful and vivid array of visual images of reality—of human experience, depth of anguish, joy, agony, and life comes through! So this is a project we can take on.
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