Among the many interesting responses to my doleful post
asking What can I do? was Charles Perkins’ suggestion that I resurrect the Friday
Lists. For those who have forgotten or
who have migrated to this blog quite recently, the Friday Lists were a series
of weekly posts on which I simply listed what readers reported they had done
politically in the preceding week. The
idea of the lists was to encourage people to take concrete steps of any sort to
influence our politics, however minimally, and to strengthen their resolve by
having what they had done reported publicly.
That was a brilliant suggestion, and I am hereby declaring the
resurrection of the Friday Lists.
What sorts of things are you invited to report?
Here is a short list, intended merely as suggestions:
1. Donations of
money to candidates or political campaigns and committees
2. Phone calls
to state, local, and national office holders
3. Emails,
texts, tweets, or letters to state, local, and national office holders
4. Campaigning
for candidates [raising money, walking door to door, office work, etc.]
5. Contacting
friends or associates to encourage them to do any of the above
6. Attending
rallies, protests, campaign events
7. Putting up a
lawn sign [if you have a lawn]
8. Putting a
bumper sticker on your car [if you have a car]
Some restrictions, qualifications, and caveats:
1. American
citizens or permanent residents only. I
don’t want to run afoul of campaign finance laws and such.
2. No Republicans. This is not a Good Government exercise. If you are a Trump supporter, I urge you to swear
off politics and retreat to your basement to converse with the four hundred
pound hacker you are hiding there.
3. This is
still primary time, and will be for a full year. The purpose of this project is to encourage
you to participate, not to foster internecine political warfare. For example, I signed up some time ago to
make a $9 a month donation to Sanders in perpetuity. I also donated $500 to Warren a week ago. There are undoubtedly Harris, Biden, Buttegieg,
Castro, Yang, O’Rourke and Klobuchar supporters among my readers. Until the party chooses a candidate, this
website will not discriminate. I will of
course express my preferences, but not
by editing the Friday Lists.
4. This is not
a competition. Think of it as a cross
between crowdsourcing and a flash mob.
The point is not to be seen to be doing more than anyone else. The point is to encourage each of you to do something.
Instructions: During
the week, report your doings either with a comment or by email to me, at rwolff@afroam.umass.edu. I will keep a list in the order in which
reports come in, and post it each Friday.
Finally: there are maybe
a dozen or so regular commentators to this blog [depending on how you
individuate the anonymati], but if Google’s metrics are accurate, there must be
between 1000 and 2000 discrete individuals who visit the blog more than occasionally. I am really
really eager to hear from some of you as part of this effort. Email me if you prefer not to post a comment.
First list: July 26,
2019.
GO RPW!!
ReplyDeleteI haven't checked in for a very long time, mostly because I was overwhelmed by the volume of political email and texts, to say nothing of my serious addiction to MSNBC (latest drug of choice---Nicolle Wallace in the afternoon.) The Friday lists are a good idea, if only for mutual support. I haven't done a lot lately, other than smallish donations to Buttigieg and Amy McGrath in her race against the despicable McConnell. Also, I've given a bit of money to Planned Parenthood and groups supporting the immigrant children in detention. This week I wrote a grant application for the local immigrant defense network. But that's about it. Rather pathetic, given the seriousness of the problem. I doubt either Pete or McGrath has a good shot, but I think Buttigieg's voice is important, and I'd like to see him hang in as long as possible. I'm hoping to get more inspired, and I'm looking forward to others' lists.
ReplyDeleteAs a resident of the District of Columbia, I have no Senator or Representative in Congress. It’s taxation without representation, pure and simple. Health reasons prevent me for doing things like canvassing. I hate bumper stickers. So I confine myself to small contributions. I’m not donating to any of the presidential candidates right now. I’ll wait until it’s over and support the winner.
ReplyDeleteI currently make three small monthly contributions through Act Blue: (1) to the DLCC, which supports candidates for state legislatures; (2) to Elizabeth Guzman, a first term member of the Virginia House of Delegates; (3) to Rep. Jared Golden, Maine 2nd District.
Guzman was one of three candidates in 2017 that Bernie recommended via Our Revolution. I contributed to all three. One I never heard from; one sent a thank you by mail, and has been in radio silence ever since. (I don’t remember the names of either or even if they were elected.)
Guzman, on the other hand, responded with thanks and then kept coming back for more and has kept up with me regularly by email ever since. I’ve been impressed with her organizational effort and have given her campaign $10 per month since 2017. She was the first Latina to serve in the Virginia House and is up for reelection this November.
Golden is the young man who, in 2018, flipped a Republican House seat in Maine in a district Trump carried. This was the election in which Maine tried ranked voting. Golden came in second on the first round, with slightly more than 48% of the vote; the Republican also was at 48% but with a small fractional advantage. Golden won when the Green Party second choices were distributed. He is likely to face a strong Republican challenge in 2020.
Tom Cathcart,
ReplyDeleteI’ve been re-arranging books in probably futile attempt to put them in some rational order, when I ran across my copy of “The Trolley Problem,” complete with a blurb from Prof. Wolff. I bought it five or six years ago, but didn’t realize that you were the author until now. I also had “Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar” but, alas, that has disappeared. They were both very enjoyable. Anything else in the works?
David Palmeter,
ReplyDeleteSince we often differ in our opinions, let me tell you that I, like you, detest bumper stickers. I don't own a car, but I don't wear tee-shirts with political messages either, which would be the pedestrian equivalent.
Also like you, various physical ailments due to age make it difficult for me to volunteer for campaigns: I'd last about 10 minutes handing out leaflets in front of the subway: my hand motions have become slower and more clumsy with age. I also suspect that someone as old, slow and out of it as I am would just be a drag for the young kids who from what I can see form the infantry of political campaigns here.
I do donate money.
Another opponent of bumper stickers here. I suppose one could argue that their effect has little to do with whether or not one likes them. They afford name recognition, or some such. For example, I am aware that I should credit "honor student" status, and perhaps at some subconscious level I now do, thanks to all the proud parents who gloat (on their bumpers) about it. But based on my own experience, I don't credit "honor student" status.
ReplyDeleteI once saw a bumper sticker that said "My son is a trustee at the State penitentiary."
ReplyDeleteDavid Palmeter,
ReplyDeleteMy favorite bumper sticker said, "CAUTION: STUNT DRIVER."
Danny Klein (another former student of Professor Wolff's) and I have another goofy one out called, "I Think, Therefore I Draw," an exploration of the "deep philosophical meaning of cartoons." I think we went to the well one too many times, though, as it's not doing much.