E-mail Campaigns for We the People

As an avid listener of Progressive Talk radio, AM620 KPOJ, and a reader of publications such as The Nation magazine, and viewer of LinkTV cable that features Democracy Now!, I appreciate getting my information without a corporate spin. I rely on these independent media outlets and those who sponsor its programming to refer me to online sites for more information that I view with frequency. With a lot of garbage on the internet, I have come to trust the referrals I get from progressive media outlets to check out progressive online media campaigns for their products and services.

I tend to go back forth between cynicism and hope with the state of our country. I have contributed to online e-mail marketing campaigns by becoming a member of MoveOn.org as well as contributing to progressive candidates in states where the threat of reactionary politicians is more prevalent than in Oregon. I have given $50 contributions online to Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) for his campaign seat as well as Allan Grayson (D-Florida). Progressive talk radio is but a small fraction of the overall talk radio market which leans "conservative." This is why I believe that the continued growth of progressive talk radio coupled with the internet and world wide web can become valuable tools to spread the message of democracy in this age of corporatism. When I am not giving to notable causes on the internet, I like to support independent businesses as well as local businesses for local economies.

My feelings overall have been positive in supporting causes I believe in by using the internet and the web. The greatest fight I believe in is the fight for getting accurate and free information. While the internet was funded through a research project of DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Project Agency), the ground work for creating the world wide web was funded with federal dollars by We the People. Members of congress who have been getting huge campaign donations from ISPs such as Comcast, Qwest, and AT&T have been proposing legislation to impose fees to We the People in the form of "tolls" for the uploading and downloading of content on the internet. This imposition of fees would effectively stifle free speech on the web when companies can impose arbitrary fees for download times to progressive organizations that do not fit the same profit driven model. Disney.com, Exxon.com, or Cocacola.com would be able to pay $20,000 month for quick download times of content versus organizations such as TheNationMagazine.org, MoveOn.org, or GardenOfLightPublishing.blogspot.com that has a very limited budget to express our ideas on various issues. The threat of private industry to get rid of net neutrality is very real especially since the Supreme Court ruled in Citizens United versus the FCC that corporations can send unlimited money to Right-wing politicians, essentially legalizing bribery.

I believe that our country is on the precipice between an age of openness and enlightenment and a dark age of corporatism (fascism). While the internet is still free and I am able to go to websites that I trust, I will continue to support those organizations and their e-mail campaigns that support a world view of openness and enlightenment.