If you’ve not had your head under a rock this week, you might’ve spied the new kid on the blogging block – On The Left. I’m entirely partial, but I think it’s a pretty awesome initiative and a pretty great bunch.
On The Left was conceived by Stephanie Rodgers and Asher Wilson-Goldman as a response to our both our depressing election and the lack of “accessible, well-written, interesting, and fun” writing to spark the discussion and propagation of left-wing ideas.
The OTL writers are activists, political junkies, and general lefties with a variety of interests, experiences, and skillsets. I’m pretty honoured to be one of them.
There’s going to be a wide range of topics and voices. So far we’ve had a bunch of us talking about why we’re on the left, we’ve had alpaca comics, we’ve had discussion about ISIL, and a damn hard hitting piece about violence against women.
I know there’s plenty more lined up, so check out the site and follow the Twitter to keep up to date.
While I’m doing a bit of a plug (which is necessary but always makes me seriously uncomfortable), I’ll awkwardly mention my Patreon.
When I signed up for Patreon, I was hopeful I’d get a few dollars per blog post, which would help me where the benefit falls short. It’s a platform through which people can become patrons and support other’s work through pledges.
I’m incredibly lucky to be receiving support this way. It’s not just financial for me, in fact that’s almost secondary. What it means is that people want to hear what I have to say. I feel credible. I feel like my writing contributes something. What it costs me in energy and pain to write feels worth it.
At the moment, my health is dubious, but it is allowing me to write, which I am incredibly grateful for. What I am hoping is that, with enough support, I will be able to transition over the next few months from the benefit back to fulltime work.
Patreon is helping that happen. And, honestly – the reality is, it helps me pay bills I wouldn’t otherwise be able to cope with (ref $700 cat).
So if you have a few dollars spare and would like to support the work I do here, and at On The Left, please consider being part of Patreon. You will get poetry and also my undying love. (It’s not as creepy as it sounds, I promise).
-SW
Thanks for this post. I had a look at the new blog, but it does for a number of reasons not appeal to me. We already have a fair few blogs on the “left” or progressive side, and I visit them regularly. I fear we will end up with many blogs and various groups preferring this one or the other, and thus have more fractioning of the left. I prefer to keep visiting blogs that already exist and have an established following, and that allow a diversity of views.
Personally I am also getting a bit tired of blogging, as it seems to be nothing more than “preaching to the converted”, and as it does not reach enough of the population out there, who really need to be reached and sent information the MSM (mainstream media) do not present.
By having too many people having too many blogs, and so many variations of expressions of interest, we are perhaps not serving a common enough goal, to work and fight together, to bring about change.
What has shocked me the most is, that the bulk of the public out there, seem to ignore some of the very topics we hold for so important. There is such a disinterest in human, health and social issues now, it is disheartening, and really scary. People seem to have been brain washed to such a degree, they rather watch “the block”, some silly shows, tweet trivialities, and just try to follow fads, and fashions, or “trends”, that are more consumerist, superficial, nonsensical and really irrelevant, it questions what we actually are here for, and why we live.
Sorry to be so negative, I like your blog here, but some developments really worry, yes scare me, and the mainstream media, mostly in commercial hands, do all, to make life unbearable.
Good on you though to look at it differently, and to promote and fight for what you are fighting for. I admire your determination and courage. Best wishes, whatever the future may bring.
Marc