A Call To Arms
Magnificent isn’t it? Over to the bottom left we have a blogroll with a picture of armed ruffians sitting atop a dead elephant. At this point in time, our less than two week old alliance finds itself at cross roads. Our first option, is to do what all alliances have traditionally done: watch the roll grow – like a plant – until it becomes a massive bean stock of discombobulated links. Give it a little time, and we’ll probably grow tired of it wasting the space it requires on our template. The alliances members will slowly begin to erase their blogrolls out of complete lack of interest. Eventually, the Progressive blog Alliance -- like the Liberal coalition, and its even lamer liberal webring compatriots – will wither into yet another wasteland that falls under our philosophy's name.
Another option is to only admit bloggers that meet certain standards of “reputation”, who are “sufficiently progressive”. I violently oppose that option. For one, such a system unnecessarily encourages factions and disagreements among us. Furthermore, as we our a politically charged outfit, we’d be required to agree on the meaning of political terminology. And how is that supposed to happen? Am I supposed to send out an e-mail asking you to anonymously answer the question: “what is a progressive”? If I did, most of you would probably just wonder what I hoped to gain from assigning the alliance an essay question.
Remember, we are progressives and leftists! We must remain forward thinking, open-minded, and – above all – willing to fight in the interests of the underdogs. It often amazes me that someone can feel so strongly about creating a just, equal, and free society, yet act as stingy as a freakin’ hard-core libertarian when it comes to giving someone a link. We must differentiate ourselves from the snobby attitudes of the liberal coalition (who, I suppose deamed me unfit to join their ranks), and alliance of free blogs. Both of those organizations maintain a perpetual attitude of, “this blogger isn’t established enough”, or “what sort of link/traffic benefits can I expect by allowing them to join the alliance?”
I on the otherhand, believe there is a greater reward in giving someone who shares our world view a helping hand as they climb up the slippery and overcrowded ladder of the blogosphere. I would gain more satisfaction from that, than winning additional rounds of blogosphere link-realpolitik . I say let members join with 0 links from 0 sources. Perhaps our support might encourage them! Perhaps they might have something to say if they thought people were listening. If you doubt my optimism, take a look at the first post that you ever wrote. Furthermore, think of the long term benefits of presenting ourselves in such stark contrast to the rest of the sphere? Remember, our philosophy requires our actions to be consistant with our words.
So I’ve gone ahead and made a few decisions. Not because I imagine myself to be a commander and chief; but because many of us have been talking for too long of that dream, that supposively the Internet will enable. So I ask: where will it start, if not here? If not by us, then by whom? If not now, then when?
At the beginning of this post, I spoke of a crossroads. One road, leads to us into doing what we’ve always done. The alliance pick us up a few links. We will simply continue to blog, blog, and blog, but with more links. We might pick apart news stories, or occasionally write a good essay; perhaps a few of us will even achieve some marginal notoriety. However, that road bores me. I refuse for us to be reduced to a revolution of "fact checkers". So fellow progressives, I ask you to take my advice, this road that I will soon point to will be far more interesting than a simple collection links.
Below I've linked to the entire alliance:
In Search of Utopia, ddjangowire, Arran's Alley, Left End of the Dial, Jimtopia, Democracy for California, ,Dispatch from the Trenches , Ratboy's Anvil, Mouse Musings, The Blogosphere Zoo, Wealth Bondage, =CoffeeHouseStudio=, Stained Glass Soul, LEFT is RIGHT, and By Beauty Damned
Inspector Lohmann
Firstly, consider these links a token of goodwill from me.
Secondly, these links represent the combined amount of effort required for all of you to complete our first mission. However, I cannot post our mission here, you will have to check your e-mail boxes sometime after midnight.
Another option is to only admit bloggers that meet certain standards of “reputation”, who are “sufficiently progressive”. I violently oppose that option. For one, such a system unnecessarily encourages factions and disagreements among us. Furthermore, as we our a politically charged outfit, we’d be required to agree on the meaning of political terminology. And how is that supposed to happen? Am I supposed to send out an e-mail asking you to anonymously answer the question: “what is a progressive”? If I did, most of you would probably just wonder what I hoped to gain from assigning the alliance an essay question.
Remember, we are progressives and leftists! We must remain forward thinking, open-minded, and – above all – willing to fight in the interests of the underdogs. It often amazes me that someone can feel so strongly about creating a just, equal, and free society, yet act as stingy as a freakin’ hard-core libertarian when it comes to giving someone a link. We must differentiate ourselves from the snobby attitudes of the liberal coalition (who, I suppose deamed me unfit to join their ranks), and alliance of free blogs. Both of those organizations maintain a perpetual attitude of, “this blogger isn’t established enough”, or “what sort of link/traffic benefits can I expect by allowing them to join the alliance?”
I on the otherhand, believe there is a greater reward in giving someone who shares our world view a helping hand as they climb up the slippery and overcrowded ladder of the blogosphere. I would gain more satisfaction from that, than winning additional rounds of blogosphere link-realpolitik . I say let members join with 0 links from 0 sources. Perhaps our support might encourage them! Perhaps they might have something to say if they thought people were listening. If you doubt my optimism, take a look at the first post that you ever wrote. Furthermore, think of the long term benefits of presenting ourselves in such stark contrast to the rest of the sphere? Remember, our philosophy requires our actions to be consistant with our words.
So I’ve gone ahead and made a few decisions. Not because I imagine myself to be a commander and chief; but because many of us have been talking for too long of that dream, that supposively the Internet will enable. So I ask: where will it start, if not here? If not by us, then by whom? If not now, then when?
At the beginning of this post, I spoke of a crossroads. One road, leads to us into doing what we’ve always done. The alliance pick us up a few links. We will simply continue to blog, blog, and blog, but with more links. We might pick apart news stories, or occasionally write a good essay; perhaps a few of us will even achieve some marginal notoriety. However, that road bores me. I refuse for us to be reduced to a revolution of "fact checkers". So fellow progressives, I ask you to take my advice, this road that I will soon point to will be far more interesting than a simple collection links.
Below I've linked to the entire alliance:
In Search of Utopia, ddjangowire, Arran's Alley, Left End of the Dial, Jimtopia, Democracy for California, ,Dispatch from the Trenches , Ratboy's Anvil, Mouse Musings, The Blogosphere Zoo, Wealth Bondage, =CoffeeHouseStudio=, Stained Glass Soul, LEFT is RIGHT, and By Beauty Damned
Inspector Lohmann
Firstly, consider these links a token of goodwill from me.
Secondly, these links represent the combined amount of effort required for all of you to complete our first mission. However, I cannot post our mission here, you will have to check your e-mail boxes sometime after midnight.
