Open Letter to Susan Estrich, et al

Sat, 26 Feb 2005 03:19:21 -0800 (PST)

Dear Susan et al,
I want to join your organization because I am one of several (women and men) thinkers that has been ignored by the media. I am a Libertarian so obviously I must be a wacko. Well, then they relegate us to the fringe at their own peril because now I'm ready to start the revolution. (I've got some other ideas too but since you've got the ball rolling on this one I'm willing to scream with you to keep the avalanche going! I only want you to give me credit for any of these ideas that you utilize.)

If the word revolution scares you then just think about this…
it isn’t about tolerating different political parties, its about promoting community
it isn’t about tolerating different religions its about promoting spirituality
it isn’t about tolerating diversity and different opinions, it’s about promoting individual rights and liberty.

I tried to tell them why Arnie was going to win but they wouldn’t print my opinion either so let the system fall from its own decaying infrastructure. However, don’t waste your time beating a dead horse when the train station is right around the corner. Time to get out of Dodge!

We don't need the LA Times anymore we've got the new free press in the blogosphere and the world wide web. That filthy rag doesn’t even deserve to be mentioned by name in my rant except that you’ve shown me through your letter that the first place to start the exodus is from the media.

Premise: Start realizing that every $ you spend is not just about buying the service or product you want but a transaction in the market. Every place you spend your money is a support of that entity whether it is a person, business, organization, whatever. You are promoting and giving further life to whatever you spend your money on. So stop spending it on things you don't support and start spending it on only those things you do support. I am not telling you what to support; I’m saying stop dissipating your power. It’s time to remind people they can change the system by using the free market power ($$$) they have already.

Application: The Media
If you can't get the LA Times to print your articles then start printing your opinions on the blogosphere or on the world wide web. Secondly, pool together and start your own media outlet (Magazine, TV, Satellite Radio?). There are a lot of people out there waiting to support an outlet that truly tries to inform the electorate not sway them with their disguised agendas.
[Start up can be expensive but I'm sure a bank would be more willing to loan to someone who had one hundred and fifty letters, each one saying what the signer could contribute to the venture in terms of money or labor/time, barter, etc.] There is a huge resource of women and other disenfranchised people that would come on board, they are just waiting to find the station.

Restated, start an alternative media outlet and then the exodus from the existing media could happen like this: Contact whatever publication you find is doing something you think is very wrong and call them. If you can't talk to a real person who cares what you think then send a letter to the company and tell them why you are switching to a competitor and that you will boycott their outlet/channel/publication and you will start boycotting the advertisers they use also. Then send a letter to those advertisers and say you are boycotting them because they have put their advertising on that outlet/channel/publication. (Don’t forget to cc all your friends so that they know what is getting your goat and they can come on board if they want.)
If there is any sign that the advertiser is being hurt then you can call the advertiser back and see if they’d like to save their ass and advertise on your outlet before they go down in flames. Offer to give them good rates if they commit to more issues and tell them you will in turn do additional promotion for them elsewhere for free.

I have recently been brainstorming with a lot of women about starting a website that has as its mission To speak candidly about the experiences that have had an impact on who we are. Your list of writers can do this. They can start something that the rest of us can subscribe to. I for one am willing to come on board and I can give you some of the reasons others will too because this is what we’ve been talking about lately:

We want a venue that cuts through the bullsh*t and devisiveness and promotes real women’s practical solutions to their problems such as how to get the jobs and careers we want (whatever they are), how to make relationships work (whomever they are with), how to be better citizens (whatever place we live), how to be better individuals and role models (no matter what we call ourselves).

There are women out there including yourselves that have solved these problems and the answers are not being disseminated to others except through our personal relationships. Its time to use the information superhighway to share our solutions, pool our resources and truly liberate all individuals. Let’s not forget that while we can promote real women role models, we can also promote real men role models! (You know we don’t all agree with what those are but we can agree it is such a small percentage of what we are seeing out there now that it’s time for a change. Our differences are our strengths, if they won’t see that then we can take our strength elsewhere and build something new. We can embrace our differences and create a forum that promotes our solutions, that promotes us, that promotes us defining who we are!)

You know what real women are like; they don’t seem to be what we see in the media. Time for a new outlet. Start something we can subscribe to and the word will spread. The information superhighway is a different kind of underground railroad and we're waiting to get on it with you.

P.S. I won’t even go into how much it really sucks that my local paper (the Burbank Leader) is owned by the LA Times.