As I do each pledge drive, I volunteered to answer phones for
KQED tonight, being a huge fan of NPR and PBS, and worried about the future of those last bastions of a truly free press in the current political climate. The republican controlled Congress has already
voted to drastically cut, and has threatened to get rid of the whole public broadcasting program altogether. Are you aware that "the subcommittee acted to eliminate within two years all federal money for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — which passes federal funds to public broadcasters — starting with a 25 percent reduction in CPB's budget for next year"? ALL federal money. With only 1 in 10 listeners actually becoming members, say buh-bye to NPR and PBS. No more "This American Life", kids.
And here comes a bit of a rant, something I feel I need to express, but know I will be resented for, as nobody likes a holier-than-thou lecture, which is not what I intend for this to be, I swear. But I must report my observations, not only of tonight, but of the past few years, that my generation and those behind mine, are glaringly absent from most charitable, social, or political actions and events. Ironically, my generation may also be the greatest verbal cheerleaders of these things. I don't get it, which is why I write of this, as it has puzzled me greatly during the last years, every time I show up to one of these things. Nearly all of my friends listen to NPR. Yet most of them aren't members of their NPR affiliate, even though it would not exist without the support of members. And those who can't afford to donate anything certainly aren't sitting next to me and the 65-plusers and teens filling their community service requirements at the phones. Tonight, the room was decidedly absent of anyone between 20 and 40. Ditto for the phone calls for the
democratic party prior to the last critical election. Ditto for all the
Move-On events I have attended, from bake sales to book readings, where the youngest person besides me was around 50.
Now, I
know my generation cares about these things, at least the liberal folk. Most of my friends are online members of Move-On. Most are registered democrats that would love to see George Bush go down in flames. Unless, apparently, it actually requires them to do something to take them off the Internet and out of their comfort zone. Unless it requires an unpalatable sacrifice of two or four hours, hours they claim they don't have, but do have when it's a date with that cute girl/guy from the coffee shop or watching a DVD, washing their car, or getting a haircut. They manage to schedule these things in.
What alarms me about this trend is that these things that protect us from becoming completely over-run by a redneck agenda, the gift of still having one last non-commercial news and entertainment source, the people who are fighting for OUR values, the lefts' values, are truly in danger of fading into obscurity without some practical, rather than solely moral, support from the people who rely on them most.
I won't candy-coat it. It's not a barrel of laughs to put in a few hours of labor for free. But I feel like if we rely on it and believe in it, we should either put our money where our mouth is, or get off our butts and give some time. Because honestly, it's what separates the (young) left from the (young) right. The religious right, in the mean time, are pounding the pavement trying to convert brainless people to Bushism, and succeeding. They are marching with signs featuring aborted fetuses. They are actually there at the bake sale raising money to support groups who make the stuff we believe in illegal, doing car washes to raise money for gay bashing. And no matter how much moral support the young left gives, without the money and elbow grease, they will beat us every time, until they succeed in taking away a free press, democracy, privacy, and the right to do as we choose with our bodies and minds.
And while I know this sounds like a lecture, I am not interested in making anyone feel bad. I believe in the good intentions of my peers. What I really am most interested in, and can't figure out, is
why the absence of action, then? I know we have as much passion for our way of life, our freedoms, our open-mindedness, our beliefs, as the religious right, but then
where is everybody? What are we doing? Why does our "side" have all this apathy when it comes to actually shifting into gear? It's almost as though many of my generation are resigned to sitting at the side of the pool commenting about the horrible injustice while they watch those few leading their party drown. I'd love some thoughts, particularly from those who haven't jumped in, as to what's stopping our generation. Why am I always the youngest person (by far) at these things? How do we fix it?
In the meantime, please consider becoming a member of your local
NPR affiliate during their next pledge drive. You get tons of free stuff donated by companies worth waaaaay more than your pledge amount (for example, for $11 a month, KQED will give you half a pound of coffee, a subscription to Newsweek, a subscription to the Classical Music Archives, a hand-cranked emergency radio, a subscription to Organic Style Mag, 3 gourmet meals delivered to your home, and a bonus gift of either tickets to the symphony or a theater performance, or a subscription to Rolling Stone for two years). If you can't afford to join, you can also volunteer for your own NPR/
PBS affiliate. In San Francisco, you can
volunteer for KQED. It's the tip of the iceberg, but it's an important first step, if you aren't already proactive.
Lecture over (and out).
Onward!
