Whining Weblogger Demands “Survival,” Free Laptop
The sense of entitlement displayed here rubs me the wrong way.
I would like to point out the utter injustice of a Democratic political system that is very, very happy to take the money and volunteers the blogosphere sends its way, and in return, we get… um….
Invitations to appear at places most of us can’t even afford to travel, with no way to pay for a hotel - unless you’re an A-list blogger.
Oh, and awards. Yay!
A small handful of top bloggers gets some help: Fellowships, stipends, consulting gigs. The rest of us? Bubkis.
Life’s unfair. The blogosphere is unfair. Welcome to the real world. Once you get to publishing a weblog as long as me you get used to the slights. You grimace as new weblogs become instant hits while you scatch to keep your daily visits in the four digits. You dream of a career as an independent publisher only to see it remain fleeting. You realize senority means squat in the blogosphere.
Don’t expect sympathy from me, especially when Susie writes for Suburban Guerrilla, a weblog with traffic I’d kill for. If she can’t find a way to generate income comparable to a decent part-time job the problem is with her. Don’t expect to get rich weblogging.
If you carry on thinking and writing and linking eventually you stop feeling sorry for yourself and focus on your weblog.
But Susie isn’t done. She goes off the deep end claiming a dead Leftist weblogger would be alive and employed today if he stayed a Republican:
There is not even a little doubt in my mind that, if Rittenhouse Review’s Jim Capozzola had remained a Republican, he’d be alive now. He would have been in a well-paid think tank job, living the high life. (He did, after all, have a masters degree in foreign policy.) Most importantly, he would have had health insurance for the past six years.
And what did his talent and dedication get him on the liberal side of the political noise machine? Some free books. A life that, as intellectually stimulating as it was, reduced him to living on the charity of strangers.
James Joyner, a Ph.D.-bearing conservative weblogger, writes, “I’m pretty sure Richard Mellon Scaife and the boys aren’t hunting down Republican bloggers and ensuring we all have health insurance.”
What does she want? Health insurance, “actual survival,” and a free laptop. Free Lexis-Nexis won’t cut it:
Someone from either the Democratic party or some liberal organization showed up a few years back at the Philadelphia Drinking Liberally to ask the question, “What do bloggers want?” She had, of course, already answered the question: Free Lexis-Nexis access! One account to be shared by I don’t know how many bloggers!
I looked at her. I cleared my throat. “Actually,” I said, “If we need Lexis-Nexis, most of us can figure out where to get access. What we really need is help with actual survival. Most of us need health insurance. We need computers. In fact, the single biggest thing you could do is set up a program that would give free laptops to bloggers, because so many of us live hand to mouth and when our computers go, we’re silenced.”
Free computers? How are they posting now? Or are Leftist webloggers tapping away on keyboards in public libraries?
Bruce McQuain nicely sums up this sense of entitlement:
We’ve decided we want to do this and what we do helps you so, you have an obligation to support our needs.
Sounds like a cultural view to me.
Susie’s quest is to build a non-profit to fund liberal webloggers with money and free computers. She wants donations and even a benefit concert. (Live Netroots?) She wants you to dig deep and give. If you don’t donate another “dead blogger” will be on your conscience.
Since we’re in the spirit of supporting webloggers. Why don’t you drop a little bit of coin in my tip jar, or click on a blogad. If you want something more tangible check out the TAM Amazon.com store, browse the Dell Outlet store, or buy a magazine subscription.
“No More Dead Bloggers“
I love how the conspiracy theorist mind works in most leftists. I mean, in their world, all right-wingers are on paid retainer, get to go on cruise ships, and probably know where all the good drugs are kept.
Geez, didn’t Ed Garvey say once that all conservative bloggers in Wisconsin are paid by WMC and/or Terry Kohler? If so, Ed, I’m a few thousands bucks shy because no money’s come my way. Ever.
And I’ve met and talked to Terry Kohler a few times.
But hey, whatever keeps Ed calm in his world of make-believe and not beating people with claw hammers I guess.
Blogging’s a hobby, and like most hobbies, you’re going to go into the red with it. If you can make something for yourself - a job in politics, the ability to make a living off of it, or who knows what else - good for you. You’ve probably done something of a modern miracle.
(Lord knows I consider what I’ve accomplised as one.)
But I think we need to get it into our heads, you’re likely to get zilch out of the experience.
No one owes you jack in life. It’s tough; buy a helmet.