My Clovis News Journal columns may be watered-down a bit more- at least for a while.
The publisher is unhappy that the theme "government is theft and coercion" seems to keep cropping up and I have been instructed to avoid mentioning that particular 800-pound gorilla until he cools off. Or until he stops paying attention to me again. I'm usually OK until he notices me. Yes, a lot of that is my fault.
I realize that I have a very thin rope to walk in my newspaper columns. I will not compromise the message or the principles, but I also have to try to offer it in as gentle a way as possible. Don't wanna startle the herd and cause a stampede.
So, for a while, I have to find ways to promote the idea of voluntary, consensual society, without contrasting it to the current situation too obviously.
If I didn't need the money/pittance, and if I didn't get so much positive feedback- in person- from people I run into around town, it wouldn't be worth it. But, I can see I am making a difference in at least some individual lives around me, and that is as powerful a motivator as the money (which is desperately needed).
I really need to start asking the "locals" who tell me how much they appreciate my columns to please consider sending the publisher an email letting him know. I'd like him to hear from someone other than the local politicians and partisans who apparently have such a problem with him publishing my columns. But I invariably think of it when it's too late.
.
"Don't wanna startle the herd and cause a stampede."
ReplyDeleteYou’re right Kent- I’ve noticed over the years that willing, loyalist, slaves tend to get hysterical when hearing a message that is (to their minds) a bit too clear, blunt, and forthright. It seems that to get the message through to the masses, you almost have to talk to them like children.
I think the best way is to illustrate a problem, then calmly offer a clear, precise, and RATIONAL solution, appealing to their common sense. They might not immediately agree, but you will have planted a seed.
I will be writing your publisher.
Thanks for the letter, Roger.
ReplyDeleteI'm not going to suggest that anyone else email him, because if he suddenly starts getting emails it would look like I am soliciting support. Which I'm not. Yet.