I've said this before in comments, but I am expanding it into a diary. This diary is a thank you diary to many. But I also want to illustrate that I learned from kossacks who were different from myself. What would I have learned if everyone on Daily Kos thought like me? When I came to Daily Kos in 2006, I was a strong Democrat into economic populist issues such as universal health care, the minimum wage, fair trade, jobs, social security, and poverty. I didn't think much about climate change, race, police brutality, abortion rights, or foreign policy. At the time, if someone asked me if I thought climate change was real, I would have replied yes because that's what I thought Democrats believed. But I didn't think much about it and I had no sense of urgency. Looking back, I had never met a strong environmentalist. The Democrats I knew were Democrats due to economic and/or social issues. If someone mentioned climate change, they would reply "What is that exactly?" or "That is in 100 years." The Republicans I knew would reply "God is not going to let that happen" or it was about liberals "trying to save the spotted owl so we can all pay more for gas." I didn't know anyone from the corporate class who knew it was real and urgent, but couldn't break his or her addiction to profit at any cost to humanity. Why didn't I know much about climate change? I don't remember a single question about climate change in any presidential debate from 1992 to present. I don't remember climate change being a significant issue in any presidential campaign. I don't remember it being a topic in any political books or magazines I read. I rarely read about climate change until I came to Daily Kos. I learned about climate change because a lot of kossacks took the time to write about it. In 2006, the issue wasn't even on my political radar. Today it ranks a tie or near tie as my number one political issue along with all those economic populist issues dear to me. I've learned just how urgent and critical climate change is. I've learned our ability to solve the economic issues dear to me depends on a stable climate. In addition, doesn't world peace and an effective foreign policy also depend on a stable climate? How much energy will political activists have for social issues and equality if climate change soaks up all our time and energy in 20 years? If we don't solve the climate crisis, it will overwhelm us and we may not have the economic or other resources to address much else. I'd really like to focus on a huge green energy infrastructure and jobs program to solve our environmental and economic crisis with the same dollars. And since 2006, kossacks have written over 22,000 environmental diaries. These are highlighted every Saturday and Wednesday in Meteor Blades Spotlight on Green News and Views. I've been told eco-writers sometimes feel discouraged because their diaries don't get a lot of comments. I understand - writers gauge interest by recommends, comments, and tips. But I'd like to explain why that doesn't necessarily indicate a lack of interest. The topic of climate change is more scientific and less ideological. For example, a diary about why the Arctic ice is melting, and the implications is complex and scientific. That means a poster needs more knowledge to participate meaningfully in the comments than on other topics.
This diary wouldn't be complete without thanking other groups and kossacks I've learned from. When I came to Daily Kos in 2006, I had never heard the term "white privilege." I didn't know about the injustice of the war on drugs and mass incarceration. I didn't know the white left historically had a very bad habit of taking up issues only when they affected us. I want to thank The Black Kos community for all your hard work and taking the time to educate me. I won't forget what I've learned. I will always do my best to make sure my approach to issues includes ALL OF US. I want people of color and white progressives to work together to help everyone because we are so much stronger when we work together. During the health care reform debate, The Stupak amendment was introduced. As I said in this diary at the time
I'd thought very little about abortion during my life, and I had no strong feelings. I was on the side that made it easier to pass the bill.
I guess universal health care had been my number one issue for a long time. The conflict on Daily Kos during the Stupak debate resulted in my wanting to understand the abortion issue better. I would like to thank SheKos for helping me understand women's issues better. Also, I was very humbled when asked to help with the series. In late 2011, I noticed a lot of "TTFN" diaries. There were a lot of people leaving unhappy. I was encouraged to leave. I wondered "What the hell is going on?""Was it really that bad I should pack my bags?" After all, there have always been and will always be some diaries I disagree with. That's the way it is supposed to be. So, I began reading more diaries by kossacks on the "other side" of the perceived divide around here. Yes, I began reading diaries versus doing a search for hidden comments. Why? I don't want to be judged by my mistakes. Why would I do that to anyone else? I wrote about this in my diary "Building Bridges on Daily Kos." In all my reading, I discovered a daily diary series called "The Evening Blues." The diarist joeshikspack publishes a lengthy summary of news articles on various topics from the economy to climate change to foreign affairs to mass incarceration to police brutality. I usually read the headlines and pick out 2-3 articles or videos that seem particularly interesting. What did I learn from The Evening Blues and individual diarists? The economic articles appealed to the economic populist in me. I favored big anti-poverty and jobs spending programs because I considered it the right thing to do. But I didn't fully understand this was also by far the best economic policy. In time, I learned about Keynesian economics and I could argue how anti-poverty programs were not only the moral and compassionate thing to do, but also the best economic policy and benefited all of us! Why didn't I fully understand that before? I was so used to hearing over the decades how we needed to reduce the deficit. What president hasn't touted his deficit reduction plan? Well, it is time to fight back against austerity so we need people out there writing about how austerity is bad economics! If people don't aggressively write about a topic, who is going to know about it? If nobody writes about what policies we SHOULD pass as opposed to what policies we CAN pass, we will never educate the public. That's something the political right understood. They began promoting free market economics when it was out of favor. As I said, I didn't know about climate change and I didn't know about Keynesian economics because so few people in the corporate owned media wrote about it. That's why people here NEED TO. How many people know about the Progressive Caucus People's Budget? Does the corporate owned media even tell people about this budget alternative? No. How will people know about it if we don't write about it?? We need aggressive economic populist diarists. We have to promote a viable alternative to austerity policy. I look out at the Recent List, and I notice a lot fewer diaries than I did a few years ago. That's because so many people from both points of view have left the site. I don't really understand it all. I don't understand why different points of view can't co-exist on Daily Kos. It is all about respect and giving people their space. In this diary, I have attempted to show how I learned from people who were different from me. That is, different in race, different in gender, different in experiences or background, different in point of view. I wish more people would return to Daily Kos and give us the benefit of their point of view. Yes, I want people who have left from all sides to return! I also believe we all have an equal right to be here and while honest and respectful debate is permitted nobody should interfere with someone else's right to be here. If someone disagrees with you, so what? That's what the blog is for. Daily Kos is a big tent progressive blog meaning it isn't supposed to be an echo chamber. And that's a good thing! ****** Note: Meteor Blades Spotlight on Green News and Views is published on Wednesday's at 5:30 PM CST and Saturday's at 2:00 PM CST. Black Kos is published on Tuesday's and Friday's at 3:00 PM CST. The Evening Blues is published daily at 7:00 PM CST.