Life Style
- avoid car ownership: walk, use your bike
- avoid debt, the lure of credit cards
- consume little
- work in coalition; live & work non-hierarchically
- establish community roots, a sense of place
- develop skills (computer, layout, media, writing, copy-editing, public speaking, languages….)
- reduce distraction, resist addiction
- seek “right livelihood”; avoid co-optation; be sand in the gears, not a cog in the machine
- reduce complicity, vested interests
- avoid banks: use credit unions
- reduce/resist federal taxes
- eat mindfully: favor local food & produce, avoid franchise & fast food
- bite less, chew more: avoid burn-out, pace yourself
- mate mindfully
- have – or not have – children mindfully
Consciousness
- cultivate nonviolence
- treat all – especially adversaries – with respect
- make truth-telling reflexive
- overcome your “-isms”: race/class/gender/tribe/nation…
- transcend US exceptionalism
- become media savvy; get beyond the mainstream media bubble
- read widely
- learn a strategic language (Spanish, Arabic, Pashtun…)
- study the human condition: interact with and seek to understand the “other”
- think globally, protect the planet, preserve sentient life, preserve wilderness
- go beyond the affluent, industrial, capitalist bubble
- travel with progressive delegations to “hot spots” (WfP, F.O.R., CPT, SOA Watch, Global Exchange…)
- connect the dots: resist compartmentalization, calculate consequences
- think critically: ask why, ask cui bono? “follow the money,” question authority
- take useful risks, make useful sacrifices
- embrace arrest: consider doing “prison witness”
Briefly, we wanted to update you on where Truthout stands this month.
To be brutally honest, Truthout is behind on our fundraising goals for the year. There are a lot of reasons why. We’re dealing with broad trends in our industry, trends that have led publications like Vice, BuzzFeed, and National Geographic to make painful cuts. Everyone is feeling the squeeze of inflation. And despite its lasting importance, news readership is declining.
To ensure we stay out of the red by the end of the year, we have a long way to go. Our future is threatened.
We’ve stayed online over two decades thanks to the support of our readers. Because you believe in the power of our work, share our transformative stories, and give to keep us going strong, we know we can make it through this tough moment.
We’ve launched a campaign to raise $37,000 in the next 5 days. Please consider making a donation today.