Thanks, everyone.
Jen, all this talk of starting a newspaper/ newsletter reminded me of something I did in high school. When the whole Elian Gonzalez story broke, some friends and I (who deemed ourselves Revolutionaries) put together a newsletter, Common Sense. We included stats regarding how many members of Congress had been convicted of crimes, refreshers on the 1st and 2nd amendments, and some current news, including refreshers on Waco and Ruby Ridge.
Our lack of originality not-with-standing, we spray painted a white bedsheet that read "Ruby Ridge... Waco... Elian Gonzalez... Who's Next?" and hung it on the college campus in town.
We expected our message to hit people so hard. But no one ran screaming in the night, no one hit the streets with torches and pitchforks, no reaction whatsoever. The banner had been removed in the night, and nothing was ever said about it.?
We were crushed. Our newsletter lasted one issue, and everyone else in the group decided to rearrange their heirarchy of needs; drinking and getting laid we on the list. Changing the world wasn't.
I still think words and ideas can change this world, but I have to say it was a great experience. Nobody got hurt, we broke no laws (though it felt like it at the time!), and I think it separated those of us who were serious about it from those who weren't, under the best of circumstances.
Just a little story I wanted to share.