WHY BARN OWL?
BARN OWL
Below is the post for week 46
Why Barn Owl?
This week I explain why this column exists and what moves me to continue. The left has to a large part discarded part of their natural base - composed of working people (not in unions), people in smaller communities and rural areas that rely on progressive policies and support to keep their jobs, farmers, state and municipal employees and even professionals. These groups - even though they still support the Democrats by good numbers, are ignored by the urban majorities and their unique identities and needs. These folks own guns and hunt, usually to stock their larder. In Wisconsin they still send their kids to good public schools and value a good education. There is nothing about the way they live that says they would be better served by billionaires. They should be part of our base. They used to be.
Up to now subscribing to BARN OWL has been free and I would like to leave that option open. In the future, if we decide to begin paid prescriptions, those funds do not go to my income. They will be used exclusively to keep BARN OWL open and pay for ad space in this and other county papers. More about that later. I would love to know what you think.
These articles are available to any one who wants to publish them in their own rural community. BUT if you can’t afford 6 inches and you live where you have a county paper or a shopper, pay for something short that you can afford and can appear weekly. Even a few lines well written and honest in the body of a small paper or in the want ads will draw some attention and remind the reader that something is going on that matters.
If you have not yet, you can support our work with a check to the address in the column. Or find us on buymeacoffee.com/barnowl01.
WHY BARN OWL?
In our country, most of what we read and hear is filtered through corporate media. Most of that is paid for by right wing groups, while the center and liberal media is being brought under tighter control by their corporate owners. That means many people only hear one side of the story when it comes to politics, history, health and culture. I believe EVERY COMMUNITY deserves more than one voice. That’s why I buy space in our local newspaper and shopper: to share a progressive view in plain, easy-to-read language.
I write for anyone who wants to think more deeply, question what they’ve been told, or simply see the world from a different point of view. I do not write to fight. I write to inform and connect. Truthfully, not everyone agrees with what I write – and that’s ok. But people have told me, “We learned a lot in today’s column” or, “I didn’t know the history of that term.” That’s the goal: to open the door to new ideas.
In each column, I try to explain something that matters: what’s really in that law they passed? Why do we use this word and what does it mean? How does good science affect our lives? Why are people fighting for this or that cause? How do these changes affect regular people like us? I believe good information helps people make better choices – not just in elections, but in life. Bit by bit, we are creating space for real conversations and fresh thinking in places where that has been missing for too long.
This work takes time, money and a thick skin. But I do it and my supporters do it because we love our community – and because we believe rural America deserves more than soundbites and slogans. We deserve facts, ideas and a chance to think for ourselves.
If you support this kind of work, thank you. If you want to help it grow, spread the word and contribute to the cost of the ads. If you’re reading this and don’t agree, that’s ok too. I hope you’ll keep reading. You may find, once we get past the slogans, that you agree with me on more than you thought. You may find that you too believe that rule by the richest people of the world is not really to our benefit.
We all live here together, and we all have something to learn from one another.
Thanks for your time – and for caring about the truth.
By Ben Boardman and Friends. Paid by gifts from supporters
You help BARN OWL stay in the local paper.
Submit comments or questions to 57boardman@gmail.com
Send donations to PO Box 57, Melrose, WI 54642
