Video Transcript
Well, it is official, The Holler, this newsletter, has been around for a whole year, baby. We are out here and still going. So thank you, first and foremost. It has been really incredible.
Want to keep The Holler around for another year? Sign up now for a $60 per year subscription. It’s affordable and does wonders for this kind of pro working-class media.
I started it for the same reason that I got into politics… 15 years ago? Lord have mercy. I wanted to be part of the fight to see working-class people get the things that they deserve. To have nice things. And hopefully, wrestle a little bit of the power away from a tiny handful of billionaires that run the country for themselves. I want to see that in my lifetime, hopefully, and you all have helped me add to that fight for a whole year at this newsletter and I adore you.
So a year ago, I quit the assorted political jobs that I've been holding for the last 10+ years, my stump grinding job, and my farming job. I moved back to the Ohio Valley where I grew up to do this, run a weird political newsletter, about working-class politics and make videos with a healthy dose of levity and humor, and hopefully, some news that you can use.
The Ohio Valley is why I got into politics. I'm sorry, this is ridiculous. But I'm gonna keep going. The Ohio Valley is why I got into politics in the first place. It is the poster child for a beautiful place full of great people that's been pushed around for decades, you know, by greed and by big corporations that want… *ominous voice*… our riches.
And after working in politics for more than a decade, running for office twice, working on a presidential campaign, a baker's dozen internships, super PACs, all the rest of it, every year, the scale of how large our problems are just coming into focus clearer and clearer.
What's missing to me is an awareness of our power. It's always been true that when ordinary people who have to work for a living, not because they want to, but because they have to… when they get together and demand things, stuff becomes possible. Change becomes possible. So getting together and demanding things that are good for the working class is what we have to do.
In this humble newsletter, filled with humor and relatability, I try to focus on a couple of things: the insane wealth gap and why we should not tolerate it, the rise of the radical right fueled by billionaires, labor organizing wins when they happen. I sprinkle in stories from my dive bartending job to keep it relatable, and I do stupid stuff like this (tiny hand) to help the news travel far and wide.
Anyway, I could not have done this for a whole year without you. 108 of you are making small monthly donations to help me keep going. And it is so awesome. I'm very proud of it. It's everything I've wanted to do. And I'm even more proud that you don't sprint away when I do stupid stuff like this. The Holler is not a full-time job yet (pay-wise). So I took a part-time job tending bar at the dive bar that I live above, which has added immeasurable richness to my life and helps keep the bills paid. So we're gonna keep going until we can get this thing pumping on all cylinders, which is why I need your help.
If you are one of the 108 people donating right now, I'm going to give you a hand. Thank you. Cheers to you. If you're not donating right now, let me know how to up the quality to make it worth your while. And if this doesn't do it, there's no hope for you and you should unsubscribe right now.
But if you like the content, and you want to keep it going and independent, non-traditional, pro-working class media is important to you, then dignify my labor baby with a $60 a year subscription! It's really affordable and it does wonders to keep me going. We have 3,743 free subscribers, and I'm hoping 20 of you decide to sign up right now for this premium content.
So with all of your help, I am going to keep this little project going for another year, God willing. This post will be a little year and review a snapshot of what to expect going forward. A massive thank you and a request to tell me what you want to see going on here. Thank you so so much. I really appreciate you. Tiny hand, out.
You did it. The Holler has been around for one whole year - Part 1.