Bloggity Blog
Aug 6th, 2007 at 12:31 pm by Susie
Just got off the phone with another reporter. I told her no, I wasn’t specifically trying to get bloggers to join a union but rather, I was looking at any and all vehicles through which bloggers could affiliate and thus get affordable health insurance. No, there really wasn’t anyone we could bargain with about wages and working conditions, and yes, I did think we deserved support as opposed to someone who blogs about, say, model trains, because after all, we raised lots and lots of money for Democrats last year and targeted it into key races - namely, that our strength was in making local races national, and sending financial support their way.
I said my primary goal was finding a way to help bloggers who needed it without compromising their independence because after all, independence is what makes us credible.
Oh, I just can’t wait to see what she actually writes.
Susie,
Thanks for the clarification here. This makes much more sense.
Robert Cox and the rest of us at the Media Bloggers Association (mediabloggers.org) have been working on some of this for quite some time, including insurance, although we haven’t yet looked into group medical insurance since most of us have coverage.
[...] Susie at Suburban Guerrilla clarifies what she meant by organizing. She’s trying to find a way to get webloggers health insurance. But she displays a sense of entitlement the Left always radiates: yes, I did think we deserved support as opposed to someone who blogs about, say, model trains, because after all, we raised lots and lots of money for Democrats last year and targeted it into key races - namely, that our strength was in making local races national, and sending financial support their way. [...]
If she’s like most, she’ll write whatever she had already decided to write, before she called you. Really, I don’t know why they bother interviewing people.
If you want affordable health-care, take a month-long vacation to the Philippines — where they still have capitalism.
The cost of four crowns and a tooth-filling was $2,400 in the US; in the Philippines (where the equipment is just as modern), I had it done for 5,500 pesos ($155), and had a great time with the $2,245 I had left over.
Clubbing together to get health insurance is a fine idea…throw a few books together, form a nonprofit, and shop around. It is not all that difficult, and if you contact some other nonprofits they may well be happy to share their experience with you.
The fact that someone chooses to blog about political matters rather than model trains is irrelevant. It doesn’t make you a better or more deserving person.
And as for blogging being “intense work” …whatever. If your ass is spreading from sitting in the chair too long, get up and exercise. Running a blog is like a small business. It’s your own responsibility to maintain a balance between your chosen work and the rest of your life. Nobody is forcing you to stay in the chair all day. If you can’t handle the workload, hire someone or scale back your activities. If you can’t afford to, sell more advertising. If a blog is too obscure to generate much revenue, too bad. Nobody is entitled to make a living by producing a product nobody wants to consume.
I am a non-blogger but a part-time professional writer. Sure, a writer’s lifestyle presents its own challenges - like everything else. Nobody made me (or you) take up this kind of work. If you want to talk in public about intense work, consider filmmaking (the other part of my career): 12 hour standard day indoors or outdoors, rain or shine. I have worked 36 hours at a stretch in the past with 3 30 minute meal breaks.
By comparison, sitting in a chair writing all day (perhaps for months at a time) is only demanding insofar as it requires me to get out of bed first.
I’d be happy to offer some leads regarding healthcare for nonprofit mutuals, or if you can get it through joining a union then go you (though I think you’d be a lot smarter to join the writer’s guild than a branch of the UAW). But soliciting sympathy for the downsides of a sedentary job, and extra sympathy because you happen to be politically inclined, smacks of selfishness and immaturity.
I inadvertently typed ‘throw a few books books together’ in place of ‘a few bucks’ - apologies for the confusion.
Interesting post. The whole “bloggers union” concept has definitely made those of us in the labor relations community take notice. I do agree with you that bloggers, irrespective of subject matter, should be allowed to pursue group benefits. However, as a labor relations consultant I am challenged with the idea of how you would go about “organizing” or “unionizing” a group as diverse as those in the bloggosphere. Interesting times ahead for sure.
*snicker* Who, exactly, is the _employer_ that bloggers intend to soak?
Clickbot venders?
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