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Conservatives: Worried about losing the internet? I have an idea; record an audiobook
A citizen historian

Posted on 10/01/2016 7:57:54 AM PDT by ProgressingAmerica

It is almost certain that with giving the internet to "the world", that people with voices who say certain things run the risk of being silenced.

One possible solution: You should record an audiobook. Here's why.

As an example, one audiobook that I recorded was The Colored Patriots of the American Revolution, which highlights the black patriots that fought side by side against the British for American Independence and liberty. I completed that entire book on Valentines Day of this year, the day believed by some to be Frederick Douglass' birthday.

Why is this book important? Have you ever run into this meme that the Founding Fathers are supposedly racist? Well, I don't think one single book is going to put it to bed, and I certainly acknowledge that I can't possibly record every possible thing myself, however, these facts being so easily available, and so easily consumable, present quite a conundrum for those progressives who seek to keep "the narrative" alive. We need more. If more were available, there's a potential it could present a credible, visible threat.

Currently, there are roughly 3800 people who have been to this page, which is a fair estimate of at least how many people have listened to that book. That's 3800 in 8 months, and will certainly be over 4000 by year's end. The number who have listened is likely to be far higher, considering indirect mobile downloads and the like. But that's a number we can work with.

Think of that: That's nearly 4000 people I've educated about a topic that progressives would prefer people didn't know. If that number pattern stays true, at the end of the next year it will be 8000. In 5 years it will be 20,000.

Wouldn't you like to educate 20,000 people in five years about inconvenient facts? What kind of cultural impact does that have?

Here's how this relates to the internet giveaway. As I said at the outset, there will be voices who are silenced. I hardly think that audiobook recording is any kind of silver bullet, but I've yet to find any downside while conversely I can clearly demonstrate the upsides. The upsides are self-evident.

I'll give you another example, one which I think there might be some takers to my proposition. Have you ever run into the meme that there was no Christianity of any kind during the time of the American founding? Yeah, there were no pastors, that's it. And they certainly didn't discuss any political topics! The easiest way to combat that meme would be to record some sermons. Virtually everything prior to 1923 is public domain. Early American sermons, from pastors who were acknowledged to be highly influential in the years directly prior to the event of the Founding; the years that made the Founding possible. I know of several sermons that would be great candidates for recording, and several works of the Founders that have not yet been attempted. I, unfortunately, can't record everything on the planet in relation to these topics. At some point, someone will have to help.

I give all my audiobooks away for free. I'm not selling any thing here. Only, an idea. But selling you the idea isn't going to cost any money.

Making information easier to consume - that's a problem for the progressives. I'll gladly do that for free.

But, I do have one alternative, for those of you who would recoil at the idea. Here's what you should do. Do nothing. Sit there behind your keyboard. Do what you've been doing, because that's worked so well so far? It perturbs me to be harsh and I apologize in advance, but anything rooted in facts, and rooted in facts that are easier to consume(meaning faster), will present a little bit more of a challenge for anybody seeking the route of censorship. We need more, no matter how small that 'more' may appear to be. We have the power to give ourselves more. We don't have to wait for someone else to do it.

I'm looking to educate you, all I ask is that you are willing to listen. I'll give you every one of the mp3s as fast as you can download them. Now, I would like to find some people who would like to educate me. I'm willing to listen.

One thing I've noticed within the blogosphere is the tendency for people to focus exclusively upon their own opinion. This is not me saying that that is bad. I do it myself from time to time on my blog. But here is a converse thought.

The Founding Fathers - they speak for me. So I speak for them. And you can speak for them too. Why do you and I need to formulate new, additional words, when some of the best words that need to be spoken have already been spoken? They just weren't recorded. Ok, great! The only thing that is missing, is that microphones didn't exist in 1776 or 1753. That's not a problem. It's not.

We can rectify that. We have microphones. Download the transcript, and read it verbatim. For those of you who agree with me: if you can raise your hand and say "yes, the Founders speak for me",(or the pastors of that era) then it is likely that speaking for them may present a prospect that might be worth considering.


TOPICS: Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: audacity; giveaway; history; internet; librivox; recording
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To: ProgressingAmerica

For later


21 posted on 10/01/2016 9:24:12 AM PDT by kalee
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To: poconopundit
Car radio shows can be entertaining, but you are stuck with a ton of advertisements.

Yeah, I mean sometimes you just want to yell at the radio D*mnit! Quit interrupting my LifeLock broadcasting with this "Rush Limbaugh" guy!

(I don't listen to Limbaugh anymore, but I do remember that the commercial to info ratio was getting pretty absurd last time I did.)

22 posted on 10/01/2016 9:28:45 AM PDT by Edward.Fish
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To: poconopundit

Librivox appears to be part of, or associated with, archive.org, which is a great source in general.

If you go to archive.org and put in an author or title, it will show you all of the downloadable formats they have available - text, audio, video.

In my experience their search system is kind of clumsy, so if you don’t find what you want (assuming it is something that would be there in the first place, in the public domain, under Creative Commons license, etc.) - try searching in different ways.


23 posted on 10/01/2016 10:22:01 AM PDT by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, If you can keep it.")
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To: ProgressingAmerica

bfl


24 posted on 10/01/2016 10:37:24 AM PDT by snooter55 (People may doubt what you say, but they will always believe what you do)
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To: ProgressingAmerica

Thanks.

Our Pastor is doing a book on how he beat his colon cancer without using chemotherapy and/or radiation.

i will pass your information on to him.
Thanks again.


25 posted on 10/01/2016 11:02:30 AM PDT by The_Republic_Of_Maine (politicians beware)
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To: wastedyears

Books copyrighted prior to 1923 are now in the public domain. A lot of other items are as well. Here is a general chart:

http://copyright.cornell.edu/resources/publicdomain.cfm

In additon, many recent items are licensed by the authors under Creative Commons or similar permissions. See creativecommons.org


26 posted on 10/01/2016 11:27:29 AM PDT by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, If you can keep it.")
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To: Jamestown1630

Thanks for the tip...


27 posted on 10/01/2016 5:25:38 PM PDT by poconopundit (When the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic government. Franklin, Const. Conv.)
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To: poconopundit
There are a number of sources. Read the article at http://www.rawstory.com/2014/10/four-myths-about-slavery-in-the-us/

This covers numbers and distribution. Numbers of free blacks up to the CW. and black slave owners.

americancivilwar.com/authors/black_slaveowners.htm

Of the blacks residing in the South, 261,988 were not slaves. Of this number, 10,689 lived in New Orleans. The country's leading African American historian, Duke University professor John Hope Franklin, records that in New Orleans over 3,000 free Negroes owned slaves, or 28 percent of the free Negroes in that city. Do a little digging. There is plenty of verified info available on the reality of slavery.

One more item:

There were many times more Whites brought to America as Slaves than there ever were Blacks. And the White Slaves were treated much worse! According to these resources as well as many more, the Scots‑Irish have been enslaved longer than any other race in the world's history. There Were More White Slaves - israelect.com israelect.com/reference/WillieMartin/SLAVE-1.htm

28 posted on 10/01/2016 5:26:09 PM PDT by Louis Foxwell (Stop the Left and save the world.)
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To: Louis Foxwell

Thanks. Highly interesting numbers. And if more people knew of these statistics, it would change their perception of history.

Sounds like someone needs to do a documentary on this subject.


29 posted on 10/01/2016 5:45:36 PM PDT by poconopundit (When the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic government. Franklin, Const. Conv.)
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To: ProgressingAmerica

Great post and suggestions, thank you !


30 posted on 10/03/2016 10:33:13 PM PDT by Weirdad (Orthodox Americanism: It's what's good for the world! (Not communofascism!))
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