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That few entry level political jobs exist is part of the problem, as documented by Columbia University sociology professor Dana R. Fisher in her book, Activism, Inc. Fisher spent two years studying one of the country’s largest canvassing companies, part of an exploitative industry that has employed millions of young Americans. In the late ’90s, progressive organizations—concerned with raising money and membership totals but conscious of their costs—began outsourcing their organizing campaigns to centralized intermediary organizations. This model is efficient but problematic. “Outsourcing makes sense if you’re just thinking about your bottom line,” Fisher says. “The problem is that it doesn’t make sense if you’re trying to build lasting connections with future progressive leaders or with local people.”

Under this canvassing system, young organizers become contingent labor, susceptible to low pay, long hours, no benefits and no training in the real skills necessary to succeed in building local power. In some ways, the model cultivates a culture of deprivation; young people are taught to think that sacrifice is a prerequisite for progressive change and thus they tolerate exploitation for the sake of the movement. And because most organizations outsource these jobs, participating in this crooked system is one of the few avenues for paid work. “One could question,” says Fisher, “whether Saul Alinsky, Ralph Nader or Cesar Chavez would have become successful at leading different aspects of the progressive movement if they came up through the model we have today.”

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We also give interns meaningful work to do (not just fetching coffee) so that it actually builds their resumes, and they become as much a part of the team as the rest of us are. And when available, we give paid work to several of our interns (e.g. filling in for people on vacation or between filling positions).

Furthermore, rabble does give paid work to volunteers and "newbies". Our first RPN producer was a young woman who was fresh out of university (and it's not like we didn't have people with lots of experience to choose from). Our current RPN producer is someone who was at first a volunteer producer of our flagship podcast, rabble radio. Then we started paying an honourarium for producing rabble radio, and the producer of rabble radio ended up moving into the position of RPN producer (after our first producer ended up with a great job as a producer at a college radio station, building on her experience here).

I was a volunteer here long before I started getting paid. I had no experience before this. oldgoat was also brand new to moderating, and was hired by rabble based on his excellent contributions to the site in the past. I've also been paid small honourariums for a couple of book reviews I've written here - a brand new writer who had never been paid for any work before.

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Budgetary concerns of progressive organizations also contribute to underinvestment in youth. Take aspiring journalists. The few media outlets in which writers can publish thoughtful and progressively opinionated articles work on shoestring budgets. This means they can’t afford to hire experienced staff writers, much less young people committed to political journalism. Left-of-center think tanks face similar challenges. Institutions like the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities and the Center for American Progress have a handful of low-paid internships—both of which pay less than $10 an hour—but few entry-level job opportunities with a salary and benefits. The Progressive Policy Institute and the Brookings Institution don’t even provide internship stipends, a major concern for young people transplanted to the cities these organizations call home (Washington D.C. and New York City) that are among the world’s most expensive places to live. These cost inhibitions significantly limit the scope of their applicant pool.

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But you're right, we're similar in that we don't have staff writers. As mentioned in the article, we wish we could afford to!

[ 22 July 2007: Message edited by: Michelle ]

Want to explore your creativity? Too bad - the bank is waiting for your pound of flesh. Want to work in the non-profit sector as an activist? Enjoy total penury for a couple of decades. Want to be an entepreneur and test out a great business idea? Good luck with that - make sure you can work 40 hours somewhere else at the same time.

Of course, wealthy kids need not worry about such things. It's just the rest of us - I've seen far too many idealistic people claw their way into some horrific cubicle maze in order to pay their debts, only emerging 5-10 years later with a paunch and a reserve of bitterness.

It's like Gore Vidal said once about that country - they practice socialism for the rich and preach free markets to everyone else.

[ 25 July 2007: Message edited by: Fidel ]

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Originally posted by arborman:
I think one of the most pernicious effects of the massive student loans that young people are being saddled with ...and so on

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And what exactly do you mean by "massive student loans" anyway ?. Or is this the popular newspeak term for it nowadays?. You might try, "massive student loan debt sentences" and "massive costs" not covered by student loans. We can say what we mean without mincing words.

And, do we have any idea as to how many thousands of Canadian students are denied access to those "massive student loans" and therefore denied access to PSE every year?. It's estimated that 200, 000 American students were denied loans last year. In fact, the issues are not just a lack of good paying jobs to pay off the humungous student loan debt but a reduction in overall access to PSE in general over the last 15 years.

How can we have equal access to anything in Canada's largest province when our economic growth rates are below national averages and projected lower than average for at least the next few years?. Equal access based on ability to pay, and not so much merit anymore, has to suffer with this hollowed out model for access tied to income and bank interest rates more than any other in the world.

"No replastering, the structure is rotten" -- Paris, 1968

[ 25 July 2007: Message edited by: Fidel ]

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Originally posted by Fidel:

And what exactly do you mean by "massive student loans" anyway ?. Or is this the popular newspeak term for it nowadays?. You might try, "massive student loan debt sentences" and "massive costs" not covered by student loans. We can say what we mean without mincing words.

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Ah, relevant. Good. I agree with what you said, apart from the newspeak.

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And, do we have any idea as to how many thousands of Canadian students are denied access to those "massive student loans" and therefore denied access to PSE every year?.

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I have some idea, having been one of those students at one point. That said, I'm wondering if you have any numbers of students denied loans?

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It's estimated that 200, 000 American students were denied loans last year.

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By whom? That said, I am not surprised, though I wonder how this has anything to do with your last sentence (about Canadians being denied access), given the fact we are in a different country.

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In fact, the issues are not just a lack of good paying jobs to pay off the humungous student loan debt but a reduction in overall access to PSE in general over the last 15 years.

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I agree, not to mention the hideous dilution of quality education in favour of pointless credentialism.

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How can we have equal access to anything in Canada's largest province when our economic growth rates are below national averages and projected lower than average for at least the next few years?.

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What do you mean we?

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Equal access based on ability to pay, and not so much merit anymore, has to suffer with this hollowed out model for access tied to income and bank interest rates more than any other in the world.

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Maybe, though your sentence is a bit confusing. I agree that merit should be the only measure for access to education. I would favour either free (though rigorous) higher education for all, or high tuitions with even higher scholarships for all deserving (i.e. hardworking & intelligent) students. I do not much like our current degree mill approach to higher education.

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"No replastering, the structure is rotten" -- Paris, 1968

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Maybe, though I am deeply suspicious of revolution, given how they are almost always hijacked at inopportune moments.

[ 27 July 2007: Message edited by: arborman ]

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No. But unlike many places that use interns, we make internships part-time and extremely flexible (no set hours) so that they can be easily done by students or people with full time jobs so that they're open to more people than those who can afford to live without working.

We also give interns meaningful work to do (not just fetching coffee) so that it actually builds their resumes, and they become as much a part of the team as the rest of us are. And when available, we give paid work to several of our interns (e.g. filling in for people on vacation or between filling positions).

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I think Michelle hits it right on the head with the accessability of internships. An internship like rabble would be no problem for most aspiring journalists, because I'm able to sign on at 4 AM if it's the only time that I have to work (not that I do! But I could) and I can spend as much, or as little time as necessary. I have also completed other internships where I was expected to become a full time employee, minus the benefits, the pay, and for the most part the experience! Sure, I wasn't serving coffee, but fact-checking other people's work for eight hours a day isn't going to be THAT impressive on my resume to make it worth my while.