From the Journal of Joshua Fryfogle
Liberty, Liberally Volume III - Issue XI
November 2023
The Answer Is
In Your Hands
Decentralization of government is the form and function of the United States of America. Unlike other nations that are sovereign over their whole territory, the US of A constitutes multiple governments, sometimes with contradicting laws. This seeming contradiction in constitution of government was novel at the time of our founding in 1776. It was the product of the Enlightenment, and a grand experiment at the time. Since then, many nations of the world have followed suit; the United States of America remains the model of this system of self-governance. Self-governance can mean multiple things. It can mean that a government is sovereign, or, it can mean that it is both sovereign and ruled by the people. With the United States of America, it’s the latter. Government of, by, and for the People was and remains a unique proposition of which the US is the exemplar. At least on paper. How though? It doesn’t happen automatically, because it’s up to us. That’s the point of self-governance, and decentralization of power, that we will in fact and in deed do the work of governing ourselves. Both as individuals and as sovereign states, and then again as a union of states, we must do the work of selfgovernance. The constitution and Bill of Rights give us the guideline of doing so, by enshrining our inherent, inherited rights as individuals. The First Amendment in particular makes it clear that we, the People, are supposed to take up the task of self-governance by speaking our minds, writing our conscientious concerns, publishing our perspectives, and gathering together to share in a public discourse. The First Amendment begins with its primary clause, that of religious freedom (which is nothing more than our own individual conscience guiding our contribution to the discourse), and then continues with the supporting clauses of free speech, free press, and freedom to gather and petition for response to our collected concerns. The corporate media as it is today stands in stark contrast to that purpose. Using the model of decentralization, we People should be contributing locally to a public discourse. We People should be creating culture, and cultivating selfgovernment that reflects the will of the people in our own communities. The internet is not suited to this purpose, because the internet is inherently centralized.
The internet as a technology will never be suited to this mandate, and will always be open to manipulation and control by the powerful, because it is a centralized system. This is not to say that the internet isn’t useful in the course of self-governance, but it cannot be the full manifestation of free expression. Because it is centralized, and algorithmically controlled, it will always be prone to the purposes of those who seek to counter the will of the People. Twenty years ago, the print publications of the world seemed to speak in one voice: print is dead. It struck me as odd that these entities were so convinced that their medium, the printed page, the product of the printing press, were so unified in their push to move their product to the internet. Sixteen years ago, when I started these publications that you’re reading now, I was told that it would never work. I knew better, and time has proven me correct. I knew that the problem with print media was not the paper they printed on, but what they printed on the paper. Social media signaled to me that the People wanted to communicate with their communities, that they wanted to contribute to a discourse. I could see that they wanted to actively BE free. The People’s Paper is not about politics. It’s not a controversy creation model. It’s not about click bait. It’s not about ‘news you can trust’, or any other lazy, illiberal nonsense. It’s social media in print. It’s a decentralization of power, a dilution of authority, giving that power back to the people themselves. And it’s working! We’re growing, and expanding into Anchorage and Eagle River, after 16 years of growth in the Mat-Su. We often question what will become of this grand experiment in self-governance. The corporate media is failing, propped up by other corporate interests who are constantly incorporating more and more, centralizing their media holdings into fewer hands. It’s clear, as corporate media struggles, that those who control the media are more concerned with controlling the narrative than with fulfilling the mandate of the First Amendment. The People’s Paper is the antidote to this social ill. It’s a model of self-governance, allowing you, the People, to contribute to and create a government that truly reflects what you and your neighbors believe. We question how we can turn this ship around, this massive ship of state with all the momentum it’s gathered while going in the wrong direction. The answer is in your hands.
From the Journal of Joshua Fryfogle Liberty, Liberally
Alaska
Ex-Press Your Self!
Playing local, Alaskan music on the airwaves isn’t entirely unheard of, but it’s definitely not the norm.
minded would want to use their own creative writing skills to affect the public discourse proportionately.
First of all, college radio and public radio stations have always been great about playing Alaskan music, and this ethos holds true across the nation. Everywhere you go, college stations play regional music, and public radio does, too. However, college stations are usually low-power, and the content is centered around the micro-cosm of the college itself; both of those factors limit their listenership. Public radio is usually low to medium power stations, and they are more informational, with music being a side item, and not the reason their listeners tune it.
Mainstream media affects the discource disproportionately.
This leaves commercial music radio stations to present the public with music. People tune in to commercial radio to hear music, and this constitutes most of FM radio listenership. Even with the advent of streaming, radio is still a powerful way to present new music to a hungry audience. That’s why what we’ve done at 95.5 The Pass, KNLT, is worth writing about. Civic engagement and artistic expression are two sides of the same coin. That’s why Make A Scene Magazine and The People’s Paper came to be published simultaneously. In fact, The People’s Paper was birthed from Make A Scene Magazine, as it should be. Creative expression of the individual is exactly what the constitution and Bill of Rights aims to protect, so that society can benefit from the good ideas, and the critique of those ideas in a public discourse. Civic engagement should evolve from a creative capacity that is well-developed. Make A Scene Magazine cultivated the creative energy of local people for 6 years before The People’s Paper became necessary. The original idea of free press, that everyone should be able to use it, was the whole idea of Make A Scene, even expressed in the name itself. To truly “make a scene” required that local artists and creators be able to communicate with the community, and Make A Scene Magazine facilitated that. It was only natural that the civic
We’ve gotten a surprising number of donations from community members at The People’s Paper and Make A Scene Magazine over the years, and recently it’s increased with the publication of Liberty, Liberally. We’ve also received many requests for subscription services, requests to mail Liberty, Liberally, and our other publications to people near and far... So we thought, why not make it easier to donate, and get something in return, too? With a minimum $8 per
www.LibertyLiberally.com
“The People’s Paper” was the slogan for Make A Scene Magazine for years. I quickly realized that our content wasn’t only arts. We were putting more and more miscellaneous content in the back of Make A Scene each month when we finally decided to give that non-arts content front and center attention. The slogan “the people’s paper” became the title of our new venture. In the same way, using commercial music radio to amplify local, Alaskan musicians is imperative. It’s the first step to empowering local voices. It reminds people that civic engagement is needed, and that individual creative output is the source of self-governance. It’s not about choosing sides, with predetermined perspectives, but just the opposite. It’s about being thoughtful and creating solutions to issues in our own lives. This isn’t inherently adversarial, but with mainstream corporate media in control of the narrative building in our culture, they’ve made it into an adversarial process. The first amendment protects individual rights to speak or otherwise publish individual perspectives. So how did we go from that mandate to the media we have today, which is authoritative rather than cooperative? I will continue to explore these questions, here in Liberty, Liberally. And if you would like to add to that conversation, you can do so by contributing to The People’s Paper, or Make A Scene Magazine. And now, with the commercial radio station 95.5 The Pass, KNLT, you can call 907373-0955 and put your voice on the air! Thanks to our business advertisers (and monthly donations from individuals) we can offer that service for free.
month donation, you’ll receive a copy of each publication - and even special publications and other things that might fit in a Manila envelope! Thanks so much for your words of encouragement and financial support over the years. We take your trust very seriously, as we steward content from you and your neighbors onto the printed page. It’s an American tradition which we are blessed to uphold. More info available at: www.LibertyLiberally.com
From the Journal of Joshua Fryfogle