How to join The Backlash!

"Until Eve arrived, this was a man's world." - Richard Armour

"To love without role, without power plays, is revolution." - Rita Mae Brown

"How can I join your organization?" "Tell us about your group?" "What can I do to help?"

During the past few years we have received thousands of inquires on how to join The Backlash!

"Sorry, but we have no organization you can join, no means for you to show your support, sorry," we always had to say. Not so, anymore. Now you can. Sort of. By changing your email address to read: "yourname@backlash.com." All you need is an account with my Internet Service Provider.

When I changed ISPs, one of the first things I asked for was to use backlash.com in my email address. "Not a problem," they said, "just start using it and it will work."

"What if someone who works with me obtains an account with you, can they use it, too?" No problem, they said. When I pushed the issue, they admitted that all their customers could use backlash.com for their email address, and it would work perfectly.

It's not something they really want to encourage, but they said they wouldn't prevent anybody from doing it, either.

Why would you want to do that? The next time you send email to the editor of a big newspaper or a network TV program protesting something they've done, think how much more of an impact it would have if 500, 5,000 or 50,000 of them had backlash.com for an email address. Solidarity carries clout.

Moreover, it's flexible. You can make a public statement...but only when you want to. You'll always be able to receive email addressed to your username@backlash.com, but you can use it for sending email only when you want to.

That's fine for you, but what's in it for me? And what about the downside? Won't there be people who do it for the sole purpose of misusing the privilege, either to malign The Backlash! or to promote a cause I don't support?

That's not really a problem. For one thing, we already publish contrary views, here, and unless noted otherwise, only my comments reflect my opinion.

Beyond that, among others, my goal is to mitigate social, political and economic alienation not just by saying what I believe needs to be said, but also by providing a soapbox for others who strongly believe they have something important to say. I would rather Timothy McVeigh had spent April 19, 1995, firing off angry email to Washington, D.C., all the major metropolitan newspapers, and television and radio studios under the auspices of tmcveigh@backlash.com, than looking for a place to park his Ryder rental.

Moreover, even though I adamantly oppose terrorism and violence, his email would have focused media attention on backlash.com, thereby increasing its value to those of you whose views I share.

But if The Backlash! does this, won't outfits like the National Organization for Women do it, too? Sure, why not? Frankly, I'm surprised they haven't, already, but I hope they, and many more organizations, do, because when the big organizations use the web for promoting social change, that will create more opportunities for individuals and small organizations to do the same.

My ISP is Brigadoon.com. They're a national provider with access numbers in 47 of the lower 48 United States, their rates are very reasonable ($17.95/month), and even though The Backlash! will receive no credit for this, by using @backlash.com in your address you will help promote awareness of the site, and bring greater attention to the issues we raise here.

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