The Feature Returns – It Happened Today, Jan. 1 2017

It’s a brand new year and the brand old "It Happened Today" is back. Thanks for your patience during the December respite. I do hope to continue the feature through 2017 and beyond with your help. As a crowd-funded commentator, I respond to your priorities. But I also do need your help. As I explained in a video last fall, I’m privileged to have a number of outlets for my work. But despite the fancy title my position with the U of O is sessional. I get paid a fixed fee per course, with no benefits or pension and no guarantee of teaching in any given year. Likewise my newspaper and radio work is freelance. And while I’m grateful to all those employers, the core of my livelihood is your crowd-funding of the documentaries and your general support through Patreon and other platforms.

So here’s the thing. My daily "Wish I’d said that" and "It Happened Today" features currently earn me about 57 cents each, assuming all the money pledged via Patreon is for them alone. Mind you, they’re U.S. half-dollars. But still, much as I enjoy creating the quotations and historical vignettes, I simply can’t afford to do it indefinitely at that rate. I have to put my time and effort where people really value them, meaning reward them, so my work pays the bills and feeds my family.

A lot of people are dismayed by the way things are going in Canada and want to fix it. And I’m doing my best to reclaim true Canadian values, to change the culture so we can change the politics. But one thing Canadians need to get better at if they want to remain True, Strong and Free is to give more. A new Fraser Institute study confirms that we still lag far behind our American neighbours in voluntary giving. Only in one American state, West Virginia, do people give a smaller share of total income to charity than in any Canadian province, and only Manitoba is above West Virginia. But it’s voluntary giving that really helps people in need, and sustains voices like mine that don’t parrot the CBC vision of Canada.

I’m not asking for a million dollars. I’m asking for three bucks a month from anyone willing to pay a dime, or $7.50 from anyone good for an entire quarter, per "It Happened Today" and "Wish I’d Said That" daily combo. So if you enjoy them and want them to continue, and you’re not already a backer of the documentaries or a patron, please visit www.johnrobson.ca and follow the links to make a monthly pledge. I quite literally can’t do it without you.

Thanks.