Always it is the vexing problem of money and dedication, in varying proportions. Dedication can often overcome a lack of money, and money can often compensate for a lack of dedication. If only I could stumble upon some secret hoard of both.
I guess, the dedication is the resource we are bound to exploit in the first line...
Though, the best results are often achieved when the product meets the market, and people are ready to pay for what they get.
An interesting and successful enterprise
to learn from is the media empire around the magazines
Jet and
Ebony. The founder of that media empire,
John H. Johnson, had an elaborated strategy for achieving black emancipation through inner strength of African-Americans. One of the major principles was to regularly publish positive reports about successful African-Americans, just to give people more positive role-models and strengthen their self-confidence. Another principle of
Ebony was to never provide "negative publicity" about black people, because, as Johnson said, "white media are doing this for us already". One can have different opinions on this issue, but at the end his strategy proved to be a genious one: starting with 500 $, Johnson has made a fortune of 500.000.000 $.
The respective interests evoqued here might not always or often be compatible.The wealthy with something to conserve are by virtue of their own professionnal and socio-economic limitations ... conservative.I include among the whole lot wealthy gays,whose concern about wealth could drive them into compromission,when it is not assimilation,into the hethro political body and lifestyle.Rich people might serve their country in times of plenty and bliss,when it costs them nothing personnaly to do so.But all too often they betray it in times of adversity.
Certainly, wealthy individuals can betray their people and their country, motivated by the desire to preserve their possessions. Alike, poor individuals can betray their people and their country, motivated by greed and ambition. We must acknowledge the money as what it is: the equivalent of work, not more and not less. Similiarly to the time and efforts, which can be invested into a work or a leizure, the money can be spent for personal pleasures or for achieving some specific goals corresponding with the individual's interests and values. Many rich people have done invaluable services to the mankind, and so did many poor people. If more people would just contribute some amount of their time and/or money to a good project of their choice, our communities would stand much better.
[..] I rather like their site and their organization. It's the sort of thing I would have in every gay community in every city of the world. The activities of groups like this (and I would certainly hope that the SFGMCI is not unique) should be widely reported, particularly since it is reputed to be the largest of the 'gay villages'. While their efforts are confined to their own community (as they ought to be), what they achieve may well be adaptable to the circumstances of other communities. [..]
We need both - good functioning communities and a global network. There are many issues connected to the gay community, all of them being important but requiring different levels of organization. While the global network can prove to be an effective means to solve political questions, the local communities are the best suitable to release individuals from social isolation. Both, the local and the global gay structures are existing, but in a very rudimental stage of developement - as a people, we are far from what we could be if properly organized.
