Welcome to Reason's 2016 Webathon!
We're asking for $250,000 from you, the big people, to produce more and better journalism and commentary supporting Free Minds and Free Markets!
Has it really been 354 days since we brought out our best tin cup, banged it on a trusty woodchipper, and reminded you that #GivingTuesday, not unlike perestroika, begins in the comments section? Yes, even if you're already lost in a haze of imagined Lobster Girl references (but especially if you're not), it's that time of year again—when Reason threatens harasses asks you, our very favorite and most loyal readers, to donate a QUARTER MILLION DOLLARS to make the world safe for libertarian journalism.
From now until December 6, we will be listing a series of reasons for the season why you should donate your hard-earned, tax-deductible dollars, bitcoin, and untraceable scrip to the Reason Foundation—the 501(c)(3) nonprofit that publishes our award-winning journalism in video, audio, pixelated or (newly redesigned) print form. You can and should scroll down to see giving levels and argumentation and such, but just this once why don't you just click on the link immediately below this paragraph, and….
DONATE TO REASON RIGHT THE HELL NOW.
Last year, 1,682 of you generous, possibly immortal souls coughed up $246,000 to defend civil and economic liberties, attack authoritarianism, and pour some rational tonic onto an increasingly hysterical world. This year we're not just asking to round those digits up, or to lock in our COLA increase, but rather for you to reaffirm that, dammit, we lived up to our end of the bargain, and are even more likely to spin your delicious straw into glorious gold in 2017.
How can I predict that so bigly? Well, viddy this, my brothers:
* Web traffic at Reason.com has shattered all-time highs this very month.
* Views for Reason TV views over the past fiscal year have doubled.
* We've gone from near-zero to at least 55 with our new podcasting activities, both in-house and outhouse.
* Have I mentioned our fancy new magazine redesign, the first in 15 years, which is already in subscribers' mailboxes?
* And ohhhhhh, do we have some secret new sauce planned for you next year!
You're going to be hearing more about all of this in the coming days from a cast of Reason characters, including in a live Webathon Telethon that will surely produce more maimed bodies than a Flying Wallendas performance. But for now, let's list the goody-goody gumdrops that you'll get from donating right the hell now at various levels:
* $100–You'll get a Reason magazine subscription (includes print and/or digital, with digital opening the Pandora's Box of Reason's five-decade-old archives). You'll also receive invitations to any and all Reason events in your area.
* $250—The above, plus a custom Reason T-shirt custom DESIGNED SPECIAL-LIKE FOR THIS WEBATHON by Reason Magazine Art Director Joanna Andreasson. You'll also get some books by Reason authors.
* $500—That plus a copy of the funny and important documentary Can We Take a Joke? directed by former Reason TV producer Ted Balaker and co-produced/co-written by Reason TV's own Zach Weissmueller.
* $1,000—Throw in a private lunch in Washington, D.C., with a senior Reason editor, and an invite to our super-exclusive and very rewarding Reason Weekend.
* $5,000—Did someone say a 1-ounce silver Bastiat Coin, plus two tickets to the swanky Reason Media Awards in New York City, with VIP seating and a reception with Nick Gillespie, Matt Welch, and Katherine Mangu-Ward?
* $10,000—What the hell, let's just add two tickets to Reason Weekend for first-time attendees.
Not bad, right? But listen, we need to hit the ground running here; last year we started out a bit slow, and the haters came out with all their hate-mutterings: Libertarians are FINISHED, man! It's all trade wars and war-wars and smart surveillance and stadium subsidies and entitlement expansion from here on out. Well, maybe. But we have a hunch the statists are playing the shorter deck, and we—meaning you—are not just keeping the flame lit, but tossing entire couches on the raging bonfire of freedom, and sending out joyous wolf-howls in the night. Or at least that's what I think Gary Johnson has been doing these past three weeks….
We are here to amplify your voice, to challenge even our own assumptions, and hopefully produce a chuckle or two along the way. Help make us make you want to make them sad about making things bad!