Letter from the Editor: A simple plan

January 1, 2025

Brock Wilbur,

Art by Keegan Hudspeth

Welcome dearest readers to the January print issue of The Pitch—grown and harvested locally in the heart of KC.

Pointing back at the year we just survived and labeling it “The Worst Year Ever” has become meaningless, as it now feels less like an indictment of things going wrong and more like an annual tradition. This isn’t to say that it is incorrect: A good chunk of the last decade has seen an acceleration of peril, frenzy, and outright horror that my first few decades on this rock could not have prepared me for.

2024 is, however, the most perplexing year I’ve lived through. It was a daily onslaught of information that, to borrow a superhero trope, felt as if it was all slipping through from alternate timelines. There is not one, singular Earth where such polar opposites could be expected to exist in tandem.

None of that shit made any sense. So now… how do we make sense of it? What’s the path forward? Who are we—individually, as a country, and as an increasingly angry planet?

Since the events of November, my world has been filled with folks trying to square the circle—trying to understand what it is that American people believe, why they want to live in a future like that, and what it says about their empathy for those around them. This has taken the form of blame games, bickering, navel-gazing, and dysfunction.

I’d like to share with you how we at The Pitch see the world moving forward. And, we believe that no matter your alignment, you’ll agree with the basic tenets of what we’re witnessing—and will join us in a shared solution.

Politics is over.

Or at least politics is over as a useful concept, in the way many of us once approached it. What did the idea of ‘politics’ mean to you? Was it just elections? Was it candidates? Was it seeing a group that more or less shared some of your perspectives? Was politics just the process of voting? Was politics leaving one news channel on all day while you allowed pundits to make your blood boil over your enemies in a manufactured culture war—lassoing fears and uncertainty to keep your adrenaline raging? Was politics lecturing people online?

Politics in all these forms have failed us. They have allowed us to fail each other. They have created, not racial, economic, or class divides, but a full split down the middle of reality. The systems and institutions that were once the levers of power guiding America have spent most of my lifetime slowly grinding to a halt. The government is not getting anything done, because internal strife and performative pandering have made consensus impossible. Even the leaders of both legislative parties have proven themselves to be scattered, confused, and obsessed with platforms that are little more than platitudes.

‘Politics’ has failed us. And it is not coming to save you. So the time has come to make a pivot in how we think, how we talk, and how we use our time. Today is the day to stop believing that folks at the top will ever have your best interests at heart. It’s time to pivot to people—to making the world we want to see, one person at a time.

We have a set of ideas at our publication that we’ve been calling Blueprint 2025. The idea is simple: People need to make time in their lives to help others—or not. Talking to politicians and business leaders about their plans and promises for the future is pointless. Trying to wrangle those with a modicum of influence within the traditional systems to even speak their empty promises aloud is, itself, a chore with no productive outcome. So we’re going to stop covering those promises. The Pitch is going to write about the people and places that are doing the work. We’ll hold others accountable to their faults, failures, and fabrications, but these pages are now dedicated to those who—right now, in this moment—are working to help their fellow friends and strangers feel the love, protection, and power that America promised us.

The Blueprint requires you. It requires you to put down the phone, get out of the house, and participate in the world around you. Giving donations isn’t cutting it. Going to social media is actively working against you. Today is the day to find at least one thing/issue/cause that you truly believe in, reach out to them, and ask where they need you.

People power on the ground. Not politics. The system has taught us, through action, that it refuses to change our lives for the better. So decide what you believe that better world could look like, carve an hour or two out of your week, disconnect from the unbroken stream of anger, and help. Help us. Help yourself. Give help where you can see its need. Give yourself the grace and power to ask for help.

Your community needs your care. The people around you cannot do this for themselves, and no one is swooping in to fix this. ‘Politics’ is pointless. Putting in a consistent push on behalf of those who cannot push for themselves—This is the path.

That’s our Blueprint 2025. That’s our plan for how our publication looks at the world and how we want to deliver for you—and with you. Every Facebook post or doom-scrolled pissing match is precious time wasted. Abandon the empty calories of sedentary pursuits and join us in the streets.

Pitch in and we’ll make it through,