Polls
I'm here ruminating on the polls to the right of this message. I think life is simply more complicated than the forced choices which they imply. For example, certainly the 2008 Presidential election is on everyone's mind, not only radicals, but also the general public.
But why must one conclude from that that the way to go is organizing for the support of some (so-called) 'third party' candidate (or for that matter some Democrat)?
It strikes me as a premature question when it is obvious to anyone who has ever thought about it that the major problem for an American left is not about finding a suitable national candidate to support, but rather the near total lack of organization of the American left.
Most recent so-called third party efforts have tended to contribute to this sense of disarray rather than alleviate it. Third Party efforts are either tiny and inconsequential sects which are hardly a model for mass organization, or like the Green Party they tend to be miniature immitations of the big parties--essentially the campaign organizations of major candidates and their entourages with little life between, beyond or outside specific electoral campaigns.
There have been a couple of exceptions to this in recent years, in particular statewide efforts such as the Vermont Progressive Party, local efforts such as Progressive Dane in Madison, Wisconsin and the national efforts of the Progressive Democrats of America. Each of these groups tends to be as movement based as it is electorally based and puts as much emphasis on organizing its base and direct action as it does on electoral action.
Gabe Gabrielsky
Syndicate
How is the ability for
How is the ability for anyone to enter multiple email addresses to sign up multiple times not valid Piper? How is the ability of the "pollmaster" to narrowly define choices not valid? It seems to me that you are not open to making this a better, more VALID site, therefore it will fail. In addition I now see that you only approve posts that are "in line" with your point of view, as I posted one a few days ago asking these same questions and it was denied.
Valid, yeah right, this is ALSO just another tool to quiet those who disagree.
-Chris Schell
Chris missed the point
The polls are valid as demonstrations - and the issues raised are being discussed. This comment was submitted by an un authorized user - so had to be approved before posting -
If you post as a registered user your post goes up without being moderated. I did move a post of yours from the front page to the forums where it was more appropriate.
The Polls
I understand the ruminations, Gabe, and the points are well taken. Personally I have worked with and for the Green Party and I have found your analysys accurate. That doesn't preclude my continued support for Green (I am registered as such). I concur that the party tends to be election, (as opposed to movement) oriented.
Ruminations aside I think it should be clear that there is nothing "official" about any poll currently on this site - the poll you are referring to was originally created by someone that has been oppositional to even the existence of this experiment (newMds.org).
I think this can be a powerful tool for sharing work and opinions. Without some form of authentication for the registrants though, the polls have little value - I know for a fact that at least one member of FDS has registered twice for the sole purpose of trying to discredit the sites capabilities.
The internal power struggle that enables a brother to feel it necessary to promulgate negative gossip, innuendo and blatent falsehoods about anyone that we communicate and share with as an organization (never mind that the sources of these forms of assaults are predominantly from members of the Board of the FDS) needs to be addressed. I know very few intelligent people that will tolerate that form of rhetoric. It is toxic to all we are working for and we must somehow develop a way to discipline ourselves.
Whether an actual physical meeting, (requiring either vast support of the system we are opposed to in terms of transportation and other non-sustainable expenditures, or the development of an alternative based means of enabling all that can afford the tme and money to attend the opportunity), or some form of online, trust based, community where we can share in realtime, discussions and voting on these issues might be better, it needs to be done.
The criticisms I've seen on this site by Chris Schell and PeaceNow are not based on valid issues. The voting and every aspect of the community interaction with this site can be controlled as the administrator configures it to be. I have left everything as open as I feel best to show what the site can do without letting anyone sabotage it terribly. These are silly polls to show the potential of the site. No one is trying to "decide" anything here (OH BUT I MUST KNOW OUR FAVORITE COLOR! -one of the polls) but instead to show the potential of this technology to the community.
Thank you for your participation, and I hope my comment covers your concerns. How do we facilitate the potential of this technology is the real issue here, and whether we should! I know this to be a democratizing tool of the future and can only imagine those in power fearing or opposing this technology.
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