Comments on: Strategies

By: Jim Winer

Jim Winer — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 14:16:47 +0000

So where is the new party? If the Demons and Repulsives are all the choice I have, I will be out in the streets with Occupy and 99% and not at the polls. The politicians don’t seem to recognize that a revolution is in progress and will only get more aggressive the longer it goes on. There’s a new paradigm (overused word) and the world has shifted because of the cell phone and social networks. Nothing will ever be the same again except the politicians greed for power.

Where are the new political parties?

By: AMAC

AMAC — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 05:02:01 +0000

Voter participation is already pretty low. I don’t see how a continued decrease would help. It would help put power in fewer hands. I would say that is a bad idea.

By: Jim Winer

Jim Winer — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 04:36:33 +0000

Actually, a boycott will work just fine. The point is that it doesn’t matter which of the hacks gets elected. It doesn’t matter if we die by fire or by ice, we’re still dead. So if there’s no alternative, boycott the polls and make sure everybody knows it’s because the choices are not relevant to solving the problem, but only to who gets the choice part of the corpse.

By: Rick Bayan

Rick Bayan — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 04:34:01 +0000

Jim: I sympathize with your Shakespearean fury, and I think most Americans (even some liberals and conservatives) are disgusted with our current two-party system. A boycott would work only if every citizen were to participate in it; otherwise, the hacks would still get elected by the faithful, even if they’re a tiny percentage of the electorate.

The sad thing is most of the moderate candidates out there don’t inspire me; we need RADICAL moderates who are willing to abandon the status quo, raise holy hell and demand fundamental reforms in our political and financial systems… reforms that would swing America away from plutocracy and back toward real representative democracy.

At this point I think only a third party will accomplish that feat. I see it as a centrist party with a populist (but not mob) mentality… a Main Street party that would encompass all the good people marginalized by the rabid partisans within their traditional parties.

The challenge (and it’s a huge one) would be to unite all the dozens of moderate and independent activist groups out there so we could become a national force. Right now every moderate and independent with an ax to grind wants to be the chieftain of his own little patch of earth. That’s understandable, up to a point. But those egos will eventually have to surrender a little status and control for the greater good of the country. I’d love to see it happen, and I’ll do whatever I can to make it happen.

By: Jim Winer

Jim Winer — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 03:10:21 +0000

I have a very simple strategy that I intend to propagate to the extent that I can.

A POX ON BOTH YOUR PARTIES!

As an Independent, I will boycott the polls rather than vote for either a Democrat or a Republican again. My message is simple: get out! Your time is over!

Give me an alternative that is clearly not status quo!

By: Amy

Amy — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 18:59:58 +0000

That’s a good point, Rick. Probably harder than it would seem. Perhaps if we did create a Facebook group, and asked all the bloggers listed here on your page to join, letting them each be admins/moderators, we could collect everyone into one group, with all being represented on equal footing? Then we’d have all the followers of each blog united in one place. We could always post the links to all their independent blogs on the page.

By: Ian Robertson

Ian Robertson — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 15:23:52 +0000

Amy: Do it, do it!

By: Rick Bayan

Rick Bayan — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 15:16:55 +0000

Amy: Good question. I tried a Facebook group but it never really took off… and it essentially split my readers into two separate groups. The biggest challenge for those of us who want to build a moderate movement (and I should add it to the strategy list) is how to unite all the different moderate/centrist/independent bloggers and organizations under a single banner. I think everyone wants to be “master of his domain” — it’s only natural. But at some point, if we really want to become a national force, we’ll have to bring all those scattered groups together. I compare it to Bismarck creating a united Germany from dozens of separate German-speaking states back around 1870. I’ll have to read how he did it.

By: Amy

Amy — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 06:19:51 +0000

Just curious, if there is anything in the works to get started making this a reality? Maybe a Facebook group so the word would be spread easily, and more accessible? I have a lot of free time on my hands and am so ready for this party to happen. Let me know

By: Jesse C

Jesse C — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 21:47:45 +0000

I agree with AMAC here. The 24 hour news networks have designed their programming to appeal to that same element in people that The Jersey Shore does. Everyone says they hate that show, but people continue to watch it because they “..can’t wait to see what that idiot Snookie does next..”

I suspect that most people watch shows like Hannity or Olbermann because they want to see some partisan bloodshed, to watch their team score a touchdown, so to speak.