Thoughts on the political social network

Earlier this week, Dave Winer referenced the concept of a political social network in his summary of the Democratic National Convention:

I wish one of these politicians had a practical vision — of a political social network that mobilized us 365 days a year, every year, not just when there’s an election.

The post he links to is called “The Getting-It-Done Party” from 2016, where he describes one of the successful aspects of Obama’s first presidential campaign:

One of the reasons Obama’s campaign was so successful was that it was distributed. Obama supporters met in people’s living rooms and canvassed together, knocking on doors, networking with people in their neighborhoods, for two-way communication. Not only did ideas flow from the center to the edges, but they went the other way too. This was amazing.

He goes on to say that Obama moved away from this after being elected, and how his administration did not continue the practices that helped get them elected. Here is his thought on what needs to be done:

What I think needs to be done — involve people in doing good work, with others, to make the world work better for everyone. Sort of a Uber for helping put the human race back on track for success. A Tinder of good deeds. Find me something I can do to help right now, close to home. And another thing and another.

Winer suggests that politicians who could help make this happen and start doing that good work could show they could make a difference before being elected.

I have been having some discussions with Ken Smith about how to improve/increase democratic involvement in our respective communities (Portland, Oregon and South Bend, Indiana). Ken posted a link to Dave Winer’s comments on the political social network, and I responded saying we need this. Ken then replied:

I wonder how much of the necessary toolkit already exists? Can we name the tools? The necessary skills and insights?

I have spent some time thinking about the phrase “political social network”. It seems to lead to the conclusion that there is a political solution. Here are some resources that I have found that do not stem from or flow from any organized political party:

Americans of Conscience Checklist – A crowdsourced checklist of actions that citizens can take to promote democracy, their current focus is on voter access and voting rights. The organizer, Jennifer Hofmann, will be teaching an activism course in September 2020.

Mutual Aid Societies – There appears to be many efforts to organize aid among neighborhoods and communities across the US. Some areas that have good web presence are:

Mutual Aid Hub – This is their resources page, including links to this digital tools guide
Mutual Aid 101 – A Google doc with resources on organizing a mutual aid network (PDF here)
Mutual Aid of Arlington, MA – A meta-site of groups in the area
Mutual Aid Medford and Somerville – Site in MA that served as inspiration for the Arlington group
Portland Mutual Aid – Portland, Oregon site (also Facebook page)

After reading through this material, I think this is the “Getting-Things-Done” party in action. What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Lesson 6 is now available on Org Mode for Beginners – how to activate Windows editing shortcuts. Check it out!

Bookmarked It’s Time to Fix Our Fragile Food Systems by Charles Marohn ([object Object])

Convocast episode 15 is out! Andy answers John Philpin’s question from episode 14 (have I thought about writing a newsletter), Andy asks/answers about balance of free/paid online services he uses, and talk about new equipment and a new website. Check it out!

Announcing Org Mode for Beginners

I have created a new website, OrgModeforBeginners.com, with videos on how to install Emacs and how to learn using Org Mode in Emacs. Comments and feedback are welcome!

Bookmarked LWV – 100 Days and 100 Ways to Get Ready for Election Day (lwv.org)

July 26 marks 100 days before the 2020 Election on November 3. As the League of Women Voters celebrates 100 years, and next month marks 100 years since the 19th Amendment was ratified, here are 100 ways to take action, get involved, and make a difference before Election Day! Everyone can do something—what will you do?

Talking about power tools of the culture

I follow the Twitter writings of Ken Smith, an English professor at Indiana University-South Bend. In early July, he had a thought about “power tools of the culture”:

School shouldn’t be so alienating. Young people are entitled to the power tools of the culture.

They like to hear a faculty member say that aloud in class. They like talking about what it entails.

Education:

1) Shouldn’t be so alienating.

2) Power tools of the culture.

Dave Winer referenced this in a podcast that day. I had some thoughts on this as well, so I have created a wiki page collecting items from Ken’s posting over the past month on this topic, as well as my ideas. If anyone has anything to contribute, respond in the comments!