grassroots on a grander scale..

[jbm]

I've made a couple of posts in the past about a saturday night political discussion thing that started happening at a local restaurant several months ago. I work at the restaurant on the weekends, and a very informal political convo gradually grew into a weekly gathering. It's not a huge thing by anyones standards, but it's fun, and we get to communicate on a level that's far deeper than anything Rush can touch.


I was thinking today that while Air America is wonderful and I absolutely support their work, I don't know that they alone can undo all the nonsense that's been fed to people over the years. I'm thinking that changing a belief is going to be much more difficult than it was to imprint that belief in the first place.

I'm wondering how difficult it would be to form some sort of unified organization that promotes grassroots efforts on a VERY local level. A small problem with grassroots and no parent organization is that there would be no real continuity of message. I know we pretty much speak the same language and I would be tempted to not worry much about that particular issue, except that I know first hand how stressful it is to deliver a message if you're not sure it's correct. If for no other reason than peace of mind for the person hosting the forum, I would like there to be some higher entity that could vet or distribute talking points.

Anyway, whattaya think? (I have to leave for a few hours but I really will read the thread).

[mhr]

1. I Have Argued The Same And Have Offered Model Organizational Structures

And have participated in fledgling attempts to get organized.

For some reason(s), liberals and progressives are very hard to get organized and focused. Maybe it is an innate distrust of structure and authority. I don' know.

However, the need for a long-term enduring organization to act as a clearing house for ideas, archiver of information, information disburser, speakers bureau, etc. is clearly evident.

How to make that happen with enough money and organization is hard to say. Without some type of legacy effort though the grassroots efforts seem to whiter on the vine because a few volunteers end up doing all the work. These well meaning and motivated individuals drop from exhaustion and their good efforts die with them.

The only way to insure continuity is money and organization.

[jbm]

2. thank you for your post mhr..

I'm glad to know that there are others who see the need as well. Experience tells me that it generally takes the coming together of many factors to transform an idea into action, and at least one of those factors always has something to do with luck. If enough of us keep tossing the idea out there, maybe eventually we'll hit paydirt.

I also hear what you're saying about trying to focus liberals..lol. I've often pondered how the liberal mind can be so independent, and yet concern itself with the best interests of the group, while the conservative mind will march in step yet resist the idea that they have any responsibility towards the group. Maybe that's just how we each manage to resolve the "I am an individual/I am part of a group" dilemma.