infinityBBC
03-10-2008, 01:02 PM
greetings fellow Revolutionists!
recently there has been a lot of discussions over how to best proceed with moving this grassroots Revolution forward into the future.
Ron Paul has been encouraging us that this grassroots movement is larger than any one man and needs to continue on into the future. he made a statement regarding the creation of an "umbrella organization", under whose banner the Revolution can rally, and through which goals can be established.
there is some concern among various members of the grassroots Revolution as to who might wind up being "in charge" of such an organization. on concern is that members of the Ron Paul campaign might choose to run it as a top-down hierarchy, etc. those who read this who have such concern, please dispense with it momentarily and i will shortly address this issue and explain why i don't believe it will matter.
• the communication hurdle
there is an overwhelming consensus that the Meetup.com network is inefficient and problematic to the growth of the Revolution, due to technical limitations and cost. i just learned over the weekend that the Meetup.com network was originally thought to be a temporary place to help get Ron Paul supporters organized in their localities, but that it grew so fast, it was not practical at the time to try and migrate everyone to a new network.
however now, online Meetup groups have been expiring and will surely continue to do so over the coming months and the Revolution is now entering a crucial and pivotal time which will potentially largely determine the effectiveness of the movement on into the future.
largely due to technical limitations of the Meetup.com network, the largest hurdle before us seems to be that the organizers of all these groups throughout the country are scattered into different communication networks and have no central place in which to discuss ideas for direction, etc.
i fully commend the efforts of Nathan Estey, a national Meetup organizer, which currently include working on bridging 3 large Meetup organizer groups together in hope of improving these communications, along with soliciting for grassroots Revolution volunteers to help by contacting various organizers whose Meetup groups have already expired. those who are members of these organizer groups will find more detailed information regarding this plan under the subject: *ORIGINAL* The State of the Grassroots rEVOLution - Part 1, 2, & 3
• another idea to consider
i fully support Nathan Estey with the bridging of the 3 organizer groups, etc. however, i am concerned about the length of time it will take to not only bring most all the organizers to the same table for discussing upon and deliberating over the great ideas which have been generated by so many enthusiastic grassroots Revolutionists, but also coming up with a grassroots consensus regarding moving to a new network, a name for the ongoing grassroots movement, statement of purpose and/or goals, etc.
there are certainly various national networks already committed to advocating liberty in America, but how long will it take for the grassroots to get a consensus regarding to which one it should move?
towards the end of a 2.5 hour phone conversation with Nathan, i reasoned there might be a much more efficient way to help the grassroots Revolution take the next step in getting ourselves organized: that we encourage Ron Paul to follow through with his statement about creating an "umbrella organization", names it, and outlines the overall statement of purpose or goal for this grassroots movement who bears the message of liberty.
if Ron Paul were to take the lead on this, he would help to guide the Revolution in a time when it is in much need of guidance -- doing so would jump start the entire grassroots into a direction without us having to go through much additional and unnecessary painstaking deliberation, taking perhaps months.
the fact that such a message would come directly from our beloved doctor would also urge those organizers whose Meetup groups expired to seek out and join this new group, bringing with them their local members.
just having Ron Paul spearhead this new umbrella organization would certainly lesson the degree of skepticism which various grassroots Revolutionists might have with regard to jumping on board a new network and would also serve as our best method of communicating this message throughout the Ron Paul grassroots Revolution nationally.
otherwise, think about how much more difficult it would be to rally support for a new network without Ron Paul's official endorsement.
• concerns of the grassroots Revolution
as i stated earlier, the only real concern i have heard in regards to Ron ushering in such an umbrella organization has to do with who might run it. the general consensus i have gleaned thus far, which i of course agree, is that the grassroots DOES NOT want a top-down hierarchy. but why must we think such a thing would happen when the grassroots Revolution is free to organize as it wills?
think about it: if Ron Paul were to follow through on his statement, it matters not who gets involved with the "official" umbrella group, nor does it matter how they decide to run it. the grassroots can simply take that name and run with it -- we can begin to build a new communication network to REPLACE the Meetup network and then get all of the organizers on board.
FOR EXAMPLE, let's say Ron Paul creates an umbrella organization called "LibertyAmerica.com" (just an example, i'm not pushing for this name in particular). overnight, grassroots Meetup organizers could create a national GoogleGroup (again, for example) for state coordinators called "LibertyAmerica", 50 groups for the states using the format of "LibertyAmericaNC", and the the county organizers could follow suit, "LibertyAmericaNC-Buncombe".
ALSO, one new national Meetup could be created called "LibertyAmerica.Meetup.com", along with perpetuating the national "Ron Paul Meetup", in order to point interested people in the direction of the new "LibertyAmercia" grassroots network.
FURTHER, "LibertyAmerica" groups could be created on other networks (Yahoo, Facebook, MySpace, etc) using them, as well as pointing others to the Google Group network set up for said coordinators.
the upshot is that the "official umbrella organization" and the grassroots coordinators/organizers can run in parallel together -- JUST LIKE this has been done throughout the entire campaign. should those running the "official umbrella group" run it into the ground, the grassroots groups will remain in tact; should they do a great job after all, then it will be an asset of the grassroots.
• getting the ball into Ron Paul's court
i share this with you all because i feel that perhaps no one has given Ron such a perspective of some of these hurdles currently facing the future of the grassroots Revolution. if we do not rally our troops soon, we risk allowing the Revolution to scatter.
Ron Paul is the only person who has the ability to guide the grassroots in an effective and efficient way during this crucial time. his doing so would reach out to the entire nation, and urge organizers throughout the country to get together in unity.
sure, we'll still have to somehow figure out which network is best to use, but the majority of the hurdles we presently face would be behind us. regardless, perhaps we can somehow let the market aid us in making such a decision.
i obviously favor moving the organizer/coordinator network from the Meetup to the Google network. among the free online group network services, i believe Google has the best integration between various online applications (especially GoogleMaps), and would be best in terms of future innovations which would meet the needs of the grassroots Revolution.
even though i think it would be best for the organizers/coordinators to settle on ONE network, perhaps it is possible for groups to decide for themselves upon the network of their choice, AS LONG AS they use a common format in naming their groups (ie: "LibertyAmericaNC@googlegroups.com" OR "LibertyAmericaSC@yahoogroups.com").
these are details which can be sorted out in time. right now, the question is what do my fellow Revolutionists think about the overall idea of asking our good doctor for some guidance right now, and if many like it, how to we get this consideration before Ron Paul?
this i can only leave up to my fellow grassroots Revolutionists. spread this message to various networks and discuss it. if it seems like a reasonable idea which we should consider, let's talk it up on the forums, contact Ron Paul HQ, or if you happen to be closer to Ron, give him a call!
in liberty,
8-)
bernard baruch carman
- seeker of truth / seeder of truth • www.SeedsOfTruth.org • www.FellowshipOfTheWord.org
- Born to Win supporter • www.BornToWin.net
- Ron Paul Revolution • www.RonPaul2008.com • Google Ron Paul!
- We The People supporter • www.GiveMeLiberty.org
•••
recently there has been a lot of discussions over how to best proceed with moving this grassroots Revolution forward into the future.
Ron Paul has been encouraging us that this grassroots movement is larger than any one man and needs to continue on into the future. he made a statement regarding the creation of an "umbrella organization", under whose banner the Revolution can rally, and through which goals can be established.
there is some concern among various members of the grassroots Revolution as to who might wind up being "in charge" of such an organization. on concern is that members of the Ron Paul campaign might choose to run it as a top-down hierarchy, etc. those who read this who have such concern, please dispense with it momentarily and i will shortly address this issue and explain why i don't believe it will matter.
• the communication hurdle
there is an overwhelming consensus that the Meetup.com network is inefficient and problematic to the growth of the Revolution, due to technical limitations and cost. i just learned over the weekend that the Meetup.com network was originally thought to be a temporary place to help get Ron Paul supporters organized in their localities, but that it grew so fast, it was not practical at the time to try and migrate everyone to a new network.
however now, online Meetup groups have been expiring and will surely continue to do so over the coming months and the Revolution is now entering a crucial and pivotal time which will potentially largely determine the effectiveness of the movement on into the future.
largely due to technical limitations of the Meetup.com network, the largest hurdle before us seems to be that the organizers of all these groups throughout the country are scattered into different communication networks and have no central place in which to discuss ideas for direction, etc.
i fully commend the efforts of Nathan Estey, a national Meetup organizer, which currently include working on bridging 3 large Meetup organizer groups together in hope of improving these communications, along with soliciting for grassroots Revolution volunteers to help by contacting various organizers whose Meetup groups have already expired. those who are members of these organizer groups will find more detailed information regarding this plan under the subject: *ORIGINAL* The State of the Grassroots rEVOLution - Part 1, 2, & 3
• another idea to consider
i fully support Nathan Estey with the bridging of the 3 organizer groups, etc. however, i am concerned about the length of time it will take to not only bring most all the organizers to the same table for discussing upon and deliberating over the great ideas which have been generated by so many enthusiastic grassroots Revolutionists, but also coming up with a grassroots consensus regarding moving to a new network, a name for the ongoing grassroots movement, statement of purpose and/or goals, etc.
there are certainly various national networks already committed to advocating liberty in America, but how long will it take for the grassroots to get a consensus regarding to which one it should move?
towards the end of a 2.5 hour phone conversation with Nathan, i reasoned there might be a much more efficient way to help the grassroots Revolution take the next step in getting ourselves organized: that we encourage Ron Paul to follow through with his statement about creating an "umbrella organization", names it, and outlines the overall statement of purpose or goal for this grassroots movement who bears the message of liberty.
if Ron Paul were to take the lead on this, he would help to guide the Revolution in a time when it is in much need of guidance -- doing so would jump start the entire grassroots into a direction without us having to go through much additional and unnecessary painstaking deliberation, taking perhaps months.
the fact that such a message would come directly from our beloved doctor would also urge those organizers whose Meetup groups expired to seek out and join this new group, bringing with them their local members.
just having Ron Paul spearhead this new umbrella organization would certainly lesson the degree of skepticism which various grassroots Revolutionists might have with regard to jumping on board a new network and would also serve as our best method of communicating this message throughout the Ron Paul grassroots Revolution nationally.
otherwise, think about how much more difficult it would be to rally support for a new network without Ron Paul's official endorsement.
• concerns of the grassroots Revolution
as i stated earlier, the only real concern i have heard in regards to Ron ushering in such an umbrella organization has to do with who might run it. the general consensus i have gleaned thus far, which i of course agree, is that the grassroots DOES NOT want a top-down hierarchy. but why must we think such a thing would happen when the grassroots Revolution is free to organize as it wills?
think about it: if Ron Paul were to follow through on his statement, it matters not who gets involved with the "official" umbrella group, nor does it matter how they decide to run it. the grassroots can simply take that name and run with it -- we can begin to build a new communication network to REPLACE the Meetup network and then get all of the organizers on board.
FOR EXAMPLE, let's say Ron Paul creates an umbrella organization called "LibertyAmerica.com" (just an example, i'm not pushing for this name in particular). overnight, grassroots Meetup organizers could create a national GoogleGroup (again, for example) for state coordinators called "LibertyAmerica", 50 groups for the states using the format of "LibertyAmericaNC", and the the county organizers could follow suit, "LibertyAmericaNC-Buncombe".
ALSO, one new national Meetup could be created called "LibertyAmerica.Meetup.com", along with perpetuating the national "Ron Paul Meetup", in order to point interested people in the direction of the new "LibertyAmercia" grassroots network.
FURTHER, "LibertyAmerica" groups could be created on other networks (Yahoo, Facebook, MySpace, etc) using them, as well as pointing others to the Google Group network set up for said coordinators.
the upshot is that the "official umbrella organization" and the grassroots coordinators/organizers can run in parallel together -- JUST LIKE this has been done throughout the entire campaign. should those running the "official umbrella group" run it into the ground, the grassroots groups will remain in tact; should they do a great job after all, then it will be an asset of the grassroots.
• getting the ball into Ron Paul's court
i share this with you all because i feel that perhaps no one has given Ron such a perspective of some of these hurdles currently facing the future of the grassroots Revolution. if we do not rally our troops soon, we risk allowing the Revolution to scatter.
Ron Paul is the only person who has the ability to guide the grassroots in an effective and efficient way during this crucial time. his doing so would reach out to the entire nation, and urge organizers throughout the country to get together in unity.
sure, we'll still have to somehow figure out which network is best to use, but the majority of the hurdles we presently face would be behind us. regardless, perhaps we can somehow let the market aid us in making such a decision.
i obviously favor moving the organizer/coordinator network from the Meetup to the Google network. among the free online group network services, i believe Google has the best integration between various online applications (especially GoogleMaps), and would be best in terms of future innovations which would meet the needs of the grassroots Revolution.
even though i think it would be best for the organizers/coordinators to settle on ONE network, perhaps it is possible for groups to decide for themselves upon the network of their choice, AS LONG AS they use a common format in naming their groups (ie: "LibertyAmericaNC@googlegroups.com" OR "LibertyAmericaSC@yahoogroups.com").
these are details which can be sorted out in time. right now, the question is what do my fellow Revolutionists think about the overall idea of asking our good doctor for some guidance right now, and if many like it, how to we get this consideration before Ron Paul?
this i can only leave up to my fellow grassroots Revolutionists. spread this message to various networks and discuss it. if it seems like a reasonable idea which we should consider, let's talk it up on the forums, contact Ron Paul HQ, or if you happen to be closer to Ron, give him a call!
in liberty,
8-)
bernard baruch carman
- seeker of truth / seeder of truth • www.SeedsOfTruth.org • www.FellowshipOfTheWord.org
- Born to Win supporter • www.BornToWin.net
- Ron Paul Revolution • www.RonPaul2008.com • Google Ron Paul!
- We The People supporter • www.GiveMeLiberty.org
•••