I thought that an answer I posted to in a diary I started, called Coffee Party Hits 100,000 members, deserved it’s own diary. IMO, over-consumption of blogs actually prevents action. Also, most of the most important activism (such as peace activism) never seems to accomplish much of anything. So, even when action is attempted (in preference to endless arguments and opinionating on blogs), the actions tend to be a complete FAIL – except in the spiritual sense.
There needs to be more thinking about what I have called democratic efficiency (small ‘d’ democratic; nothing to do with the Democratic Party, per se). To that end, I am posting my tongue-in-cheek theory, hoping to expose superficial thinking which would obscure the sorts of analyses, research, and (frankly) democratic experimentation that we should be eagerly pursuing.
In reply to Edger, who wrote,
I don’t think anyone here (4.00 / 9)
at this point views the Coffee Party as a group that will build out a very important piece of democratic infrastructure but rather views it almost as a attempted coopting effort by OFA partisans.
Sort of like “Oh, you didn’t like the Coke? Well, here – have a Pepsi! It’s completely different.”
I answered (now edited):
That’s an interesting theory
Considering, though, that
1) I’ve been thinking of democratic infrastructure for quite a while (to the point of recently writing an unfinished draft largely about the subject), and that I’ve anticipated some aspects of the Coffee Party, especially the face-to-face aspect; also, see my now-mostly-abandoned website democracyabc.org, where, if you read everything there and grok the structure of the site, you will see that I was looking to create an online place where citizens of very different stripes could both cooperate across ideological lines, as well as purely within them, depending on their predilections; further, these two modes of operation (universally cooperative vs. competitive with other groups) were not designed as mutually exclusive
2) there’s only meager, circumstantial evidence to suggest an OFA facade (the ‘strongest’ evidence seems to be that Annabel Park worked for the Obama campaign, correct?)
3) the advertised ‘structure’ of the Coffee Party (which is not very well-defined) doesn’t seem to even permit co-option
this means that your theory, at present, is not a terribly convincing theory. In fact, if my observation #3 is valid, then your theory can’t be correct.
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There’s good news, though: I can make an slightly more interesting theory to explain the real driving force behind the Coffee Party, which may be only mildly less plausible than your theory. Oh, yes, I can! And I will!! 🙂
My theory is that the Coffee Party is actually a stealth operation of the Republican Party, whose modus operandi will be to generate lots of Ralph Nader-like candidates who will split the progressive vote, throwing untold numbers of elections to ….. drumroll, please ……
the Big Bad REPUBLICANS!
Now, here’s the kicker: My “it’s really the BIG BAD Republicans” theory and your “it’s really the OFA” have a great deal in common: By staying away and making armchair judgements based on the flimsiest of ‘evidence’ and the shallowest of arguments, holders of EITHER theory have a wonderful excuse to “blog to the choir” and accomplish nothing, electorally.
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over the years, and this applies to politics as well, go with my first instinct, it’s usually correct. My first instinct about the coffee party was that it was front for OFA to counter the real progressive criticism of the Obama. I still think I’m right and the more I read on their site, convinces me that it’s just another STFU to the DFH’s. I don’t think the evidence is all that “flimsy” nor do I think it is a Republican plot unless you believe that the entire Obama presidency is. Just my gut feelings.
The second is never ASSUME. You make a big assumption in you last paragraph that we are sitting on our collective butts, blogging to the choir and will accomplish nothing, electorally. Not exactly the way to convince me to join anything and you are dead wrong. Many of us here support and work for progressive candidates and organizations. I worked very hard with the Working Families Party to get more progressive candidates on the ballot and elected here in NYC and state. They were quite a successful. One of those candidates, who was elected to the NY City Council, may replace our Blue Dog Hose Rep with a primary challenge in 2012.
… into engaging with people who tell us not to write, not to protest, and not to diss the incumbents who are merely treadingmilling and not doing what is best for their constituents and the nation, but we won’t be fooled this time around.
Ask anybody running for office which what they would really have, a quarter of a million dollars from a defense contractor, or a few more voters who gave them $50, and see what the answer is and which donors they have on speed dial post election.
The Dems are still pandering for lobbyist cash even as I type, instead of telling the Senate to fix their bill. The outcome of wasting over a year of nothingness is going to be some people telling the Democratic Party “buh- bye.” Others will be trying to find and support Dems who aren’t Pandercrats. So good luck spinning that as useless. The last thing we need are a bunch of people who stand for absolutely nothing running around locally trying to screw with electing actual moderates and liberals instead of the usual wing nuts.
with each other and allow the total co-opting of the Democratic Party by our corporate overlords? We should just back off and allow Obama to turn us all into bots who think that if they call it reform it is good. Isn’t that kind of creepy? But hey we might get a soccer Stadium from the corps for all the soccergranny/moms’s to take their kids to that is surely a goal we can all decide is ‘good’. Except for the fact that the citizens will pick up the tab.
Flimsy evidence and unbelievable excuses is all we get these days from politics. All the Democratic koolaide drinkers need is lessons on how to be ‘good citizens’ and listen to the speeches of misdirection from Obama regrugitated by this lot. At least the teabaggers have some fire, they may be upside down and pig ignorant but they aren’t likely to call getting screwed, reform.
We accomplished something electorally we won we voted for change, bottom up and an end to the madness. Now were supposed to drink coffee, be supportive, and call the nighttime day and be civil about it? What’s civil about killing, torture, bribery, extortian, corruption, corporate rule and having our human and civil rights taken away? The coffee party is not my cup of tea. I didn’t like what they had to say. It’s pathetic to think that people will believe in this bs when they are being mandated to accept everything they tried to vote out. Civility is not the answer at this point it’s a surrender to the rally monkeys, who expect you to support your own oppression. Participation is not rallying for the bamboozle cause it’s the best you can get and therefore good.