The Dance

Now that word of our existence is starting to trickle out, I thought it would be a good time to post another sort of mission statement. Of course, absolutely none of this should be taken as absolute.

We are taking a very different approach, with this site. We are pursuing a discussion that is based more on issues and ideology, which means we happily invite people who would, on other sites, be considered purity trolls. Some of us may stretch our purity wings, and some of us may argue against such, but I believe that the overall goal of all of us, and of most who will find here an online home or vacation home, is to push the political center of this country to the left. Much to the left! To some of us, that will mean, primarily, trying to help destroy the current extremist version of the Republican Party. To some, it will mean trying to destroy the current capitulating Democratic Party. To some, it will mean trying to save the Democratic Party by remaking it. But it will also mean much much more than any of that.

Some of us are more of the ranter type, and some are more intensely cerebral. Most of us are a mix of the two. But we won’t be spending as much time on horse-race politics. Not that most of us have anything against such, but Daily Kos serves that function very ably. Those of us who continue to participate in Daily Kos do so because we appreciate it for what it is. But, again, we will be more focused on issues and ideology. And as the name of the site suggests, we will also be trying to reawaken a non-denominational, areligious and irreligious spiritual core, that may, at times, involve aspects of different religions, and often won’t. Liberal idealism is, by its very nature, spiritual. Even those who consider themselves atheists, agnostics, and/or secular humanists do so with a great deal of spiritual idealism and passion. We want to touch on all of that. We want to explore the arts as well as the sciences. We want to discuss philosophy and literary criticism. We want to discuss how to help our species evolve in such a way that a more principled and just society evolves with it. If there are still, in the world, Thomas Paines and Walt Whitmans, we hope to lure some of them in here.

We are open to almost anyone. Most people will arrive here with clean slates. We want to hear ideas, and we want to discuss and argue them on their merits. Old personal baggage from other sites is not welcome here. Habitual bitching about other sites, their administrators, or those who blog on them is also not welcome. Too many smart people waste way too much time and energy on such garbage, and too many sites have been derailed or destroyed by it. We are here to make each other think and feel, to challenge each other, and to teach and learn from each other. It won’t always work the way we want it to, and we who administrate this site will not always do the right things or make the right decisions. We will, however, always, and in good faith, try. We ask that you do the same.

It will not be easy for people to get banned from this site, but it will, no doubt, sometimes happen. We simply ask for a degree of comity. If you’re in the mood to be an asshole, or to vent about the mean people on other sites, take it elsewhere, or nowhere. Just don’t bring it here. We want this site to be fun and smart and rambunctious and a great place to hang out. We hope that you will find something, every day, that makes you want to come back.

Some of the people writing on our Front Page will be people you already know. Some will be people who have largely flown under the blogoshere’s radar. We think you will find here exactly what you love from our better known writers and artists, and we also think you will be discovering here some people you hadn’t noticed, but who will completely astonish you. We have some exceptionally gifted people. They’re going to be showing off. We also very much look forward to discovering new, talented people, and to rediscovering old ones; and we look forward to having fun with old friends, in a new place, that has a different purpose and atmosphere.

Welcome. Have fun. The great work begins.