Monday, September 11, 2006
A Green Future Is Possible
I believe this is true. More importantly, I believe that if the future is not Green, the future will likely be hell on Earth. Wars over oil will seem like a walk in the park when faced with wars over drinkable water and breathable air.
One thing that has gotten in the way of me sucessfully reaching many of my goals is my unwillingness to give in. I feel sure that this is true of many other Greens, but especially so for we men. I react vicerally to calls for action, and don't want to give in.
People with quieter voices are heard less often. Communication takes hours, which I know personally is true for many Green National Committee members. The result is, frankly, that "regular" folks can't, and don't, read their email. With as many as ten emails a day, each covering as many as six messages, it's impossible for someone with "normal" responsibilities to participate fully.
echo steiner of FL is a national party co-chair. Nikolas R. Shiller is a member of the National Committee from Washington DC. In an exchange, hiding behind the "Read more!" link, you will find two long, but excellent posts addressing the party's need to focus on forward looking issues, find long term solutions to log jams which slow the process of getting our work done, and creating a culture that makes our time investment worth the effort.
I don't often ask you to specifically read this or that post, but in this case, please hit the "Read more!" link. I believe that your feedback may make the difference between success and failure.
So sometimes its like deja vu. For years on this list there's always few kids behaving badly in the sand box. And I wonder, do they kiss their mothers with those mouths? Do they sleep well out night after battling with wits those who stand shoulder to shoulder with them, while the empire grows ignored by our incapacity to organize here? But I know they don't sleep well because their actions are screaming for attention and validation. How are we going to deal with these hurting brothers and sisters? We can ignore them. But their screams get louder. We can try to rationalize, fight back, soothe, etc.. But really none of these have worked.
We can hope states will take accountability. But with so few volunteers we know that many of our best are busy elsewhere.
I really felt we had something going on in Tuscon. Did you all feel it? The desire from all to work it out. To get through this. To change the way we treat each other and move toward a different way.
What happened to us? Sometimes when I read to many of the messages and the same person flames over and over, I say it must be sabotage. But some of the people who act this way occassionally are people I love. People I can not believe could have those intentions, ones I know who are striking out of pain, frustration, vanity, etc..And I myself have sometimes let loose an email, I wish I would have rethought.
Is it the medium? Certainly most of us had no problem crossing the lines that always seem to divide us when we were in person. And I think many a heart has been healed in this party by dealing face to face with individuals they could not find common ground with here in this virtual world. I know that my eyes have been openned by many of
those I met at our ANMs.
Sometimes I wish our emails all had a picture of us next to it. One of each of us out there campaigning, protesting, speaking, smiling.
I don't know if we will ever get to have photos attached to our messages. But we must either learn how to use this medium or find another fast. This party must find a way to get thru this productivity standstill. We have hundreds of the nations most dedicated activists, brightest intellectuals, and inspired visionaries. Lets not linger here in a place of darkness. Let us create the reality we wish to be in.
Nick from DC, are you out there? Can you set up another online chat for the NC? Can we have an informal discussion about the possibility of creating another method for communication such as the forums. Just a discussion for now.
For those of you who dont know about forums, they can be used just like this elist. You can get an email whenever a message is posted. Or you can read the messages on the web. Organized by subject. So you dont have to jump around. Or follow a thread which has deteriorated. Or bother reading ones from those who have proven themselves unable to behave productively.
We could use smiley faces and maybe even pictures of ourselves next to our posts.
I know some of you are groaning. You dont want to learn a new medium.
BUT I dont want to study war no more. And the time you will spend learning to use forums will be compensated from all the emails that you will not have to deal with.
It is a better system for archiving, following conversations, and working on multiple projects and subjects at the same time.
So does anyone want to have a chat? Or a monthly chat. An informal one. A nice one with smiley faces. Then eventually, if we come up with any great solutions, we could bring back here. Maybe we can even establish a chat room, where we can go to be with Greens. We could have a coordinated hour a month where we come together to brain storm.
I want us to get back to the Tuscon frame of mind. I want to be talking about Camp democracy, our candidates, fundraising, Green Festivals, Organizing for the Dem Pres Convention in 2008, working on being ready for our unity candidate in 2008.
Anyone want to meet me on a chat and we can see if we can find our way back to Tuscon again?
Gpax,
Echo
Echo et all, I don't post often, so please lend me your eyes...
I am quite busy with helping run the DCSGP and my workload on behalf of the National Party is suffering. Wearing the double hat of delegate and state party steering committee member is not the easiest task as many of you well know. This is a reason why I have not joined various committees, and I hope you understand.
However this is only temporal, and come aound November 8th, I'll definitely have more time and hopefully more gusto to focus on my responsibilities with the National Coordinating Committee. This Tuesday is our primary and as noted by the delegate from Deleware, a lot of work tends to be offloaded on to a select few.... But that is life and that is also why we are leaders.
In regards to the having the on-line chat, I was sincerely hoping my chat "experiment" that was conducted earlier this year would empower delegates to organize their own chats on specific issues. However this has not been done since. Why? Was it seen as not worthwhile? I am more than willing to organize one again, however I would like someone else to digitally put their foot down and say, "Hey everyone I was to discuss this issue please join me." Don't be afraid to do this, not one person sent me a negative comment about organizing the first one.
Right now, I'd like to organize one for sometime next week, but I am busy every night this coming week because of our elections. The following week I am open, and I can tentatively say that I am available Tuesday the 19th of September at 7pm EST. If people are interested in having one, lets do it. I can resend the same e-mail I originally sent with the step by step instructions on how to chat.
I already have a few items I would like to discuss.... The first relates to some of the current discourse we've been subjected to in regards to caucuses. If you remember correctly, one of the first things I wanted to do when I joined the NC in December of 2005 was to start some "Creative Caucus" to unite underrepresented artists, authors, and musicians to promote the Green Party in a social apparatus instead of a merely political one. There was little support and I have since let it slide into the digital memory hole (it can always be revisited!). However, the larger issue, to me, is what are the caucuses doing now? Right now? I am 110% for caucuses, yet I am not seeing much action on behalf of them.
Instead I am reading banter that almost reads as if some want to do away with them entirely. In regards to the National Woman's Caucus and Miss Loveless, it seems that the issue so damned overblown that the genuine work of caucus has been undermined. From the get-go it seems as if the entire issue is the work of an intelligent provocateur. Yet because of this, I have seen little action from the NWC (in the form of proposals, events, reports etc,), instead I've had to endure the NWC defending it's important presence within the GPUS. I feel the best thing to do is simply to do something! Something that can put the contentious issues behind us and
honestly maintain the future focus we all espouse. Otherwise, I'll see this
pointless bickering that goes nowhere and makes us less apt to want to read this list.
So, back to what I wanted to discuss.... Right now the United States is one of the few countries in the world that has not ratified the Treaty for the Rights of Women, otherwise known as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). I would like to see the NWC take a leadership role here. While it has an international angle, it's the senate that ratifies treaties. I think it would be nice to have a resolution sponsored by the NWC stating the GPUS stands behind this treaty and to call on law makers to ratify it. Further, I'd like to see the NWC possibly create a candidate pledge of sorts, that candidates can sign on to,
that states in some fashion, that if elected, they will make the ratification a part of their platform. Would members of the NC & NWC like to discuss working on a proposal such as this? In a chat room in a couple weeks?
Delegates Huckleberry & Kramer, would you two be interested in revisiting the last discussion we had in Tucson about having a Green Party animal mascot? It was the turtle we last mentioned right? Again, I am interested in chatting about this as well. Slow but true beats the hare right?
Delegates from Utah & California, would you be interested in discussing what I've been told to be an intentional and coordinated effort by members of the California Green Party to sabotage the work done by the members of the Green Party of Utah that backed Cobb in the 2004 election? I happen to hold the opinion that a national political party is absolutely useless if all states do not have the same presidential candidate in the election. Moreover, I am even brazen enough to state that if you disagree with me on this important issue, I think you should leave the party and start your own. Shall we discuss this further over a chat? I'd rather not have to read 50 e-mails about this intermixed with actual business and proposal discussions... Maybe we should have a special chat dedicated to this instead of creating a fact-finding body that appears to usurp the work of another committee...
Regardless, the more time we spend e-mailing each other about past issues that divide us, the less focus we have on what is needed to be done now to unite us and grow the party. Maybe it reads that I am saying to do away with the past, but my intent is to simply state, we ALL have better things to be doing than discussing issues that will only undermine our collective work.
Lastly, did any of you happen to look at the 10 Key Value Map I made last month? Actually that is a rhetorical question. I know exactly how many did- 11 people. I don't exactly know what to take of this, aside from genuine disappointment.
Was it lost in the static of the linear communication method known as a listserve, or was it that I made something that people felt of little use? Or is the more pointed question, is the reason why the discussions on the NC are usually between about 20 delegates because that is all of the NC who are actively reading? Think about it.
As echo mentioned, I am all for a bulletin board as well, and I honestly feel that once everyone sees merits and future focus of how we can organize our thoughts, feelings, discussion items, amendments, and proposals in a convenient non-linear format, we will be able to get twice as much work done.
Let me just give another example of how I envision this GPUS bulletin board...
You start by folders. They would be based on the current organizational structure:
1: GPUS VOTES
2: GPUS DISCUSS
3: CAUCUSES
4: COMMITTEES
The GPUS VOTES would be a discussion where each time a proposal is created it sits in this folder. Right now if it were to exist, the top folder would probably be Proposal 242 and if you were to click on that folder, you would see ALL the discussion and amendments related to that "topic". Literally, everyone's comments would reside here and never again would a comment related to a proposal be lost to the static of sequential discourse. Also listed in this folder would be ALL of the previous proposals and their respective comments. This would also be the forum where delegates and discuss future proposals with each other.
The GP DISCUSS folder would be a free for all of issues, announcements, and discussions related to issues the delegates feel like sharing. Again, like the votes folder, comments about specific postings would be attached to only the posting and if you don't care to read more about what a delegate from Washington, DC has to say about the march happening tomorrow at the pentagon, you are not forced (as you are now) to read it in order to stay up to date on issues you & your state party might care about.
The Caucuses folder would have sub folders for each of the functioning caucuses. These folders would be open to every NC delegate to look at, but only members will be allowed to post their comments. If a delegate feels strongly about a discussion item within the caucus, they are free to contact those involved in the discussion to state their opinions.
The Committees folder would operate in the exact same fashion.... Of course there would be one for the Steering Committee as well!
This communication apparatus is a win-win for everyone. Those who seek transparency, will get it. Moreover, it will foster buy-in, as in, if a committee or caucus is busy doing exciting work, those not involved are more apt to want to join because they might want to be apart of it. Conversely, it will also allow the curmudgeons the chance to nitpick the issues they personally disagree with-- but it would all be localized, and ohhh, decentralized (in an abstract sense, because the actual creation of omnibus bulletin board is in fact a centralized approach to disparate communications, yet within this apparatus communications discussion are decentralized). What I like the most is that I will not have to search through the e-mails to find the discussion items I care about as I do now.
3 hours later, this e-mail is finished. Was this e-mail a good use of my time? I don't know. I hope what I stated here is read, digested, and taken into consideration. Please do not reply to my opinions to the list, unless you feel that your reply will benefit everyone. I am for transparency, but I honestly feel that one on one communication, in any format, tends to be very constructive and more importantly, it will cut down on listserve static....
More info on CEDAW:
http://www.womenstreaty.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/women/
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/
Respectfully,
Nikolas R. Schiller
DC Statehood Green Party, Steering Committee
DC Statehood Green Party, Delegate
PS
No offense, but Twinkles are static too.
...but not on a bulletin board :)
One thing that has gotten in the way of me sucessfully reaching many of my goals is my unwillingness to give in. I feel sure that this is true of many other Greens, but especially so for we men. I react vicerally to calls for action, and don't want to give in.
People with quieter voices are heard less often. Communication takes hours, which I know personally is true for many Green National Committee members. The result is, frankly, that "regular" folks can't, and don't, read their email. With as many as ten emails a day, each covering as many as six messages, it's impossible for someone with "normal" responsibilities to participate fully.
echo steiner of FL is a national party co-chair. Nikolas R. Shiller is a member of the National Committee from Washington DC. In an exchange, hiding behind the "Read more!" link, you will find two long, but excellent posts addressing the party's need to focus on forward looking issues, find long term solutions to log jams which slow the process of getting our work done, and creating a culture that makes our time investment worth the effort.
I don't often ask you to specifically read this or that post, but in this case, please hit the "Read more!" link. I believe that your feedback may make the difference between success and failure.
So sometimes its like deja vu. For years on this list there's always few kids behaving badly in the sand box. And I wonder, do they kiss their mothers with those mouths? Do they sleep well out night after battling with wits those who stand shoulder to shoulder with them, while the empire grows ignored by our incapacity to organize here? But I know they don't sleep well because their actions are screaming for attention and validation. How are we going to deal with these hurting brothers and sisters? We can ignore them. But their screams get louder. We can try to rationalize, fight back, soothe, etc.. But really none of these have worked.
We can hope states will take accountability. But with so few volunteers we know that many of our best are busy elsewhere.
I really felt we had something going on in Tuscon. Did you all feel it? The desire from all to work it out. To get through this. To change the way we treat each other and move toward a different way.
What happened to us? Sometimes when I read to many of the messages and the same person flames over and over, I say it must be sabotage. But some of the people who act this way occassionally are people I love. People I can not believe could have those intentions, ones I know who are striking out of pain, frustration, vanity, etc..And I myself have sometimes let loose an email, I wish I would have rethought.
Is it the medium? Certainly most of us had no problem crossing the lines that always seem to divide us when we were in person. And I think many a heart has been healed in this party by dealing face to face with individuals they could not find common ground with here in this virtual world. I know that my eyes have been openned by many of
those I met at our ANMs.
Sometimes I wish our emails all had a picture of us next to it. One of each of us out there campaigning, protesting, speaking, smiling.
I don't know if we will ever get to have photos attached to our messages. But we must either learn how to use this medium or find another fast. This party must find a way to get thru this productivity standstill. We have hundreds of the nations most dedicated activists, brightest intellectuals, and inspired visionaries. Lets not linger here in a place of darkness. Let us create the reality we wish to be in.
Nick from DC, are you out there? Can you set up another online chat for the NC? Can we have an informal discussion about the possibility of creating another method for communication such as the forums. Just a discussion for now.
For those of you who dont know about forums, they can be used just like this elist. You can get an email whenever a message is posted. Or you can read the messages on the web. Organized by subject. So you dont have to jump around. Or follow a thread which has deteriorated. Or bother reading ones from those who have proven themselves unable to behave productively.
We could use smiley faces and maybe even pictures of ourselves next to our posts.
I know some of you are groaning. You dont want to learn a new medium.
BUT I dont want to study war no more. And the time you will spend learning to use forums will be compensated from all the emails that you will not have to deal with.
It is a better system for archiving, following conversations, and working on multiple projects and subjects at the same time.
So does anyone want to have a chat? Or a monthly chat. An informal one. A nice one with smiley faces. Then eventually, if we come up with any great solutions, we could bring back here. Maybe we can even establish a chat room, where we can go to be with Greens. We could have a coordinated hour a month where we come together to brain storm.
I want us to get back to the Tuscon frame of mind. I want to be talking about Camp democracy, our candidates, fundraising, Green Festivals, Organizing for the Dem Pres Convention in 2008, working on being ready for our unity candidate in 2008.
Anyone want to meet me on a chat and we can see if we can find our way back to Tuscon again?
Gpax,
Echo
Echo et all, I don't post often, so please lend me your eyes...
I am quite busy with helping run the DCSGP and my workload on behalf of the National Party is suffering. Wearing the double hat of delegate and state party steering committee member is not the easiest task as many of you well know. This is a reason why I have not joined various committees, and I hope you understand.
However this is only temporal, and come aound November 8th, I'll definitely have more time and hopefully more gusto to focus on my responsibilities with the National Coordinating Committee. This Tuesday is our primary and as noted by the delegate from Deleware, a lot of work tends to be offloaded on to a select few.... But that is life and that is also why we are leaders.
In regards to the having the on-line chat, I was sincerely hoping my chat "experiment" that was conducted earlier this year would empower delegates to organize their own chats on specific issues. However this has not been done since. Why? Was it seen as not worthwhile? I am more than willing to organize one again, however I would like someone else to digitally put their foot down and say, "Hey everyone I was to discuss this issue please join me." Don't be afraid to do this, not one person sent me a negative comment about organizing the first one.
Right now, I'd like to organize one for sometime next week, but I am busy every night this coming week because of our elections. The following week I am open, and I can tentatively say that I am available Tuesday the 19th of September at 7pm EST. If people are interested in having one, lets do it. I can resend the same e-mail I originally sent with the step by step instructions on how to chat.
I already have a few items I would like to discuss.... The first relates to some of the current discourse we've been subjected to in regards to caucuses. If you remember correctly, one of the first things I wanted to do when I joined the NC in December of 2005 was to start some "Creative Caucus" to unite underrepresented artists, authors, and musicians to promote the Green Party in a social apparatus instead of a merely political one. There was little support and I have since let it slide into the digital memory hole (it can always be revisited!). However, the larger issue, to me, is what are the caucuses doing now? Right now? I am 110% for caucuses, yet I am not seeing much action on behalf of them.
Instead I am reading banter that almost reads as if some want to do away with them entirely. In regards to the National Woman's Caucus and Miss Loveless, it seems that the issue so damned overblown that the genuine work of caucus has been undermined. From the get-go it seems as if the entire issue is the work of an intelligent provocateur. Yet because of this, I have seen little action from the NWC (in the form of proposals, events, reports etc,), instead I've had to endure the NWC defending it's important presence within the GPUS. I feel the best thing to do is simply to do something! Something that can put the contentious issues behind us and
honestly maintain the future focus we all espouse. Otherwise, I'll see this
pointless bickering that goes nowhere and makes us less apt to want to read this list.
So, back to what I wanted to discuss.... Right now the United States is one of the few countries in the world that has not ratified the Treaty for the Rights of Women, otherwise known as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). I would like to see the NWC take a leadership role here. While it has an international angle, it's the senate that ratifies treaties. I think it would be nice to have a resolution sponsored by the NWC stating the GPUS stands behind this treaty and to call on law makers to ratify it. Further, I'd like to see the NWC possibly create a candidate pledge of sorts, that candidates can sign on to,
that states in some fashion, that if elected, they will make the ratification a part of their platform. Would members of the NC & NWC like to discuss working on a proposal such as this? In a chat room in a couple weeks?
Delegates Huckleberry & Kramer, would you two be interested in revisiting the last discussion we had in Tucson about having a Green Party animal mascot? It was the turtle we last mentioned right? Again, I am interested in chatting about this as well. Slow but true beats the hare right?
Delegates from Utah & California, would you be interested in discussing what I've been told to be an intentional and coordinated effort by members of the California Green Party to sabotage the work done by the members of the Green Party of Utah that backed Cobb in the 2004 election? I happen to hold the opinion that a national political party is absolutely useless if all states do not have the same presidential candidate in the election. Moreover, I am even brazen enough to state that if you disagree with me on this important issue, I think you should leave the party and start your own. Shall we discuss this further over a chat? I'd rather not have to read 50 e-mails about this intermixed with actual business and proposal discussions... Maybe we should have a special chat dedicated to this instead of creating a fact-finding body that appears to usurp the work of another committee...
Regardless, the more time we spend e-mailing each other about past issues that divide us, the less focus we have on what is needed to be done now to unite us and grow the party. Maybe it reads that I am saying to do away with the past, but my intent is to simply state, we ALL have better things to be doing than discussing issues that will only undermine our collective work.
Lastly, did any of you happen to look at the 10 Key Value Map I made last month? Actually that is a rhetorical question. I know exactly how many did- 11 people. I don't exactly know what to take of this, aside from genuine disappointment.
Was it lost in the static of the linear communication method known as a listserve, or was it that I made something that people felt of little use? Or is the more pointed question, is the reason why the discussions on the NC are usually between about 20 delegates because that is all of the NC who are actively reading? Think about it.
As echo mentioned, I am all for a bulletin board as well, and I honestly feel that once everyone sees merits and future focus of how we can organize our thoughts, feelings, discussion items, amendments, and proposals in a convenient non-linear format, we will be able to get twice as much work done.
Let me just give another example of how I envision this GPUS bulletin board...
You start by folders. They would be based on the current organizational structure:
1: GPUS VOTES
2: GPUS DISCUSS
3: CAUCUSES
4: COMMITTEES
The GPUS VOTES would be a discussion where each time a proposal is created it sits in this folder. Right now if it were to exist, the top folder would probably be Proposal 242 and if you were to click on that folder, you would see ALL the discussion and amendments related to that "topic". Literally, everyone's comments would reside here and never again would a comment related to a proposal be lost to the static of sequential discourse. Also listed in this folder would be ALL of the previous proposals and their respective comments. This would also be the forum where delegates and discuss future proposals with each other.
The GP DISCUSS folder would be a free for all of issues, announcements, and discussions related to issues the delegates feel like sharing. Again, like the votes folder, comments about specific postings would be attached to only the posting and if you don't care to read more about what a delegate from Washington, DC has to say about the march happening tomorrow at the pentagon, you are not forced (as you are now) to read it in order to stay up to date on issues you & your state party might care about.
The Caucuses folder would have sub folders for each of the functioning caucuses. These folders would be open to every NC delegate to look at, but only members will be allowed to post their comments. If a delegate feels strongly about a discussion item within the caucus, they are free to contact those involved in the discussion to state their opinions.
The Committees folder would operate in the exact same fashion.... Of course there would be one for the Steering Committee as well!
This communication apparatus is a win-win for everyone. Those who seek transparency, will get it. Moreover, it will foster buy-in, as in, if a committee or caucus is busy doing exciting work, those not involved are more apt to want to join because they might want to be apart of it. Conversely, it will also allow the curmudgeons the chance to nitpick the issues they personally disagree with-- but it would all be localized, and ohhh, decentralized (in an abstract sense, because the actual creation of omnibus bulletin board is in fact a centralized approach to disparate communications, yet within this apparatus communications discussion are decentralized). What I like the most is that I will not have to search through the e-mails to find the discussion items I care about as I do now.
3 hours later, this e-mail is finished. Was this e-mail a good use of my time? I don't know. I hope what I stated here is read, digested, and taken into consideration. Please do not reply to my opinions to the list, unless you feel that your reply will benefit everyone. I am for transparency, but I honestly feel that one on one communication, in any format, tends to be very constructive and more importantly, it will cut down on listserve static....
More info on CEDAW:
http://www.womenstreaty.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/women/
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/
Respectfully,
Nikolas R. Schiller
DC Statehood Green Party, Steering Committee
DC Statehood Green Party, Delegate
PS
No offense, but Twinkles are static too.
...but not on a bulletin board :)
// posted by Gregg Jocoy @ 7:25 PM 
