Reply #13: DU is a very good start ... [View All]

[welshTerrier2]

some like to think that DU, blogs and other online websites is "not real world activism" ... i disagree ... they think that because we don't directly elect anyone, we don't plot out campaign strategies (i mean online) or lick envelopes here ... they don't know who is an online activist and who is not when they attend party meetings ... what they don't see is the energy online communities can create ... what they don't see is the dedication ... what they don't see is all the funding that comes from online ... and what they don't see, is all the education that is developed ... to reduce it down to its simplest idiocy, "knowledge is power" ... we are educating ourselves and that makes us far more dangerous to the status quo than anything else we could be doing ...

if nothing else, from our online experiences, i think many of us have been able to strengthen our ideas, become better writers, gain inspiration to become more active in "real life", and deepen our knowledge of specific issues ...

when you talk about steps i have in mind, i guess my starting point is education ... i see "online politics" as the beginning of a powerful movement to educate ourselves and those around us ... how many of us only talk about the issues we care about here on DU? i expect many of us drive everyone crazy talking about these issues ... it's not all i do but it is a very important part of my life and fills much of my real world conversation ...

i think that as our community grows, our "leaders" will eventually come to understand "there's gold in them thar hills" ... until very recently, they rarely heard from most of us ... most of their political life was spent among the Party's inner circle ... there was no internet; there was no "voice of the people" ... i'm confident that nothing happens on the web, or at least on the "big political" sites on the web, that escapes their attention ... that's a huge change i a very short time ...

they know we're here ... they're are listening ... as we grow, as we sharpen and clarify our message, as we become a more effective political force, they will change and those who know us will change too ... we are still in our infancy and already the parties and the MSM have taken notice ... more and more, they report on what is written on the net ... talk shows take issue with us or use our ideas to provide insights ...

so, the steps i see need no input from me ... i see them already happening ... most Americans are still sound asleep ... even many of our own "soldiers" are unaware of the power we are building ... we have a very, very long way to go but the seeds are being planted even today ...