Help Me Build A Progressive Grassroots Network for the State of California [View All]

[brava]

We live in a perilous time when democracy itself is at risk. The only way we can possibly take back our country is to become united as a people and work together as individuals and collectively. At this point, we don't even know if there is going to be an election this fall. If you've been reading the papers, you'll know that the government is angling for a way to postpone the elections. Well, "We the People" need a contingency plan should elections be suspended. We just can't lay down for this, no matter how plausible their excuses might seem.

Over the past few months I've worked to establish Democracy for California (http://www.democracyforcalifornia.com) as a grassroots project to build a progressive network, linking every district, every city, every town, and every neighborhood together. The problem with our system is that it's just too damn big. We need to bring it down to size. In order to do that we need the tools that would help us connect locally within the larger framework of a network. It's all a question of having the right infrastructure. They have theirs, we have to have ours to level the playing field. Once we have a network structure in place, I know we will become a force to be reckoned with, but we can't act if we can't connect, and we can't self-organize if we have to depend on special interest groups that are serving no purpose other than to splinter us into smaller and smaller factions.

California can become a model network for other states to emulate, and since Democracy for California is linked to Howard Dean's organization, Democracy for America, a national network can easily spring forth.

I've laid the groundwork by setting up a site as a springboard, a workbench, and as a central organizing hub, but I can't build a state-wide network alone. I need your participation and your help.

What you can do:

1. Donate. I need the resources to pay for licensing fees and hire a team of net savvy designers to build the network of online community portals. It's a complicated and time intensive process that needs collaborative team work on a full-time basis. I don't care if you donate as little as $5, for if enough people give what they can we can pull this off in a reasonably short period of time. The Neocons have donated hundreds of millions to think tanks, and PR firms. Moreover they have a powerful network base -- the Christian Coalition. Bush has all the government agencies at his disposal, paid for by our tax money. What do we have going for us? Not much. We are too fractionalized, we have to come together and become our own think tank, our own media, and our own Network.

2. Participate, participate, and participate.

So I'm asking with a great sense of urgency for every Californian to become radically engaged in this project. Remember what Howard Dean said during his presidential campaign -- "The Power is in YOUR hands." That's an abstract concept if we don't actually use the power, and we all need the tools that would release our own individual talents and strengths.

Help me put these tools in the hands of every Californian and every citizen in America. Help me build a network of enduring online communities, from the bottom up, "of, by, and for the people."

Time is of the essence. I'm asking everyone to plug into the network today. Become engaged, form collaborative teams to work together on all levels, and donate like democracy depends on it, because it does!

http://www.democracyforcalifornia.com