Power to the People! Write on!

[MineralMan]

A play on words from the 60s, but too true. Back in the 60s and early 70s, there was no Internet. Back in the 60s and early 70's, there were printing presses, silk screen frames, and copiers. If you wanted to communicate with a lot of people, you really needed to get them together somewhere and speak to them from a dais, usually with a bullhorn. The nature of these gatherings worked to establish personal relationships among those who showed up. Face to face, alliances were formed, and organization was one on one and a few on many.

Today, it just isn't that way. Today, everyone has a blog. Everyone has a screen name on one or more forums on the Internet. Everyone is writing away like mad. A few people are actually being read by large numbers of people. We all know their names or pseudonyms, as the case may be. A few websites attract enough attention to reach thousands or even tens of thousands of readers. Some even take pride in being known as Anonymous. So, lots of people are writing about lots of things.

And the readers are scattered across the face of North America and the world. Attempts to gather large numbers of like-minded people in a single place fail far more often than they succeed. Even at our Universities, people communicate less on a face-to-face basis than in words on a monitor or display. A lot of the time, we don't even know who any of these people are. They're faceless, nameless, and known only for their words.

All of this works against large gatherings where real people can form personal bonds with other real people. Everyone wants something to happen, but people aren't getting together in numbers large enough to breed larger groups that will actually get some media attention. We're focused on individual issues and individual dislikes and individual political nuances, and we're not meeting in person so we can make connections.

So, we're not doing what happened in the 60s and 70s. Not at all. We're writing on. I don't see this changing soon. For those who are reading this, how many activists in your own community do you know personally? How many of those could you get to show up in the public square at the same time? For most of us, the answer is "Not many." And I'm no exception. I know the DFL folks who are active in St. Paul. I see them every election year at the caucuses and conventions and we have a chance to talk together then. But, I can count on one hand how many of those I could call on the phone and have meet me somewhere to discuss a public action.

People used to say someone was "all talk" when that person had a lot to say but no organization that could add weight to the words. Today, we're "all text," and there are even fewer people who can actually gather a crowd and get something going in the public square and attract the media.

So:

Power to the People! Write on! Just don't expect much from that. It's just too diluted to matter much.

[RKP5637]

1. Recommend!!! - Yep, key words, "It's just too diluted to matter much." We suffer

from obfuscation of the cause and hence no unification. I thought your analysis was well done. I've thought similar, but have never put it to words on DU. Excellent analysis of our current plight.

[MineralMan]

2. Thanks. I appreciate that very much.

Sadly, this post didn't get much response, so it's not really a very successful effort. Some you lose.