Dear renaissance-network, Sorry to be so long in getting back to you. I'll be posting a message today about workshop arrangements, and another about revolution strategy, but first I'd like to share the first few list submissions that have been sent in. My commitment to you as moderator is that the traffic on this list will not be heavy, and that all postings will be of general import to the list's purpose, hence I _won't generally be posting _everything submitted. But I don't want to be censoring people's concerns either. So my policy will be to batch together selected reader comments in one posting, from time to time, so they can be quickly scanned according to your interests. If I reject one of your submissions, I'll include an explanation, and you will be most welcome to discuss, challenge, or whatever, and I'm willing to learn and adjust policy according to feedback. This particular posting is lengthy, but since we're just starting up I think it's appropriate that adequate time be spent discussing what the list is about, and giving full voice to the range of viewpoints. --- I've just added fifty new names to the list, names that Jan Slakov painfully dug out of her files for me, so at the very end of this message, for newcomers' benefit, I'm tacking on the original greeting message I sent out on 16 April. Best Regards to All, Richard K. Moore CADRE http://cyberjournal.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Apr 1998 To: •••@••.••• From: Floyd Rudmin <•••@••.•••> Subject: Re: Greetings: You are part of the renaissance-network Good morning. I probably should consider myself a light or peripheral member until I am more sure of who you, we, are. I should say that I think it is a mistake to use the term "cadre" so much. It gives the message that this is an aggressive elitist group. That word alone makes me doubtful whether or not I would like to participate. Why not use more normal words like "coalition", "citizens", etc.? Is there something that I do not understand about this group that makes the term "cadre" important? Floyd Rudmin ----------- Dear Floyd, First to clarify: "CADRE" is an acronym for "Citizens for a Democratic Renaissance", which is the small group of us who are working closely together to organize the workshop, launch the coalition, operate our website and email lists, develop our book for South-End press, etc. You guys and gals out there on this list are not part of `cadre' -- although we're certainly recruiting new members and need help urgently -- you are rather people that we _hope want to collaborate with us and with each other, both on this list and by other channels, in support of the goals expressed in the draft manifesto which cadre developed and which is now *-> `on the table' for discussion. <-* FYI, I'm attaching that manifesto at the very bottom of this message. We chose the name of our group by a consensus process and only afterwards noticed that the resulting acronym spelled out a rather interesting word. My American Heritage dictionary says of `cadre': 1. A Framework. 2. A nucleus of trained personnel around which a larger organization can be built and trained. I'd modify that definition just a bit for our circumstances: 1. A Framework. 2. A nucleus of dedicated personnel serving to facilitate the development of a larger coalition. We're not `training' anyone, and we don't want an `organization', and especially not one `around' _our necks! If we had to choose, most of us would go for anarchism as a model in preference to `organizations'. But still the word cadre isn't bad overall for the role we're endeavoring to play, the community service we seek to provide -- and at great personal sacrifice I might add, on behalf of my hard-working zero-paid comrades. -- As regards "aggressive" and "elitist"... these raise some interesting issues... Cadre, as well as those of you on this list, if my assessment of who you are is at all accurate, are doing something remarkably `bold' and `assertive' (I disagree with `aggressive') -- we are collaboratively `taking on' the most powerful elite regime that has ever existed in history with the intent of bringing it under democratic control and of establishing a whole new global paradigm. One must stand up and _own one's _courage and _power in order to contemplate such an endeavor. This isn't _aggression, but it certainly isn't _passivity either. As for `elitist'... I admit the term `cadre' does have some connotations in that direction, given historical precedents, and the word can be played down more to good effect; we'll keep that in mind. But there's an issue-behind-your-issue that I think needs to be addressed. My observation is that `leadership' itself is something that has been systematically demonized by mass-media propaganda. Whenever someone steps forward in society and tries to make a leadership contribution -- and they aren't doing so on behalf of the elite establishement -- that person is typically undermined by media suggestions that they are self-serving, manipulative, cult-mongers, have questionable sex lives, or whatever. Let's take Ross Perot as an example. Notice, if my guess is right, that your first response is "Oh, him, what a jerk, don't use him as an example of a `leader'". Am I close? Much of that kind of response, I submit, is due to the way Perot was intentionally spun by the media. The guy actually had important things to say about how our democratic process has failed, and about corporate power, and I personally believe he is totally sincere and public-spirited (if socially inept on screen). But instead of his offerings being dealt with as part of the public debate, the issue in the press was always him-as-a-person, his personality, and the fact that he was so wealthy that he must on-the-face-of-it be a hypocrite-populist. The fact is that leadership is absolutely essential to the democratic process. Mobs never accomplish anything. Even those who emphasize that history is determined by `forces' rather than `people', even they admit that when a time for change comes leaders _emerge spontaneously to make that change possible. People such as Ghandi, Desmond Tutu, JFK, and thousands of more minor leaders whose names we never hear, people who are able to sense and articulate the potential of the age, these people are necessary for democratic progress, and that has been true throughout history. If we believe in democracy, even if we call ourselves anarchists, and even if we believe fully in eqalitarian values -- we need to re-learn the _valuing of leaders and the necessary role they play. In `primitive' societies, which I'd call `before-the-fall' societies, leaders/elders were highly honored, did not typically have dictatorial powers, and their role was considered one of great service to their communities. Regards, rkm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Apr 1998 From: Daniel del Solar <•••@••.•••> To: •••@••.••• Subject: Re: Greetings: You are part of the renaissance-network Dear Richard: It might be more appropriate to sign yourself as "Cadre Secretary" rather than "Cadre Chief" at this point, more modest, less oriented towards the "chief" mentality which is an integral part of the capitalist structure you so much wish to transform. best comrade/cadre Daniel ----------- Dear Daniel, I'm not the secretary, I'm the leader. I organized the group; I earned the respect and trust of the people who joined; we reach consensus but they look to me to articulate the majority of our initiatives, even though the ideas might originate with one of them. I do a certain job and I work hard at it. My contribution as leader is appreciated by the group, as they often explicitly state. I'm proud of this and don't mind saying so. I chose the title `chief' rather than `chairperson' or whatever in honor of the tradition of tribal chiefs, who saw themselves as cultural custodians, not bosses. -- There is an important distinction between `humbleness' and `humility'. A `humble' person is a certain _kind of person, one who, for example, is very unlikely to spend time `selling themselves' to others, or to their bosses at work. A person has `humility' when they have a sound appraisal of who they themselves are. A person lacks humility, for example, if they have an exaggerated sense of their own importance. One cannot be humble and also be an agressive salesman, but an aggressive salesman might rate very high on humility if he/she knows exactly who and what they are and why they're doing what they're doing. I aspire to humililty, in life and as cadre chief, but I have no time whatever for being humble in the face of an elite assault on humanity and democracy. -- Capitalism has been very successful in applying leaders to the task of getting jobs done, and in employing sound organizational paradigms. There is no reason why we, for our own democratic purposes, cannot appropriate, selectively, from the capitalist kit-bag whatever techniques or practices we find useful, such as project-management methodologies, or organizational structures, or electronic communications. regards, rkm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Apr 1998 To: •••@••.••• From: Thomas Greco <•••@••.•••> Subject: Re: Greetings: You are part of the renaissance-network I'm sure you must all be familiar with David Korten's work. He wrote the book, When Corporations Rule the World. He is presently writing another with the provisional title, "Envisioning a Post-Corporate World. I've just reviewed the manuscript for the publisher and can say that it is excellent. David says that he will be devoting all of his time from now until the end of summer to revising and completeing his manuscript, but keep him in mind for later contact and consultation. You should also be connected with Richard Grossman and Ward Morehouse, who are doing some fine work on the corporate power issue. See my web site for a link to theirs. Tom Greco Community Information Resource Center Thomas H. Greco, Jr., Director P.O. Box 42663 Tucson, Arizona 85733 (520) 795-8930 (520) 577-2187 voice mail Empowering People * Building Community * Enabling Change •••@••.••• http://azstarnet.com/~circ/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Apr 1998 To: •••@••.••• Subject: Re: Greetings: You are part of the renaissance-network Hello, Richard and follow netizens. It's nice to meet you. I'll bring this point up because I saw it on CBC's "Witness" program. I feel in this world of globalization that this is very relevant. One concern I would like to se addressed is privacy, and information control. The show described how a great deal of data on our personal finances, our relationships, what we buy, and even in some cases where we are is being places onto government and private databases. Transnational credit companies like Equifax are intruding into our personal lives in ways many of us can't imagine. I'm wondering if anyone would care to comment on this. -Jason Kodish "Never seek to engage in a confrontation, but forced upon you, never fear a confrontation."-Grand Master Simon ---------- Dear Jason, This isn't the list for such discussions. There are many good lists devoted to privacy issues, as there are to anti-MAI and Labor issues, all of which are relevant to corporate power et al. This list focuses more on activism _per_se, and in particular for the next two months will be dealing with the workshop and with coalition formation. There will certainly be `heads up' messages on particular issues posted from time to time, but they would typically direct our list members to other lists if they want to get involved in that issue. One note on privacy: I hope everyone realizes that all email messages are recorded and monitored by US intelligence agencies, and that there are super-computers available to scan for various kinds of patterns, including the traffic patterns of who sends-what-to-whom. Don't ever think you're speaking privately when you use email. You can even talk to the spooks, as follows: [ Hi guys with the earphones on! don't you have homes to go to? /terrorism/bombs/IRA/militia/Saddam/child porn/ ]. (the keywords are to help their search engine) rkm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -----< Resend of original list greeting >----- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Apr 1998 08:50:06 +0100 To: •••@••.••• From: •••@••.••• (Richard K. Moore) Subject: Greetings: You are part of the renaissance-network Dear friends of CADRE, This list has been set up as a support and communications network for activists, to help build global solidarity and coalition around ending elite corporate hegemony and bringing about an era of democratic renaissance. The initial membership of the list - you all - is everyone who has expressed an interest in the workshop: - - - "Seeking an Effective Democratic Response to Globalization and Corporate Power" - an international workshop for activist leaders - June 25 <incl> July 2 - 1998 - Nova Scotia - Canada - - - This list, from now until the workshop has happened, will be devoted to organizing the workshop, distributing information that will be needed by delegates, and setting up the panel sessions. If you are in any way interested in the workshop or the longer-range coalition efort, if there is any chance at all you may want to be a delegate, or if you just want to monitor progress and stick in your two cents once-in-a-while, then please do stay tuned to this list. The list is moderated, by me, and the traffic will be low. Feel free to send things in, and I'll incorporate what is helpful to the workshop into my infrequent postings. During the workshop itself, this list will serve as a remote-participation channel. We'll have someone onsite monitoring submissions to the list, which will be taken as remote contributions to the workshop process. Selected items will be brought into the workshop as inputs to the deliberations. Daily workshop-reports will be sent out over this list, as well as over cyberjournal/PPI. For those of you who don't want to be on this list, you can very easily unsubscribe - simply send a blank message to: •••@••.••• If you want to invite anyone to join, they need only send a blank message to: •••@••.••• If you want to keep up on more general "revolution news", not related directly to the workshop, I invite you to subscribe to cyberjournal/PPI (Peoples Press International): To: •••@••.••• Subject: (ignored) --- sub cyberjournal Jane Q. Doe <-- your name there I'm going to be out of town for a few days, speaking at a globalization conference in Liverpool. When I get back Monday, I'll send out an update on the plans for the workshop, and we'll get the organizing into high gear. We only have about two months, people need to make travel arrangements, and it's time to get down to business. stay tuned, Richard K. Moore (rkm) cadre chief http://cyberjournal.org mailto:•••@••.••• A community will evolve only when the people control their means of communication. -- Frantz Fanon ~-==============================================-~ --- Here are the ezmlm command addresses. I can handle administrative requests automatically. Just send an empty note to any of these addresses: <•••@••.•••>: Receive future messages sent to the renaissance-network mailing list. <•••@••.•••>: Stop receiving messages for the renaissance-network mailing list. <•••@••.•••>: Retrieve a copy of messages 12 to 45 from the archive. A maximum of 100 messages are returned per request. <•••@••.•••>: Retrieve subjects of messages, including 123 though 456 from the archive. Subjects are returned in sets of 100. A maximum of 2000 subjects are returned per request. <•••@••.•••>: Retrieve a copy of all messages with the same subject as message 12345. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Manifesto for a Democratic Renaissance - CADRE - Ides of March, 1998 (1) Corporate globalization is leading the world to disaster and something MUST be done about it. Corporate influence has corrupted our democracies, undermined our sovereignties, bankrupted our governments and is destroying the very earth our survival depends upon. (2) The very success of corporate globalism in subjugating everyone to its agenda has created the potential for a massive counter-movement, a peaceful democratic counter-revolution on a global scale. (3) Political activists must rise to the challenge of this strategic opportunity -- it is time to move beyond our special- interest causes and find a path to solidarity and the collab- orative pursuit of shared objectives. Foremost among our tasks is to build bridges cross the gulfs dividing factions such as liberals & conservatives, believers & non-believers, labor & environmentalists, etc. We are all in this together! (4) Overcoming corporate globalism calls for more than protest or resistance -- it requires a different vision for the world, a coherent agenda which can provide sustainable prosperity and which avoids chaos during the historic transition. (5) That vision and agenda must be based on the establishment of healthy democratic processes in our individual nations and on the realization that sustainable economics and respect for the environment are not just good ideas, but are rather necessities for human survival. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ~================================================~ Restore democratic sovereignty Create a sane and livable world Bring corporate globalization under control. * CITIZENS FOR A DEMOCRATIC RENAISSANCE (CADRE) * http://cyberjournal.org mailto:•••@••.••• ~================================================~
