Friends, In general, people seem to be supportive of the suggested new purposes for the list. Several people have already begun sending in ideas and questions regarding the thread on strategy & goals. Here I'd like to introduce this thread in a bit more depth, to help us get our thinking caps aligned. Please keep in mind that I am not suggesting we, on these lists, 'solve' all the problems, and then announce the solutions to the world. Rather, I see our discussions as being ~part of~ movement dialog - the ideas we come up with will be shared with others, as part of a larger, networked, collaborative process. rkm http://cyberjournal.org ============================================================================ Movement goals ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Charles Bell phrases the question this way: "What do you see at the end of the road? What sort of society and polity do you envision? It will have to be one that can be lived in and run by ordinary, ornery human beings." Well put, Charles. Not only do we need a vision for a new society, but it must be a vision that is sensible and workable. We need to understand how the new society going to operate, or we would be fools to seek to dethrone the current regime. The devil we know is better than volatility and chaos. Furthermore, without agreed goals, the movement could never have the perseverance to succeed. Being anti-globalization or anti-whatever is sufficient to protest, not sufficient to motivate a transformational movement. Movement strategy ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Even though goals are undecided, there is still much that we can learn about strategy, in parallel with goal discussions. Whatever our new society vision turns out to be, we can be sure that it will require the overcoming of the current regime. There is much we can learn from past movements, throughout history. Many previous regimes were similar to the current one, in various relevant ways, and many of those regimes were successfully replaced. There were also many failed movements, and those too have much to teach us. But today's circumstances are never the same as yesterday's circumstances. It is also important that we understand what is unique about globalization, and how it is different from any previous era. We need to map the lessons from the past onto the conditions of the present - if we hope to come up with strategies that are both proven and appropriate. Suggested Reading ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ If you want to review my own thinking on globalization, goals, and strategy, you can take a look at the "Guidebook" and "Returning to our roots", both of which are featured on our website, http://cyberjournal.org. The Guidebook also includes a good list of annotated book recommendations. ============================================================================
