I am new to Unity08 but not politics. I have been a delegate to the State Convention for one of the Major Parties, more than once. I have surfed through this forums and one thing jumped out at me.
The structure and rules establishing separation of topics is a fundemtal flaw to the free flow of thoughts and ultimately, rapid consensus building.
While catagorization of topics draws focus for those interested in singular topics, all of the topics are interdependant! One cannot possibly give reasonable thought to a topic in a vacuum.
In my expereince, beginning the process by having people go to thier corner of interest first always leads to choas. When people join the large discussion, conclusions are often completely formed disjointed from the other delegates. This leads to generous grenade lobbing.
I suggest a forum structure based on a wide open forum as the gateway to "The Forum". The wide open forum remains the principle thread with specilized topics as satalite threads identified on each posting breakout. Delegates always see other delegates "big picture" with threads to all specilized topics continuously diplayed on delegates principle posting in the gateway forum.
If a delegate is interested in following others to specialized topics, they do so with a firm grounding in the larger delegete body as a whole with a host of view points.
I have attended many political delegate selection meetings which occur after closing of poles in every election. You meet your neighbors, face to face, and discuss what is important to each other and bounce ideas off each other about how or why each others' topics are related to the community interest as a whole.
This process is irreplacable. Each person gets a big picture of the landscape, of what others are thinking, and generates truly new ideas. The point is not to reach consensus on anything. It gives the delegates prespective and ideas on how to sell their ides to others.
Break out sessions always occur but always result in a return to the unrestricted open forum including all delegates to begin consensus building. This happens completely spontaneously, but always happens.
People simply do not open meetings lobbing grenades at each other. Delegates come to the caucus with open minds naturaly seeking the pulse of the delegate body as a whole.
The model I describe almost always leads to healthy consensus building and rapidly.
For what it is worth.
Ken Jones
Houston,TX
I appreciate the quality of face-to-face discussion of issues as you describe. Part of this innovation must be to bring the consensus building properties to the internet enviroment. It appears to me that the primary tool for that is not the forums alone, but a combining live research studies (as are being conducted this month in three locations) and a series of total delegate surveys. The results of these will lead to a more focused discussion on the components of a "New American Agenda" and thier ultimate resolution and adoption by the total delegation. As I understand it, that agenda will have the form of the questions to be posed to each candidate for the Unity 08 nomination. Thier response is thier platform and by winning the Unity 08 nomination...the Unity 08 platform as we then evolve into a political party.
Having not been done before, I am not sure a more decisive and economical plan could be devised, but we'll all learn this process as we go and I am sure some adaptation of it will take over our approach to national politics in time.
Bill"for what we are together"
bill713.unity08@sbcglobal.net
As a person also with some "Executive Committee" experience with a major political party (it's amazing how few here haven't any), I share your observation.
You have to understand, Ken, the four owners of Unity08 do not trust the rabble anymore than their political counterparts. This is why the thought never occurred to them to simply open up the forum and empower the delegates to form their own planks to their own political platform.
True to fashion, they are now engaged in pulling all sorts of bells and whistles to create the illusion that the political platform they will order us to follow is, in fact, our own political platform, only expressed better, and, anyway, the one we delegates would have come up with had we been allowed an open forum to create one. Oh, sure, they will ask for our support, but I am afraid most Unity08 delegates are as politically gullible as Bill73 is, and almost as naive. They will readily rally around their new found "American Agenda" as if it was their own.
Sadly, Unity08 is not committed to a new kind of party politics, but committed to the same old,"we-lead-you-follow" kind of party structure both you and I are all too familiar.
ex animo
davidfarrar
and that is not gullible. We have two parties evolving through those models as they have developed them through the years. Picking a new model has a risk of loosing something (not sure what, it's new), Not having an ongoing constituency, seasoned political creed, or funding machine and a very short time to cover a large new development might suggest innovation.
Some are apprehensive that a 'truth' may not evolve in a new model, but we will have to test it to know. Ken is not basing his position on a 'conspiracy by the owner' to deprive delegates a choice, just what he has experience given properties I listed (that Unity 08 does not have and will not have by March 2024).
Heaven forebid that we do it like everybody else and get the same results.
David's say so will not make us like them.
Bill"for what we are together"
bill713.unity08@sbcglobal.net
I agree with freeethenker, the forum here, is almost, but not quite done so that people can talk and express thoughts well with one another. Also, it would be helpful to have the posts numbered. Please!
Ok. Here is an idea, have the threads running by time and date, and not by subject and this invites people to get in on topics they hadn't thought of or hadn't been aware of. Then, separate the posted threads into two or three segments under say, Politics (meaning all threads on Government and Elected Officials)and Health and Education (all threads on health, education) and Unity08 Activisim (all threads on things people are doing or want to do or want to have happen in Unity08), and so on.