[imc-maritimes] A better way to arrange our activity

[TremBen at netscape.net]

Greets

Rereading this I second guessed myself, thinking it might be inflammatory.

TremBen at netscape.net wrote:
[...]
>p.s. I'm sorry nobody bothered themselves to reply to you. Truly.
> The dynamic that gave rise to Indymedia in the spring/summer/fall
> of 1999 had everything to do with getting people involved in order
> to propagate technical skills and broaden the base for decision
> making. As indicated [...] one energized individual cannot replace
> that group dynamic, even when that one individual has supportive
> friends in key positions. 

So I went back through the past two years of the archives. What did I find?

Offer of technical assistance ... ignored; no reply.
Offer of editorial assistance ... as above.
Question concerning maritimes.indy ... likewise.

The author whose salient message I replied to ... he had written a few times in the previous 6 or 8 months. The one reply he received is significant: "There hasn't been any action since I joined in the summer, but there definietly should be, we need alternative media in Nova Scotia and the Maritimes."

Those of us who pointed to partiality and preferential treatment coming from the self-identified core group at the center of Indymedia pointed to the basic principles the entire collective had set out ... those principles had the well-being of the network as their reason ... we were marginalised while the elite went jet-setting to conferences such as the World Social Forum or to projects in Asia and South America. The elite has had its way, and now even the documentation and process channels are stone dead.

When I pointed to the partiality and preferential treatment that allowed a clique to start maritimes.indy the special friends who accorded that preferential treatment under cut the collective that had been forming to launch an IMC on strong foundations; it was the elite's way or no way. The clique had its way and now the site is less responsive than an individual's blog.

One thing for certain about dot-bomb types: the demands of ego gratification don't require actualities and realities and are quite hostile when those are pointed out; when someone is driven to do something for their own reasons they're likely to be defensive ... that's the cataclysm of foreign policy and diplomacy ... and just as likely is that their supporters will be defensive.

It isn't a project of propaganda ... and it's more than a game of social politics. It's more, even, than a war of ideas: it's the clash of those who subscribe to fundamental fascism (first and fore-most: loyalty to key figures and core group) and those who are open and inclusive. That consciousness is involved is clear from this: the high-minded who are unfortunately naive shudder and turn away when things become clear. It's easy to moan and weep about children's shattered bodies, but when it comes to grappling with the dysfunction of our social process, well, that's when we see the evidence of how sadly abused we've been.

This is likely to give ammunition to the clique and its supporters ... I hope the few good folk who've remained engaged against their passive-agression will stay steadfast. (It is, after all, a life-long engagement!) But I find I don't have the appetite for the snickering superiority and nae-saying ... suffering it brought nobody much good and it too often cost me.

Bear this in mind: maritimes.indy belongs to the community ... it can be run into the ground by the clique that formed it or the ground can run it. Those are the alternatives.

I'm going to leave this list now.

ben


http://beyondgreed.blogspot.com
http://mozdawg.blogspot.com

-- 
See clearly.
Know what is.
Act with confidence.


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