[Campaigns-l] changing politics

[Kyle Gong]

What I would really love to see happen is for politics, especially American
politics, to move out of this Us vs. Them, Red State vs. Blue State 
mentality. It's dishonest, disenfranchising, and harmful to the 
democratic process.  While
on individual issues, two people may disagree very strongly, when you look at
the whole picture, people are always more similar than they are different.

It may just be me, but I don't feel like I can really identify with either
party, and in looking at the 2004 election, and with the people I've 
talked to,
I'm not alone.  The problem seems to be that many politicians and the 
political
media are interested in controversy.  That's what sells--votes, viewers, or
whatever the broadcast media or politicians need to sell.  On the other 
hand, I
think most people are actually interested in solutions, in things that 
everyone
can agree on, because they do right by everyone.

There are a lot of things that everyone can agree need to be fixed, but 
it seems
to often get lost in the arguing over how to do it.  My favorite 
example of this
is when my 8th grade history teacher arranged for a group of us to see 
democracy
in action and see the House of Representatives in session.  We came in that
night just in time to see them taking a vote on whether or not they should
adjourn for the day.  Some of them wanted to go and get a break or see their
families or whatever, and so they wanted to go home for the night.  The others
wanted to stay and get more work done.  However, in arguing over this for the
next hour and a half, neither side got what they wanted.

So I guess my hope is that this could be a place where we take a step 
back from
the partisan rhetoric and bickering and explore what common ground can be
found, and try to find solutions, and examine them thoroughly from many 
angles.

I don't think that there won't be debates and bickering... it's 
inevitable.  But
I think that a group of people focused on positive political change can rise
above the noise.  People said wikipedia would simply become the collective
foolishness of millions of people, but it has become a valuable resource in
many areas, that could not have been produced without the dedication of many.

The heart of wiki is the belief that amazing things can happen when 
many people
put their minds together for a common good.  Isn't that the heart of democracy
too?


Kyle
----
1 Corinthians 13:1 -- "If I speak in the tongues of men and angels, but 
have not
love, I am only a resounding Gong or a clanging cymbal."

Quoting Stephen Abbott <nhprman at comcast.net>:

> Wow, I really like the terms "white paper" and "backgrounders." They do,
> however, suggest a formality and a template (which I also like.)
>
> These, too, could be valuable study tools for candidates and political
> operatives to view, and perhaps some common ground could be found.
>
> It just occurred to me that the "pro/con" discussions on issue pages should
> also include "common ground" pages, or at least sections. That's very much
> in keeping with this wikis mission.
>
> Stephen A.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jimmy Wales" <jwales at wikia.com>
> To: <campaigns-l at wikia.com>
> Sent: Monday, July 10, 2006 4:41 PM
> Subject: Re: [Campaigns-l] changing politics
>
>
>> Asa Hopkins wrote:
>> > What I was hoping for was a place to work on how to change the way that
>> > campaigns are run, the way the game is played.
>>
>> Excellent!
>>
>> > Unfortunately, the front page of the Campaigns Wikia site is set up as
>> > an issues discussion, and a discussion of upcoming elections.  This is
>> > exactly what we don't need yet another site to do.
>>
>> Let's change it, to at least add a section for the stuff we really want
>> to do as well.
>>
>> I see no reason to forbid people from doing issues whitepapers and
>> upcoming election backgrounders as well, of course.  But what I really
>> want to strategize is how to change politics.
>>
>>
>> --
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>> #    Office: 1-727-231-0101       |  Free Culture and  Free Knowledge #
>> #    http://www.wikipedia.org     |     Building a free world         #
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>>
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