(US) Need help defining an economically left, culturally center party

November 10, 2024 7:18 AM

I have been writing and brainstorming ideas for a new party, platform, and even Constitution that would appeal to at least 80% of voters. I'm looking for places and ways to collaborate with a few people, preferably with some in-person elements.

I'm 55 and have had plenty of "if I was in charge ..." fantasies ever since Reagan was president, and I'm finally putting words to paper. I started working on this over the summer and it seems more urgent now. I'm not (yet) looking for takes on the specific positions. Instead I need help thinking about how to form a small team that can spur each other on and be creative. Until I lost my job I was a senior corporate manager and I have good facilitation and planning skills, but I am personally ASD and like to do 80% of my work alone and then bring it for discussion. I also want this to be my vision at the root level - I already have the basics sketched out - but do want vigorous, positive discussion and collaboration so things can grow organically.

What are some good ways to start this? Things I've considered:

* Start a free Substack that lays out the ideas in a series of posts and see who contacts me.
* Start a local meetup or put out an ad to find people I within 20-30 miles who can meet weekly.
* Start a MeFi project, though I don't really understand how those work.
* Use Zoom or other video conferencing to widen the possible collaborators but still have meetups from time to time.
* ???

The party, platform, and writings are focused on very basic principles around supporting people's economic needs and cultural values, and supporting peoples' rights to live as they wish without making specific identity politics an integral part. I'm trying to appeal to that best instincts of Americans as they are, including people I largely disagree with like white Evangelicals. The goal is not to put one set of Americans against another or center struggle and conflict, so there will be no mentions of "-isms" anywhere.

Thanks in advance!

posted by caviar2d2 to Society & Culture (3 answers total)

Best answer: Different people prefer to communicate via different mediums, and there's not really a one-size-fits-all solution. However, based on what you're describing, here's something that might work for you:

- Something like a Slack workspace or Discord server for day-to-day communications. Slack and Discord have similar functionality but almost perfectly complementary strengths and weaknesses (IMO). A mailing list would also work for this in theory, but people are increasingly resistant to e-mail.
- A regularly scheduled Zoom call once a month to discuss issues that came up on Slack/Discord.
- Internally shared Google Docs or equivalent for Zoom call minutes and to summarize your Slack/Discord traffic of the past month.
- For public consumption, set up a blog or blog-equivalent for long-form messages. I cannot recommend Twitter in good conscience, but maybe Mastodon.

MeFi Projects is for bragging about a cool thing you did, so you could post there once you had something for people to look at.
posted by adamrice at 9:19 AM on November 10, 2024 [2 favorites]

The nature of the U.S. voting system is such that it selects for 2 large parties. There's no realistic chance of a third party getting any significant traction.

You'd be better off trying to find an existing group aligned with the Democratic party that embodies the mix of ideas you prefer, and perhaps joining (or starting) a local chapter. Failing that, you could try to start some new group aligned with the Democratic party, but you'd probably just be reinventing the wheel.
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 8:09 PM on November 10, 2024

If this is just for fun, then you can do it any way you prefer.

If you're actually trying to create political change, then trying to make it your personal project that you prefer is not a viable strategy. There are thousands of people who do this professionally, who have been working for years to create and strengthen coalitions and build community. If you want to actually accomplish the goal of making the world better, offer your skills and support to their efforts, rather than trying to reinvent the wheel and then expecting people to listen to you.
posted by decathecting at 1:45 PM on November 17, 2024