Doing Something!

Again, the specter of war with Iran confronts us.



But what can we do about it?.



For the last year or so, we wrote to each other expressing our disdain for such a cock-eyed idea. War with Iran seems so crazy to any rational person. Some of us wrote to our representatives. Others tried other means.



Overall, whatever we did seemed to have little or no effect.



Obviously, one thing is clear: Our conventional approaches accomplish nothing.



We may feel better about complaining or screaming to our friends, or beating our chests, but in the end, what does it do?



Nothing!



Where we have gone wrong is in complaining to the choir.



We are all sitting in the same pew.



What we need to do is externalize our activities so that they become much more visible among those who don’t use the Internet.



This is a hard to grasp. It’s hard for me.



I’ve been working with the Internet since 94.



But didn’t really get involved til around 98.



I can’t believe everyone isn’t caught up in this new powerful new medium.



But the fact is that they aren’t.



So, while we may feel somewhat relieved knowing that we have gotten our frustration off of our chests, in fact what we have only succeeded in doing is telling each other.



But how can we really be effective in reaching beyond those who live, eat and sleep the Internet.



Ah, that’s quite another story.



I saw that happen when Howard Dean lost in the primary.



The legions of "Deaniacs" regrouped.



Many formed into the grass roots movements of the day.



They started their own progressive movement.



A few got into office at the local level.



Some of us went to work trying to change things locally.



Let me tell you that if you didn’t do any more than work on your local party, you would be accomplishing something.



Some of these local parties are so far behind the times it would be laughable if it weren't so sad.



Some are led by people who’s only qualification is that they show up regularly.



Many don’t seem to have a clue about what’s going on politically or what they should do to mobilize the local troops.



We started the Power of One Society to get involved in such "reawakenings."



And other projects to improve things—even on a micro scale.



Frequently, we join with others to leverage our strength and power; sometimes, we form coalitions to get the job done.



One thing is sure: If we don’t do something---anything, we can be sure that nothing will change.



That should be incentive enough.



Les Aaron

The Armchair Curmudgeon





For the Power of One Society