Summary of Democratic Forum Idea - and Proposal

[Alan Silverman]

 I have a proposal for the Open Space community, but first let me
summarize the discussion up until now.

My original post:

Fri, 10 Jan 2003 07:28:29 -0500.
“I worked at IBM in large systems networking, data storage and I/O. At
IBM there were not many people like me, both highly technical and
politically liberal, creative, spiritual. I left there in 1999. Now
there still aren't many people like me, with my technical expertise and
a deep understanding of how the new technologies can transform society.

I'm working on an important idea, part of a matrix of ideas I've
pondered for a long time.

Steps:

1. Write an  "Open Letter to the Democratic Party", the gist being that,
considering outcomes of the past two elections, the Democratic National
Committee should ask Democratic voters and the American people: "What
should we do now?"

The ideas will be submitted, discussed, and refined on Internet forums.
People from anywhere can join. The goal being to create innovative
solutions, concise well articulated plans with a high degree of
granularity, intended to address specific problems faced by the
Democratic Party and America.

2. Once the letter is written, get prominent individuals to sponsor the
idea.

3. With their sponsorship, publish the letter in the NY Times or some
like venue (Solon Magazine, the Atlantic Monthly?)

The letter describes in detail the confluence of four technologies
making it possible to gather ideas together and quickly refine those
ideas into solutions.  The final technological key is digital
certificates, also called digital signatures.

In the short term we use this forum, these technologies, to figure out
what the Democrats must do in light of the past two elections.

In the long term it will answer the question, "Who should be making
decisions and creating policy". The answer being:  "Whomever has the
best solution," with everyone getting an equal shot and the process
itself being out in the open for everyone to see.

The Democratic Party is in crisis. If we step in and say, "We have the
solution to your problem", it will work. It must work, because this is
the democratic solution. If we don't say this now the Democratic Party
will surely move in a different direction.”

                                               *****

                            Some posts and my responses

Harrison Owen’s post  Sat, 11 Jan 2003 10:12:35 -0500

“Not a doubt about it. The Democratic Party, of which I have been a life
long member, could certainly use some help. And the thoughts that you
are noodling would make a real contribution. However, I wouldn't hold my
breath waiting for acceptance. That said, it is always worth a try.”

Al’s response:

“Harrison, Thank you for your post.

I have little faith in the Democratic Party either.  We don't need them
to create this.  The technologies already exist and are relatively
inexpensive.  But we need them to be able to challenge them.

We have an opening created by the current political crisis.  We need
brilliant clear writing and the right words, which I haven't been able
to produce.  That's fine, because the idea is to fill in my weaknesses
with your strengths, and visa versa.”


kerry napuk Mon, 13 Jan 2003 15:00:53 +0000:

“Ah, if only it was a matter of a few chosen words
..  Nor do I sense
the Democratic Party is capable of internal reform with or without our
able assistance
.. As a life long democratic who worked for Kennedy and
McGovern, we use to talk about the need for a  realignment between the
two parties. Now that so much of the scenery has moved to the right, a
new party is beginning to make sense.”

Al:  There still seems to be a misconception, that I am saying we should
go up to the Democratic Party hat in hand, asking them to implement the
idea. That's not what I'm saying.  The forum must be totally
independent.

Kerry, please also see my much longer note to you.  It's at the very end
of this letter.

                                               *****

Please take a look at my post of Sun, 12 Jan 2003 10:57:45 –0500.  It's
somewhat rambling, but includes a lot.  Look at the examples toward the
end of the post.

                                               *****

There has been much discussion and many comments spread over several
threads. I agree with much of what has been said.

Harrison and Birgitt pointed out that it would be best  if  “Open Space
were combined with virtual Open Space”.

Al:   I agree, but explicitly putting OS in now would confuse people,
endangering the project as the whole. We must keep it simple.  Another
person commented: “Personally, I would also add something about live
large group OST's, but perhaps it is best to get your foot in the door
and then offer the face-to-face technology as part of the package.”

About the idea of forming a new party, discussed by David, Kerry, and
others.

Al:  The logistics of creating a new party are too daunting.  Democrats,
Republicans, Greens, they know about  parties.  We don't need one.  This
idea can do the job.

Global Perspective:
As Kerry, Gabriela, and Christine Kent pointed out, the problem is a
global one.  I agree that ultimately our answers must be global answers.

Christine Wed, 22 Jan 2003 09:48:02 +1100
“I may be oversimplifying things, but I wonder why we are not just
starting a forum anyway - one that is non-aligned to any party,
government or nation, but simply seeks to look at the issues we are all
facing and devise solutions?”

Al: If we had to, I suppose we could just create the forum.  But the
Internet contains so much information, making it difficult to be heard
above the din.  New institutions often arise as specific solutions to
crises within older institutions.  Providing a solution to the current
crisis within the Democratic Party gives us a chance to be heard loud
and immediately.

In time all the above ideas can be tried. For now I am proposing a very
specific plan.

THIS IDEA HAS AN EXPIRATION DATE.

Times of crisis are times of opportunity.  I am a member of the
Democratic Party. Their basic ideals have always been closest to mine.
But this idea is not limited to Democrats.  It's for anyone willing to
share ideas and pursue new solutions.

We Democrats have been slammed so badly the past two elections.  We are
in crisis.  That is an opportunity.  How long will this opportunity
last?  A very short time, surely less than a year.

What I am saying:

1. After the past two elections it is widely perceived that the
Democratic Party needs new ideas.

2. In corporate America, we were told the way to get ahead was to figure
out the worst problem your boss faced, then march into her/his office
and say:  “You have a problem
.and I have the solution

!”

3. The Democratic Party has a terrible problem.  We have a solution,
“The Democratic Forum”, an Internet forum where anyone may input ideas
and create solutions, for our leaders to enact.

4. The forum must be an independent entity, independent of any party or
existing institution, ultimately independent of any specific
individual(s).

5. What's important isn't who gets voted into office, it's the policies
they enact. This forum gives us everything we need.

6. If our idea gets exposure, prominent Democrats, especially prominent
Democrats running for high office, will be drawn to it.  Perhaps we can
use it to get candidates elected, like the Internet did in South Korea.
See http://www.onnurynet.co.kr/press/link-1230.php

7. I've been thinking about this idea for a long time.  I first worked
on the Internet in 1989.  I know the base technology and have a strong
intuitive sense for what it can do. I've thought in depth about how the
forum must be set up, both technically and in terms of guiding
principals.

8. This plan has a reasonable chance of success, and has the potential
to quickly change our world for the better.  If it has only a 1% chance,
it is well worth trying.

9.  I found out about Open Space from a friend.  He sent me your web
site address.  It seemed to touch on many ideas and solutions I’d been
thinking about.  That is why I came here.  What I am proposing, what I
am asking, is for Open Space to mobilize behind my idea and immediately
go forward to implement it.

Have I been clear on everything?  Any questions?

Thank you,
Alan Silverman


There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
- William Shakespeare (from Julius Caesar)


                                               *****

Immediate Steps:
1. Create essay.
2. Find prominent person/people to sponsor idea.
3. Get essay placed prominently.

Step 1, completed.

An Open Letter to the Members of the Democratic Party:

Fellow Democrats,

The past two elections have been disastrous, and while there is no need
to assess blame, (perhaps too much has already been said), we clearly
need to move toward solutions to our problems.  Using the network and
database experience I acquired from many years with IBM, I want to
create an Internet forum where everyone's voice may be heard, and where
the very best ideas which America has to offer can be turned into
solutions benefiting all.

Because of our wealth of intelligent, creative individuals, there is
little scarcity of innovative ideas in America;  What we need is a
mechanism to gather them, and to refine them into practical solutions
for our leaders to enact.

A forum of 290 million people may seem impossible.  It is not.

If the Google search engine can process over three billion web pages and
find the precise information we need, we may be assured that our forum
can do the same. This would not cost a great deal to set up.  The
technology already exists and is in use today.  The key is in connecting
like-minded individuals to share ideas.

This democratic forum would invigorate the Democratic Party and the
American political system as a whole.  I offer you my IBM network and
database expertise toward this project, and my energy to help create it.

Thank you and warm regards,

Alan Silverman
Innovative Technical Solutions
Stone Ridge, NY (845) 687-0302
alanlsilverman at yahoo.com
http://thefuturevision.virtualave.net/

                                               *****

Note to Kerry concerning post of Mon, 13 Jan 2003 15:00:53 +0000

Kerry,
I went to the Chicago Convention in 1968, worked against Johnson, for
McCarthy (With hindsight, I should have worked for Humphrey, an
eminently good man, and against Nixon. But then, we were all young
once).  I wrote a horrid novel, poetry, two screenplays (both praised by
Howard Koch, writer of Casablanca, a wonderful man who lived nearby
here), sold nothing.  I married (and still am), had (and still have) two
wonderful children, went back to school, graduated in computer science
with a 4.0 average.  I went to work at IBM. Direct quote from long time
IBMer:  “Al, I've never met ANYONE like you at IBM.”.  I also
accomplished things which no one else did.  In 1999 I left IBM.

I am into Zen, a gardener, an inveterate punster.  The older I get the
less materialistic I become.  Since leaving IBM I've found no one who
fully comprehends the implications of certain technologies, how these
technologies might be used to bring people together and change the
world.  This has been frustrating. The intellectuals don't understand
technology and the techies don't understand people. I guess you'll have
to trust me on this, but I understand both.  I try to think in very
practical terms about how these technologies can be used for the greater
good of humanity and the world as a whole.  The Forum is a product of
all that thinking.

       About Humans

Human beings are such silly things
rapt in self-attention,
If I were God,
on principal,
I’d give them all detention.


   What we do not understand

What we do not understand, we fear.
What we fear, we destroy.
Oi!!

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