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Speech on "Aspects of Internet Organizing" at the University of St. Thomas, March 7, 2001, by Edwin Johnston based on my outline/notes.
As a personal introduction, let me say that I am an activist for over twenty years. Why would I keep this up for so long, you may ask? Because social movements are a form of cognitive praxis. Cognitive in dealing with knowledge and praxis, meaning practice. So in a way it is learning by doing. But not just the production of meaning, but also the production of knowledge. All scientific advances in our society, all progress, has its roots in social movements. Activism makes you smarter and advances society.
CounterCoup.org
Let me start off with a little about Zack Exley, the founder of CounterCoup, who feels that the internet will serve to change the entire society, something you will see that I don't necessarily agree with. Zack began CounterCoup a month before the election, because he feared that Bush might win the electoral college while Gore won the popular vote.
Zack made a name for himself early in the election campaign when he created the website gwbush.com as a way to poke fun at the Texas governor. This made Bush angry enough to declare in regards to Zack's site: "There ought to be limits to freedom."
More recently Zack has continued his prankish antics in creating the website cnndn.com to poke fun at the CNN Financial News channel and offer information about the coming recession. This made CNN very angry and they found a judge to issue a restraining order against Zack's site, shutting it down. Zack, in turn created an even newer website called whosealphabet.com to let people know what was going in regards to CNN's legal challenges.
Once election day was over and it was clear to many people that Bush was trying to steal the election, Zack used the CounterCoup website as a resource to facilitate street protests across the country. People would email him their locations for the first two Saturdays following the election and he posted them on CounterCoup. In that short period, CounterCoup got about 250,000 hits. The first demo on Nov. 11 was listed for about 40 cities. After it was over, reports from the various protests were listed on the website. The second weekend's protests were listed for over 100 cities.
A key addition to the website were various discussion lists associated with it where people could discuss things and organize further actions. The main discussion list, called trustthepeople (ttp) had over 1500 subscribers in a short time. Then other lists were developed, including separate lists for each city that held a protest and other supporting lists like ttp-disc, ttp-moderators and ttp-Steering-Committee.
Because of the success of the CounterCoup.org phenomenon, other election related sites sprang up like VoterMarch.org to get people to have large demos in NYC and Washington, DC. Another good set of sites are Bush Brothers Banana Republic (Coup2K.com) and fringefolk.com. Each of these sites also followed CounterCoup in setting up discussion lists of their own to help people share information and get better organized.
After Nov. 18th, Zack slacked off on his work on the CounterCoup website. At that point I decided to create a national website to counter the coup on my own. I used the discussion lists and promoted my concept very widely. The first thing I did was to collect a list of local websites related to the activities of CounterCoup, like CounterCoup-Dallas, and so on. I set these up as a list of links and linked various CounterCoup.org pages as well. Then I made a call for people to send me their anti-Bush and other related election links to list centrally. Tons of stuff began pouring in to me and I worked day and night to arrange it all as coherently as I could. Soon I was creating a page of updated action alerts and I began notifying people that my new site was CounterCoup, version 2.0.
Zack eventually got word of all this and asked me if I wanted to edit the CounterCoup.org website on my own and I accepted. Since it was so much work for me, I put the word out that I was seeking helpers and began to develop a webteam. At the same time I took on the responsibilities of moderating various discussion lists. I was really in the thick of a large national movement.
My work as CounterCoup.org WebMaster
After the protests of Nov. 18, there were many smaller actions surrounding the post-election recount phase, up to and including the US Supreme Court' ruling to stop the vote count which effectively selected Bush as president. Many people were demoralized by this, but many more were very angry and began to build for a massive nationwide protest against the Inauguration of Bush on January 20, 2001.
By the time that date rolled around, CounterCoup had over 50 different events listed all across the country, from Portland, Maine to Hilo, Hawai'i, even Paris, France! Zack got to speak in DC that day, while I was in Houston with 400 other angry voters. In the week leading up to the Inauguration, NYC's Village Voice praised CounterCoup.org as ground zero for organizing national protests against the Bush coup. I was very proud of myself and our movement.
After the Inauguration Day protests, CounterCoup became less active, for whatever reasons. We had some strong areas, like CounterCoupLA who had formed a coalition with other local groups. Some related organizations were still very strong, like VoterMarch, who were sponsoring another DC march in late May. But the discussions on our lists were dropping off.
I saw the problem through the eyes of an organizer. CounterCoup lacked a structure for decision making and other necessary aspects of organizing. I began a new discussion list to help us get better organized. I used a basic grassroots organizing model composed of committees to fit people in, like outreach, media, fundraising, etc. Once I began suggesting getting organized, I was met with criticism. Some people thought I was trying to control things, others thought they had better ideas, but didn't get around to explaining them. So, although I began the organizing process, it's gotten off to a very slow start. I think the reason for this is that many of the people who became part of Countercoup had never before been a part of any protest movement. The sheer momentousness of a stolen election forced them to do something, but since they didn't previously have any grassroots experience, it was an alien idea for them to get organized.
Fortunately enough for us, we did manage to pull together a series of protests nationwide during the weekend of Presidents' Day, which we called Not My President's Day, but we only organized in about 18 different locations this time. I began to sense that people on the internet were simply following The Next Big Thing, so I decided to join them and created a new list called the Pranx Bank and called for a global protest against the Bush Coup on April 1, 2001. Sure enough that list became very popular.
I am not overly dismayed at the drop off of interest in CounterCoup. I continue to work with people who are willing to develop the organizing aspects of it and with members of my webteam who continue to add new upcoming actions and other content to the site. We will be moving off geocities.com soon and onto a private server. We will continue to innovate what we have to offer there. As long as CounterCoup.org continues to be an online presence, it will be available for those who wish to counter the coup.
Internet Organizing
Basic aspects of a social movement: 1. Formal organization 2. Mobilizing structures 3. Collective action
The formal organization relates to how the top is set up, how the decisions are made. CounterCoup never had any type of real formal organization. The mobilizing structures are what I was trying to get set up by creating various committees. Collective action is the ability for large numbers of people to protest, write letters, etc. This is CounterCoup's strength up until now. The key to the success of a social movement is the balancing of these three aspects.
Positive aspects of internet organizing It's very fast, you can get information quickly. This served CounterCoup well in it's ability to mobilize/demobilize people around the country. There is a very wide potential audience, since tens of millions are online, and stolen votes affected every American. The internet is multi-media which can have a great impact as compared to say, an underground magazine. There's plenty of room for fun as well. Additionally, the internet is versatile, you can go from the general to the specific, from overtly public to discreetly private. All ages are involved. And not only can you bring yourself to the world, but the world can come to you.
Negative aspects of internet organizing
Members of the online community are generally strangers. You have to be able to develop a sense of trust before you are willing to commit too much to collective action and organization. It's way too democratic, there is no deep sense of commitment on the part of the majority. People come and go as they please. Additionally, the demographics of internet use favor maleness, whiteness, high education levels and wealth.
As well, in the case of CounterCoup, much of our information has been public, which it had to be to get people out on the streets in short order. This creates the problem of having to deal with any opposition. In our case a new website sprang up called LoudCitizen.com. These people were pro-Bush far right-wingers. They stole our lists of protest locations and called them their own and sent out crazed right wingers to counter us at our demonstrations. This served two purposes for them. One, to physically and psychologically harass and intimidate us, and two, to help channel the media coverage of our protests by getting them to report that it was Bush supporters vs. Gore supporters, when in fact, CounterCoup all along has been totally non-partisan, including Democrats, Greens, independents and even anarchists who were concerned about voters' rights violations, not a specific candidate.
Conclusion on internet organizing
It is an experiment, needing time to develop and work itself out. While some people come and go, there are dedicated types who stick it out no matter what. And just like anything else, a small minority will do most of the work. Internet organizing is a tool, not an end in itself. It needs to be used as part of an overall strategy to reach the whole society, including the masses of poor people. The goal of all this, in my mind, is that the highly educated and privileged sectors of society who are online must use their skills to outreach to the poorer sectors to society and unite with them to form a greater front.
Comparison of two movements using the internet for organizing Example: CounterCoup vs. Pacifica Radio dissenters (I'll save the introductory remarks about Pacifica Radio and allow the reader to look up the history on the web links provided following this piece.)
CounterCoup.org members were essentially strangers before the 2000 election. They met on the basis of a contingency which was developing. It is a non-partisan organization consisting of people with generally divergent ideologies, such as Democrats, Greens, independents, anarchists, et al.
In contrast, the counter-Pacifica movement is focused on a 52 year old progressive radio system. While both movements use the internet for organizing, using websites and listserves to activate and inform people, the counter-Pacifica movement has been more successful so far due to its base in specific communities. In addition, Pacifica listeners in general are progressives themselves and are familiar with grassroots organizing campaigns from prior involvements. So in a way, the counter-Pacifica model is an inversion of the CounterCoup.org model. CounterCoup began as a national movement that tried to reach the community on the local level, while counter-Pacifica began at the local level trying to establish a national movement. The key here is the ability to be involved with people face to face, something that to a large extent is missing in the Countercoup equation. The good thing about counter-Pacifica is that angry listeners have been able to travel to Pacifica sister city stations to protest annual national board meetings and have become very close with their fellow dissidents in other cities.
Of course this does not mean that CounterCoup is doomed in any sense. Only that it needs continued work to develop. The issue of a stolen election affects
every American and thus holds the potential to create the largest mass movement in American history.
...are your very own HOUSTON FREEPERS!
For those of you unfamiliar with Edwin (he has written wacko articles claiming articles freeper conspiracies that have been posted here before), he is the head of the local left wing group in Houston and webmaster of countercoup.
Edwin is notoriously paranoid of freepers and has been ever since we showed up to counter their protests after the election. He still spends hours lurking here out of paranoia, and once even called a bunch of his gay activist buddies to help him prepare his house in case freepers decided to picket it! At the site of the speech given above, Edwin even arrived paranoid about potential freeper "spies" in the audience and made mention of this fear during his speech (well, there was at least one "spy" there who reported back on the speech to the houston freepers group!) and threatened (funny - he left the threat out of the transcript!) to kick any freepers he found all the way down montrose to westheimer (the local leftist wacko, socialist, pot smokers, anarchists, Pacifica radio nuts, and militiant homosexuals district in Houston). For those of you who do not know edwin, this threat of his is particularly bold as he is best described as a geeky-looking-stereotypical-star-trek-convention-goer/left- wing-street-artist/hemp-store-poet/Pacifica-radio-host.
and once even called a bunch of his gay activist buddies to help him prepare his house in case freepers decided to picket it!
What, he wanted the decorating to be finished before the news cams got there? No, I'm not implying that all decorators are gay or that all gays are decorators. I just can't imagine this lib fruitcake setting up hardened positions and caching supplies in anticipation of a Freeper protest.
FFFRRRREEEEEPPPP ON! Subvert the dominant DemonRat!! This is great, the lefties think the net is their's. Let them keep on thinking that, as Dubya says 'I kinda like being underestimated'. Me too!
And bravo / kudos to the Houston Freepers for what was clearly some really good work!
I thought you may find this amusing
You oughta see the guy in person - he's t stereotypical street artist type. His buddies that he brings to his protest are even funnier -
He almost always brings this grungy smelly guy along with him, who drives a left wing peace mobile clunker car that has a giant oversized paper mache cowboy hat welded to its roof.
Edwin's other constant countercoup protest companion is Houston radical homosexual activist Ray Hill, who is basically a dirty old man that somehow makes a living as a professional protester and a Pacifica SOCIALIST radio personality.
there's a grand total of about 5 of them that regularly show up on his side. We freeped them once and had 80 to oppose his group.
Great! A joke in every paragraph.
I can't believe you got close enough to the art-car guy to smell him. You're a braver man than I!
LTS
CounterCoup all along has been totally non-partisan, including Democrats, Greens, independents and even anarchists who were concerned about voters' rights violations, not a specific candidate.
[Laughing so hard that I'm choking on my donut.]
Were they protesting the Missouri vote fraud, where:
1. A judge (illegaly) ordered the polls open until midnight. (Even the appellate court struck it down at about 8:00), and
2. A dead man was elected.
Oh, that's right. It's fine if it means you oust a Republican and work to the advantage of the Democrats.
Believe me, it wasn't by choice. At the emergency freep by the federal courthouse downtown, he came over to where our group was standing to argue. We got away better than those who freeped at the same location earlier that morning - don'tspeak4me reported that the hat car guy was emitting particles from his mouth as he ranted, just before he knocked over an elderly man on the sidewalk with his sign.
"and once even called a bunch of his gay activist buddies to help him prepare his house in case freepers decided to picket it!"
He better watch out or we'll have to call in the Pink Pistols, gays with guns ought to send him into convulsions, LOL.
what was that old saturday night live skit...the gay communist gun club or something. Oughta call them to visit Edwin...he fits in two of those three categories!
Because social movements are a form of cognitive praxis.
ROFL! "Cognitive praxis"!!! He probably picked that expression up at a Eugene, Oregon Jerry Garcia channeling mudfest. This guy is a cognit-wit prax-hole.
This is so funny! As Rush has stated many times, there is nothing funnier than watching left wing whackos when the Dumbocraps are out of power. We need to do our part now to root them out of society, once and for all.
I knew one of these type of guys in the 70's.
His name,honest to god,was"zappydo".
He was a professional protester,and was always being bussed to some demonstation.
He lived in the basement of the rental house we were living in. He hung himself there.
All scientific advances in our society, all progress, has its roots in social movements.
What a howler! Yep, the electric light, the automobile, the airplane, the cotton gin, the steam engine, radio, radar, computers, the internet...all these came from "social movements." Heck, we oughta shut down the engineering schools and turn their funding over to the sociology departments...
I have to admit, this is pretty funny, a "non-partisian" group whose mission statement reads:
To question the legitimacy of a Bush presidency, due to disenfranchisement and disregard for the will of the people" -- Adopted by the national steering committee, November 2000 That's about as non-partisian as, well, Free Republic.
Ironically enough, I'm betting most of the actual membership consists of guilt-ridden Nader supporters. What they really want is to have their cake (voting for Nader) and eat it too (defeating Bush). I'm sorry, guys, the world doesn't quite work that way.
D
Hey GOP! Well, I guess when Edwin finds out that I have moved 70 miles south of Houston he will rest easier! BWAAHAAHAAHAA!!! What a doofus.
I was just cruising by and couldn't resist a reply to this gem.....;-)
Hey don'tspeak4me, your car still drives - right? How 'bout we meet up sometime and follow through on that FReep at lil Eddie's house?
Boo!
Wackos are so much fun to have around!
But of course it still drives! :) Miss you!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
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