Guest blog on free culture and the election on theDailyBlog

[Danyl Strype]

Kia ora koutou

I wrote this guest blog that was published today on theDailyBlog.
Already, there is a 'think of the artists' comment.:
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/04/18/guest-blog-daniel-bruce-internet-party-what-seems-ridiculous-to-the-old-often-makes-perfect-sense-to-the-young/

I decided to respond to this on my own blog, and let others take up
this chance to engage in some constructive debate around copyright
reform:
http://www.coactivate.org/projects/disintermedia/blog/2014/04/18/political-musings-published-on-thedailyblog/

No doubt there will be some who interpret my tactical support for the
Mana-Internet Party alliance as a sign of disloyalty to the Pirates,
and perhaps a hidden agenda behind my argument that we shouldn't run a
party list in this election. Think what you want, but what I'm most
concerned about is the cause we joined this party to fight for.

I think it's sensible for me to push the cause in language that makes
sense to the radical left, just as other Pirates have rejoined ACT,
and are no doubt pushing the cause in language appealing to the
radical right. Considering the under-developed state of the NZPP (low
numbers of active members, finances, minimal policy work done etc),
and how polarizing this election is becoming, we just don't have time
to mark out the solid common ground between radicals of both left and
right, that will be needed to make the Pirates electable. Let's
continue to build our organisation, recruit activists and members,
develop policy, and push that policy into the public debate, and into
other parties, and start preparing *now* for a strong launch as a
fully registered party in 2017.

Ma te wā
S

--
Danyl Strype
Community Developer
Disintermedia.net.nz/strype

"Geeks are those who partake in our culture."
- .ISOcrates

"Voting... is the next to last refuge of the politically impotent. The
last refuge is, of course, giving your opinion to a pollster, who will
get a version of it through a dessicated question, and then will
submerge it in a Niagra of similar opinions, and convert them into -
what else? - another piece of news. Thus, we have here a great loop of
impotence: The news elicits from you a variety of opinions about which
you can do nothing except to offer them as more news, about which you
can do nothing."
- Neil Postman, 'Amusing Ourselves To Death'