<div dir="ltr">Still want to see someone run a hackerspace as a SuperPAC. <br></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Jul 3, 2014 at 1:53 PM, Pete Prodoehl <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:raster@gmail.com" target="_blank">raster@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
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Interesting side-note, I believe that in the US 501(c)3 non-profit
organizations (which some spaces are) have to avoid politically
supporting a party or candidate. Would this affect activities at a
space? Perhaps not, as long as the space itself does not
"officially" get involved or take a stance, and it's just members
doing things, but I don't know.<span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><br>
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Pete</font></span><div><div class="h5"><br>
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<div>On 7/3/14, 12:45 PM, Colin Keigher
wrote:<br>
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No. My response should be misconstrued as this.<br>
<br>
Political affiliations should have no bearing on your being
involved in a space--I am "centre-left" by Canadian standards (and
probably "pinko-commie" by American) just to inform you. What
should be a qualifier to your involvement in a space is laying out
your intentions on why you want to be a member. If you're there to
create and do cool shit, then you should be in; if you're there to
further your personal, political agenda, you shouldn't.<br>
<br>
As long as you're not spreading hate and making others
uncomfortable, politics should never play a role.<br>
<br>
VHS was asked by an IndyMedia clone to allow them to make use of
the space to work on their productions. We collectively said "no"
and the issue never came up again. We had to keep a neutral stance
during the Olympics while many of our members were being followed
by the RCMP and Vancouver Police due to their affiliation with
anti-games groups. Keeping VHS politics-free has been policy since
its inception six years ago and so far it has had success. We
don't try to do anything more than provide a space to do and make
cool shit.<br>
<br>
- Colin<br>
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<div>On 03/07/2014 10:32, Al Billings
wrote:<br>
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Is your space welcoming to people, regardless of personal
politics or do you have to be a specific kind of
lefty/socialist/anarchist/hippy/whatever in order to be welcome?
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<div>I say this as a socialist but I don’t want there to be a
political litmus test on whether people are welcome in a
space. My space has members who, quietly on occasion, bitch
about Obama and his “agenda” with an eye roll from some other
members. We have a communist or two and probably more than a
few anarchists. Generally, I know someone for a year or more
before I even realize their personal politics. Why? Because
we’re there to hack, not to form a political party.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>There are definitely spaces where this isn’t the case. If
you aren’t on board with the specific local politics (which
are usually a certain specific form of left leaning
anarchism), you are shunned pretty heavily and “don’t fit in.”
I’d rather have a Republican that wants to build a project
from salvaged computers than an anarchist that just wants to
hang out in the kitchen “food hacking.”</div>
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<div>Al</div>
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<div>On Jul 3, 2014, at 10:28 AM, Randall G. Arnold <<a href="mailto:randall.arnold@texrat.net" target="_blank">randall.arnold@texrat.net</a>>
wrote:</div>
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I
disagree when you frame that as an absolute. Sure,
there CAN be negative outcomes when a maker/hacker space
or organization has fixing societal problems as a goal,
but it ain't necessarily so. It all comes down to
defining the goal(s), having people to support them and
for members with different goals to be respectful of
each other and not get in each other's way.</div>
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If
as a makerspace member I put together a special interest
group that builds remote wildlife monitoring stations
for helping horned lizard conservation, and I don't
disrupt anyone else in the process, then I'm positively
hacking the planet and no one gets hurt. Win-win.</div>
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<br>
<div> Al Billings<br>
<a href="mailto:albill@openbuddha.com" target="_blank">albill@openbuddha.com</a><br>
<a href="http://makehacklearn.org" target="_blank">http://makehacklearn.org</a>
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