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The Canadian government has been going after non-profits that are
engaging in political activity--namely those who are railing against
the government's environmental record (or lack thereof). Non-profits
with charitable status have been threatened to have their status
revoked.<br>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 03/07/2014 10:53, Pete Prodoehl
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.<br>
<br>
Pete<br>
<br>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">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>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 03/07/2014 10:32, Al Billings
wrote:<br>
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cite="mid:8B087D3A-C59D-486F-8036-F3D519EEBD5C@openbuddha.com"
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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?
<div><br>
</div>
<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>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Al</div>
<div><br>
<div>
<div>On Jul 3, 2014, at 10:28 AM, Randall G. Arnold <<a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:randall.arnold@texrat.net">randall.arnold@texrat.net</a>>
wrote:</div>
<br class="Apple-interchange-newline">
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<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;
font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight:
normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal;
orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px;
text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows:
auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width:
0px;">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>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;
font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight:
normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal;
orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px;
text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows:
auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width:
0px;"> </div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;
font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight:
normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal;
orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px;
text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows:
auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width:
0px;">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 apple-content-edited="true"> Al Billings<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:albill@openbuddha.com">albill@openbuddha.com</a><br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://makehacklearn.org">http://makehacklearn.org</a>
</div>
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