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Ok, good point, "politics" is a broad term. Let me qualify my statements by saying we avoid city/state/federal *electoral* politics. Of course politics isn't completely avoidable in a generic sense.
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Randy
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<br />> On July 3, 2014 at 1:08 PM Naomi Most <pnaomi@gmail.com> wrote:
<br />>
<br />>
<br />> Most of you are characterizing the issue of whether politics "belong"
<br />> or "don't belong" in hackerspaces as if it's a binary issue.
<br />>
<br />> You need to see politics as one of the difficulty level selectors in
<br />> the hackerspace game.
<br />>
<br />> Noisebridge plays on Nightmare mode.
<br />>
<br />> --Naomi
<br />>
<br />>
<br />> On Thu, Jul 3, 2014 at 11:03 AM, Randall G. Arnold
<br />> <randall.arnold@texrat.net> wrote:
<br />> > And I go back to my belief that it's possible (and highly beneficial) to
<br />> > craft maker Do Good missions that avoid politics entirely by sticking with a
<br />> > common, necessary goal that clearly cuts across political lines. In Texas,
<br />> > water is a huge one. It *used* to be politicized, but in recent years those
<br />> > artificial walls are crumbling. Water shortages don't care what political
<br />> > party you claim-- they fuck us all equally. The worse it gets, the easier
<br />> > it is to find common ground... and avoid the trappings of politics.
<br />> >
<br />> > Look, career politicians love to polarize. Many even get off on agitating.
<br />> > As an independent I've quite frankly had enough. So my goal is to climb out
<br />> > of the conventional trenches, quit playing their silly game and just Do
<br />> > Good. And seek out and surround myself with like-minded people. To a large
<br />> > extent that's working well. And when I run into provocateurs, I just grit
<br />> > my teeth, smile and say "bless your heart".
<br />> >
<br />> > ;)
<br />> >
<br />> >
<br />> > On July 3, 2014 at 12:42 PM matt <matt@nycresistor.com> wrote:
<br />> >
<br />> > Resistor has always had a 'leave the politics at the door' informal policy.
<br />> >
<br />> > We don't tend to get involved in political shit. I mean occasionally we all
<br />> > agree something is bullshit, and occasionally someone vents some political
<br />> > frustration. But for the most part we've made sure to be welcoming to all
<br />> > political positions.
<br />> > As someone who was christened by the divine paw of the bunny budha and
<br />> > anointed the one true ruler of the solar system and protector of the milky
<br />> > way galaxy, I often find myself at odds with others political situations.
<br />> > But I've always been accepted at Resistor in spite of my unique political
<br />> > perspective.
<br />> > We care more about hacking than any shared mandate.
<br />> >
<br />> > That being said, a community can form around many things. Including social
<br />> > and political causes. I could see no reason something like code for america
<br />> > couldn't become a community of like minded folks who cultivate a community
<br />> > promoting a social and political agenda. Would might maybe be great, even
<br />> > without the blessing of his divine hoppiness.
<br />> > -Matt
<br />> >
<br />> >
<br />> > On Thu, Jul 3, 2014 at 1:32 PM, Al Billings <albill@openbuddha.com> wrote:
<br />> >
<br />> > Is your space welcoming to people, regardless of personal politics or do you
<br />> > have to be a specific kind of lefty/socialist/anarchist/hippy/whatever in
<br />> > order to be welcome?
<br />> >
<br />> > I say this as a socialist but I don’t want there to be a political litmus
<br />> > test on whether people are welcome in a space. My space has members who,
<br />> > quietly on occasion, bitch about Obama and his “agenda” with an eye roll
<br />> > from some other members. We have a communist or two and probably more than a
<br />> > few anarchists. Generally, I know someone for a year or more before I even
<br />> > realize their personal politics. Why? Because we’re there to hack, not to
<br />> > form a political party.
<br />> >
<br />> > There are definitely spaces where this isn’t the case. If you aren’t on
<br />> > board with the specific local politics (which are usually a certain specific
<br />> > form of left leaning anarchism), you are shunned pretty heavily and “don’t
<br />> > fit in.” I’d rather have a Republican that wants to build a project from
<br />> > salvaged computers than an anarchist that just wants to hang out in the
<br />> > kitchen “food hacking.”
<br />> >
<br />> > Al
<br />> >
<br />> > On Jul 3, 2014, at 10:28 AM, Randall G. Arnold < randall.arnold@texrat.net>
<br />> > wrote:
<br />> >
<br />> > I disagree when you frame that as an absolute. Sure, there CAN be negative
<br />> > outcomes when a maker/hacker space or organization has fixing societal
<br />> > problems as a goal, but it ain't necessarily so. It all comes down to
<br />> > defining the goal(s), having people to support them and for members with
<br />> > different goals to be respectful of each other and not get in each other's
<br />> > way.
<br />> >
<br />> > If as a makerspace member I put together a special interest group that
<br />> > builds remote wildlife monitoring stations for helping horned lizard
<br />> > conservation, and I don't disrupt anyone else in the process, then I'm
<br />> > positively hacking the planet and no one gets hurt. Win-win.
<br />> >
<br />> > Al Billings
<br />> > albill@openbuddha.com
<br />> > http://makehacklearn.org
<br />> >
<br />> > _______________________________________________
<br />> > Discuss mailing list
<br />> > Discuss@lists.hackerspaces.org
<br />> > http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
<br />> >
<br />> >
<br />> >
<br />> > Randall (Randy) Arnold
<br />> > Developer and Enthusiast Advocate
<br />> > http://texrat.net
<br />> > +18177396806
<br />> >
<br />> > _______________________________________________
<br />> > Discuss mailing list
<br />> > Discuss@lists.hackerspaces.org
<br />> > http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
<br />> >
<br />>
<br />>
<br />>
<br />> --
<br />> Naomi Theora Most
<br />> naomi@nthmost.com
<br />> +1-415-728-7490
<br />>
<br />> skype: nthmost
<br />>
<br />> http://twitter.com/nthmost
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