Is it better to get involved in politics in real life, or on the Internet?

[LoZoccolo]

ADDENDUM: I agree that the Internet can be a useful tool for real-life activism. I use DU to promote Illinois Dem Net. I'm more asking what fundamental orientation is more effective.

[MadHound]

1. How about a third option?

Both!

[TayTay]

3. I agree. Do both.

They are not mutually exclusive options. We can easily do both.

[LoZoccolo]

5. One has to be better than the other.

It's just like if Gore and Bush* are running against each other, one is better than the other.

[MadHound]

9. Oh you know me Loz, always going for that third option.

Frankly I think one can, and should do both. In fact in my life both are rather intertwined. But if one absolutely has to do one or the other, why then politics in real life is the way to go.

[NYCGirl]

2. Both. NT

[Shrek]

4. Neither

The best thing is to wait around for indictments.

[LoZoccolo]

6. Trick question WINNER!

:party: :bounce:

[JeffR]

8. !

:rofl:

[meganmonkey]

7. At the daily demonstration I participate in

We just made a series of new signs for the cars heading toward our protestors. Four of us stand, spread out, along a block of the one-way street so the cars coming toward us read them in this order:

--DOES THE BUSH ADMIN. OFFEND YOU?

--WHAT HAVE YOU DONE ABOUT IT?

--DO EMAIL PETITIONS REALLY WORK?

--JOIN US AND HOLD A SIGN
MON-FRI 5-6PM

btw, Ann Arbor people - we are at the Federal Bldg at the corner of Liberty and Fifth every weekday so get offf your asses and join us :)

[walldude]

10. Hey, quit using the Internet to help with your

real life political activisim, you're going to screw up this poll.. ;)

[JeffR]

11. Hey, meganmonkey

Didn't know you were in Ann Arbor. Haven't been there for years, but I love that town.

[Asgaya Dihi]

12. Needs a third option

Both.

Real life a lot of people respond better to, something about looking people in the eye or whatever I'd guess. A lot of things are harder to do face to face though unless you have inarguable status as an expert, on the internet you can answer about any question they have with solid sources instead of just giving them a line and asking them to trust you.

Might depend on the issue, does it need sourced and proved or is it just a matter of getting a point of view across?

[moobu2]

13. The first time the great president Clinton was elected,

I registered to vote (for the first time), got sworn in so I could register others and set up tables at local colleges and elsewhere (even at a night club once). I registered 100’s of people and all my friends and family. I, along with other volunteers passed out yard signs door to door, where we talked to people. We got together with hundreds of others and lined busy streets with signs supporting the Pres. Clinton. Along with other things. It was immensely satisfying (still have all my Clinton/Gore pins and yard signs).

You have to get involved beyond just talking about the issues.
It couldn’t be more important to get involved than it is now. And no ones going to come rescue you.

[Poll_Blind]

14. But _start_ on the Internet.

It'll help you sharpen your factual claws and also (hopefully) cause you to continually re-evaluate your position. Once things "settle out" and you understand not only who you are, politically, but why you are that way it gives the girding needed to enter into public frays. Notice I didn't say discourse- it may exist but in America right now the political viewpoints are polarized and often the most minor disagreement with a conservative can escalate quickly.

Also, it helps you understand their talking points. There is nothing more pleasing than being in an arugment with someone who is relying on O'Liely's talking points- it allows you to fisk them quickly, easily, and without breaking a sweat. This is very desirable if there are others observing, and aren't there almost always? To be able to calmly shred a conservative's argument while they become more and more riled reveals their level of self-deception and denial- an excellent illustration to observers who migth not have made up their mind on the nuances of an issue.

PB

[Theres-a]

15. Other

Timely poll for me.It's time to come out and say as a result of what I have learned since December of 2004 from all of you fine folks at DU,I am going to my town hall to register to vote.That's right.Register to vote.Today.

You people have inspired me to get off my fat ass and start voting.In the past year and a half I have read and read.I joined the ACLU.I've donated to Amnesty International.Sent money to Cindy Sheehan when she was at Crawford last summer.I have called congress,my state senator and the white house when I read action threads here at DU.Last month I sent a contribution to Ned Lamont.I can't sign the petition to get him on the ballot until I register to vote.So today, because of all of you,another registered Democrat will be joining the ranks in the state of connecticut.

The hour is getting late.I hope more people like me,who think they can't make a differnce keep reading until some wonderful souls convince them otherwise.

[Theres-a]

19. Update

Done.And I'm going to try to get others to sign the petition.:patriot:

[meganmonkey]

16. The Limits of the Internet or The Silence In The Streets

The Limits of the Internet or The Silence Of the Streets
by Brigitte Schön

While we're all sitting comfortably at some desk looking at our computer screens, reading articles by people whose opinion we cherish, celebrating the feeling that we might be able to change whatever we want to change by just writing the kind of highly opinionated piece I am about to write, I have lately been giving this complacent feeling of mine a thorough cleansing which led to the following musings:

What if the world, this world of TV images we know, still was pretty archaic at heart and what if it still primarily reacted to centuries-old images and trigger patterns after all? In other words: What do political campaigns and articles via the internet really manage to accomplish? And: Does this mean that I still ought to brave icy winds or pouring rain instead and hold up some banners in demonstrations in order to really achieve anything, and does this mean that all these thoughful articles on the net don't have as much influence as all of us couch revolutionaries would like to believe?

Let me lead you through a little time machine experiment. All I'd ask you to do is imagine that there was an internet around when any of the following occured (there are thousands of cases to choose from; I just randomly picked a few):

The British are occupying India. Instead of rallying hundreds of thousands of Indians in peaceful marches, Mahatma Ghandi launches an internet campaign against the Raj (=British rule of India). Your best bet: Do you think that the British would still be ruling India?

---cut---

Or would YOU know about Cindy Sheehan if she'd only vented her grief and anger on the web and not physically outside Bush's ranch?

---cut---

So you better get out your raingear...

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0305-29.htm

[AndyTiedye]

17. False Dichotomy

It would be absurd not to use the net, but we must understand its limitations.

The net is a powerful communications tool. It is not a substitute for real life,
though the communication that it enables can certainly enhance it substantially.

The net cannot reach everybody.

How do we reach the FauxNews viewers?
(There may not be any way to do this. You can fool some of the people all of the time).

[heartofthesiskiyou]

18. Defiantly not an either or issue

Both is the best. There are a number of good observations on this subject and I would merely join with those and add one not discussed.

No matter how effective a given blog or WEB activity may be it is still existing in a virtual world of nanodust. It disappears only a little slower then that point at which you turn off your computer.

The real effect of the net is that effect that organizes the participants into a body of belief and then penetrates the real world were change can actually occur. The internet should be viewed as our very own data base of news events, political opinions, and body of usable plans that can be transformed out of virtual reality and pierces actual real world reality with tangible results and effects.

The only other point I'd add is virtual reality by itself is at or near no effect. Stay the course...Free the people