Isolated from one another we are easily defeated.
Connected to one another no force on earth can stop us.
a world without bourgeois rule is both possible and necessary The Media Weapon community is determined to help bring this truth to the working class and to the world. |
The Media Weapon community is
Our proposed mission statement:
Our proposed program of action: (i) The 21st century is destined to be a century of information war (understood as a struggle for ideas organized on a mass scale) in which all digital (and other) means of communication become essential components of anti-imperialist struggle and the class struggle. (ii) Our mission requires that we ride the wave of the emerging revolution in communications in order to bring to political activists everywhere--and to the working class as a whole--the news that a world without bourgeois rule is both possible and necessary. (iii) Towards this end we will learn to make skilled use of email lists, web-based forums, blogs, RSS and wikis (as well as more traditional printed and verbal agitation) to help: 1. Build channels to the masses
We will build interactive and democratically-run channels of communication which will feature news and discussion (as well as comprehensive coverage of revolutionary, or would-be revolutionary, organizations, projects and forums) that connect activists to the masses -- and bring political transparency to the revolutionary movement.2. Puncture the suffocating influence of reformism
We will help puncture the suffocating influence of reformism that sucks the life and militancy out of the antiwar movement (and all other mass protest movements) and channels the energy of activists into useless, dead-end schemes -- such as becoming election fodder for the Democratic Party.3. Resolve the crisis of theory
We will help resolve the crisis of theory that has made it impossible to think in a realistic way about an alternative to bourgeois rule -- and has led to the rampant saturation of the progressive movement with the sectarian and reformist diseases -- and paralyzed the revolutionary movement.4. Lay the foundations for a revolutionary mass movement that is politically transparent
We will help unite revolutionary, progressive and working class activists into a revolutionary mass movement that is politically transparent (ie: where the important political principles, disagreements, projects and organizations are known to everyone and charlatanism, sectarianism and reformism have no place to hide) and deserving of the respect and attention of the working class -- and which has the ability to mobilize tens of millions for victory against the bourgeoisie. |
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The media weapon community will consist of: 1. a core of activists who understand and agree with our mission statement and program of action and who work in a principled and consistent manner to carry it out, and
2. a periphery of activists or interested people
who find the work of our community to be interesting
(or to have potential to oppose reaction or contribute to a progressive agenda)
and want to learn about our principles and methods and help us with our work.
Core activists will have the right to vote on the most important matters related to the development of the community. Activists on the periphery will have "voice but no vote" and will help guide decisions of the core activists thru public feedback, questions and criticism. At present the mission statement has not yet been discussed, debated or adopted and the "core" group of activists is non-existent. Nor has the community yet proven itself to be anything more than an email discussion list. However, if a mission statement and program of action can eventually be adopted by a group of activists--and a core of activists emerges which is determined to carry it out--this would represent a significant step forward for the development of a healthy revolutionary mass movement. It is my hope to see such a core of activists emerge--whether this emergence takes place this year or sometime later in this decade.
Ben Seattle |
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The media weapon community carries out discussion and debate
using email lists and a wiki
Currently, our main email list is pof-200. Our wiki can be seen here. (Our wiki is in the middle of being redesigned -- but it is currently functioning.)
top Obviously any small community such as ours can only play a limited role in the overthrow of bourgeois rule, a task that will require the coordinated actions of many millions.
We will do the best we can with the resources that we have. And we need your help.
The Media Weapon community would like to hear your thoughts. Fill out the form below and let us know what you think of our proposed mission, program of action and structure. |
Activists become part of the periphery of our community by joining
one of our email lists and participating in the life of the list.
(ie: a collaboration tool that
makes it easy for a group of people to jointly create, edit
and link a system of web pages) which, respectively,
comprise the "push" and "pull" components of our communications system.
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Here are some articles that can give perspective to the tasks of progressive activists and the central organizing goal of the progressive movement. ( Ben )
for the 21st century
From
when the working class runs the show
• Will there be elections? • Contradictions in society: • consumption vs. investment • local vs. international • ecosystems vs. development • gift economy vs. other sectors • The three economic sectors in the transition period: • private capitalist • state capitalist • gift economy • The evolution of the mass media • commercial media • state media • free media • the interaction between the different media sectors (3500 words plus timeline with guesswork about future) 
A scenario for the overthrow of bourgeois rule in the U.S. in the middle of the 21st century
-- the left learns how to use the digital fire to build channels to the masses and overcome the diseases of sectarianism and reformism 2. Electoral victory • Sometime in the middle of the 21st century -- electoral victory 3. Economic retaliation • Bourgeois reaction (part 1) -- Capital flight and economic retaliation 4. Workers stand firm • Workers refuse to capitulate 5. Attempted decapitation • Bourgeois reaction (part 2) -- Bourgeois legality tossed aside -- Attempt to decapitate workers' movement 6. Workers' movement resilient • Workers' movement is initially suppressed but, because it was prepared, over time proves itself resilient in the face of repression. 7. Bourgeoisie paralyzed • In the face of the militant mass resistance by many millions the military government eventually proves to be unstable and disintegrates. The bourgeoisie itself becomes split and paralyzed. 8. Workers' victorious • Bourgeoisie defeated, workers' movement victorious 9. Stable workers' state • Workers state brings the stability needed for economic experimentation and the development of self-organizing moneyless gift economy (3100 words)
the Concept of Workers' Rule (800 words) • 9 Theses on the Emerging Revolution in Communications and its Significance for the Awakening of Proletarian Political life and Consciousness (2000 words)
for Dummies 
(A thousand times less comprehensive and reliable than Marx's
Capital
-- but also a thousand times quicker and easier to read.)The world in which we live is a world of imperialist wars, racism, unemployment, poverty, repression, ecosystem destruction on a vast scale and a culture of escapism, ignorance and spam. This world has been created and shaped by the laws of commodity production. Millions of people want to see the emergence of a "better world" of peace and abundance for all. In order to create such a "better world" we must understand the economic laws of our existing world -- which we will need to overcome in order to create an economy which is not based on commodity production -- and in which, instead, all goods and services are given away for free. (3500 words)
significance of "Burning Man": A community of artists opens a window into a human future based on a gift economy and the emergence of a deeper form of beauty (7500 words)
Lenin's outstanding analysis of modern capitalism.
Lenin demonstrates that imperialism
is a product of monopoly finance capitalism. At the close of 19th century,
a small number of banks had become dominant in the advanced European countries.
Controlling vast quantities of "surplus" capital, these banks sought superprofits
on investments in colonies and semi-colonies, and this intensified the race
for empire among the great powers. By 1914, the race led to war. World War I
was therefore imperialist in its origins and aims and deserved the condemnation
of genuine socialists. Those socialists who supported the war effort of their respective nations
Lenin branded as "social chauvinists". Future wars were inevitable so long as
imperialism existed; imperialism was inevitable so long as capitalism existed;
therefore only the overthrow of capitalism can ensure world peace.
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For discussion of the decisive tasks
The POF-200 list needs the active and thoughtful participation of media activists, cyber activists and revolutionary activists.
• The pof-200 list is designed to respect the severe time constraints of busy revolutionary activists such as yourself. • We limit each subscriber to one post per week (or twice a week if they go to antiwar marches) in order to encourage a calm and thoughtful pace of discussion. • If you believe that serious discussion of the decisive principles is necessary for the development of a revolutionary mass movement -- then we need you to join us on the pof-200 list.
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The Media Weapon community is not yet a real community -- it is only a small group of activists who occasionally post to an email list. We may eventually emerge as a real community in the form of a group of activists who work in common on projects that advance our mission and program of action. Different projects will compete with one another for mindshare and attention in a way that is somewhat darwinian. The projects that advance our mission in a practical and realistic way will tend to generate the most enthusiasm and attract the attention of the most talented people -- and will be more likely to get done. The projects that are poorly thought-out or which do not correspond to the needs of our mission -- will tend to be ignored and abandoned. Our evolving set of current and proposed projects are listed on our Projects page.
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