Turn 3: 1994
TheInnerMoon
Anarchist, Author, All-Around Philosopher
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Turn 3: 1994
NOTE: Upcoming Elections (1994 midterms)General actions
Suggest an action: At any time, you may propose an action for whatever organization you've chosen to plan for. Presuming your suggestion is not too implausible altogether, I will tell you what will be necessary for the action to succeed, and you can keep it as part of your plan.Make a zine (Capital 2 required): This is the golden age of zines, small self-published works with a decidedly radical slant. No matter what kind of org you are in this day and age, you'll be sure to put out a zine at one point or another. The question is, what will we focus on in ours?
- Subject: [write-in]
- Frequency of publication: weekly (Capital 3 required), daily (Capital 4 required)
- Frequency of publication: quarterly (Capital 4 required), monthly (Capital 5 required)
- Nature of the event: [write-in]
- Free/Paid
- In the streets
- At protests
- On the internet
- Other: [write-in]
- Cause: [write-in]
- Protest strategy: [write-in]
- Cause: [write-in]
- Method of fundraising: [write-in]
- Neighborhoods: The simplest form of community organization consists of various neighborhood initiatives, such as beautification schemes, neighborhood watches, or local cookouts. While some of these programs sound rather bourgeois/middle class/white, perhaps we can put a liberatory spin on them. Or find some new activity that suits us more. (requires two successful rolls) (specify neighborhood)
- Tenants: Tenant organization used to be a bigger thing a few decades ago, and housing has only gotten more precarious since then. It's time to revive the tenants union as part of our fight against parasitic capital! (requires three successful rolls) (specify city/state)
- Workers: The noblest and most ancient kind of community organization focuses on the working class as such, recognizing our power as the stewards of social production. By threatening to withhold our labor, and using the union form to make our collectivity felt, great changes are possible. (requires four successful rolls) (specify type of workers)
- Specify position and candidate
- Type of support: volunteering/campaign donations/other
- Specify the organization(s) you're attempting to affiliate yourselves with
- Specify the organization you're working with
The Knights of the Lambda Calculus
Size: 1 (40%)Capital: 2
Initiative: 2
Organization: 1
Responsiveness: 0
Assets and Activities:
- Reading Group
- Basic Critical Theory (Improving)
- Basic Cybernetics
- Basic New Media Studies
- Website (primitive)
Focus the Reading Group: The members of the reading group have largely gone off in their own idiosyncratic directions, leading to a lot of interesting ideas, but little overall coherence. By splitting the group off into defined areas of study, you may be able to advance more quickly. Or else, by making sure that everyone reads a bit of everything, you can perhaps produce more novel insights.
Invite Public Speakers: Through the reading group, you've come across quite a few public intellectuals who are exploring the same questions you are. By inviting them to speak at MIT or other local venues, you can learn from them while simultaneously cultivating your own audience.
Develop a piece of open source software: Cultural theorizing is all well and good, but the Open Source Future is not going to build itself. By developing some useful pieces of software yourself, and freely distributing them to the masses, you can catalyze the culture you're trying to create. (can require multiple successes)
- Specify new approach
- Reading more Deleuze & Guattari (automatic)
Invite Public Speakers: Through the reading group, you've come across quite a few public intellectuals who are exploring the same questions you are. By inviting them to speak at MIT or other local venues, you can learn from them while simultaneously cultivating your own audience.
- Specify speaker
Develop a piece of open source software: Cultural theorizing is all well and good, but the Open Source Future is not going to build itself. By developing some useful pieces of software yourself, and freely distributing them to the masses, you can catalyze the culture you're trying to create. (can require multiple successes)
- Purpose/Design: [write-in]
- Develop an Open Source DVCS (continued)
The New October Movement
Size: 1 (70%)Capital: 2 (10%)
Initiative: 1
Organization: 1
Responsiveness: 1
Temporary Bonuses: Free Zine Action
Assets and Activities:
- Reading Group
- Basic Revolutionary Pedagogy
- Basic Anti-imperialist Theory
- Basic Black Power Theory
Organize a Black Bloc: This novel protesting strategy, originating in the German Autonomist movement, protects the identity of radical anti-fascist protestors through the use of all-black clothing. Since this strategy broadly fits within our ideology, and contributes to our safety from retaliation, we might as well take it up.
Expand the Reading Group: A revolutionary can never know enough theory, but a person can only read so much. Thus, as your reading group turns to new topics, you will inevitably have to prioritize. And if you are to use the group as a recruiting tool, you will also have to take the popularity of your choice into account. In short: lots to read, and too little time to do it in.
Public Lecture Program: For two years in a row, we've managed to capitalize on current events by organizing relevant public lectures, each aimed at setting out our revolutionary, anti-imperialist analysis. If we formalize this into a proper program, we can continue to use the capitalist world's own follies against it, and grow our organization (and budget!) by exposing its fundamental lies.
Expand the Reading Group: A revolutionary can never know enough theory, but a person can only read so much. Thus, as your reading group turns to new topics, you will inevitably have to prioritize. And if you are to use the group as a recruiting tool, you will also have to take the popularity of your choice into account. In short: lots to read, and too little time to do it in.
- Write in the changes to the reading group
Public Lecture Program: For two years in a row, we've managed to capitalize on current events by organizing relevant public lectures, each aimed at setting out our revolutionary, anti-imperialist analysis. If we formalize this into a proper program, we can continue to use the capitalist world's own follies against it, and grow our organization (and budget!) by exposing its fundamental lies.
The Black Panther Party (Milwaukee)
Size: 2 (70%)Capital: 4 (50%)
Initiative: 3
Organization: 2
Responsiveness:2
Temporary Bonuses: +4 to Defense Organizing, +2 to Mutual Aid Organizing, +2 to Organizing in the South
Assets and Activities:
- Anti-drug Patrols
- The Panther Spirit (Local Newspaper)
- Michael McGee
- Milwaukee Mutual Aid
- Food Kitchens & Pantries
- Informal Library
- Confederated Organization: at least one action each turn must be national in orientation, but will receive assistance from other chapters (which also won't count as your one [cooperative] action). Assume that Size and Capital are one level higher for national level initiatives.
- Other chapters
- Dallas
- Indianapolis
- Los Angeles
Assist the greater movement
Establish A Private Security Firm: Over in the Dallas chapter, Aaron Michaels has been cultivating the idea of founding a private security firm, using it as a means of growing our revenue. We have some heavy hitters on hand, after all, and community self-defense can only take up so much of their time. Perhaps this idea can find purchase in Milwaukee as well. (two successes required)
Invite BPP speakers: Many old Black Panthers–the ones that weren't felled by government repression–have recently been writing new biographies, both of themselves and of the wider movement. By inviting them to speak at our own venues, we can drive the community towards further action, and learn from the lived experience of these Black revolutionaries.
Define A National Program: Organizing on a national scale allows for national ambitions, but also requires a degree of overall coherence. A formal Black Panther Program would serve both of these ends, tying our chapters together through a defined set of principles.
Establish a Dedicated Headquarters (Capital 5 required): So far, the administration of Milwaukee's BPP chapter has been split along our leaders' own domiciles, along with a small office downtown. As for our initiatives, they use whatever community spaces are available, defaulting to churches and neighborhood centers. By building a dedicated HQ, equipped with various offices and large gathering spaces, we can transcend the improvised nature of these efforts, and grow them in both scope and efficiency. (Two successes required)
Regional Mutual Aid: While most of Wisconsin's Black community resides within Milwaukee County, many of our brothers and sisters also live in the counties adjoining the city, areas which the BPP has so far neglected. If we expand our mutual aid work into this part of the state, we could begin to make up for that, and grow our organization in the process.
- In Tennessee: Despite his turn to anarchism, the former Panther Lorenzo Kom'boa Ervin has expressed an interest in organizing his own BPP chapter over in Chattanooga. As long as his views don't prove to be an unacceptable deviation, this is a great opportunity.
- In Alabama: Mmoja Ajabu has been in contact with an activist preacher over in Wedowee, Alabama, who seems interested in joining our organization as part of a larger school reform campaign over there. Even if this man of the cloth turns out to be too moderate for our liking, the rest of his flock could be a different story.
- Elsewhere (write-in): Plenty of Black communities throughout the country are eager to revive the Panther Spirit. We need only reach out to them.
Establish A Private Security Firm: Over in the Dallas chapter, Aaron Michaels has been cultivating the idea of founding a private security firm, using it as a means of growing our revenue. We have some heavy hitters on hand, after all, and community self-defense can only take up so much of their time. Perhaps this idea can find purchase in Milwaukee as well. (two successes required)
Invite BPP speakers: Many old Black Panthers–the ones that weren't felled by government repression–have recently been writing new biographies, both of themselves and of the wider movement. By inviting them to speak at our own venues, we can drive the community towards further action, and learn from the lived experience of these Black revolutionaries.
Define A National Program: Organizing on a national scale allows for national ambitions, but also requires a degree of overall coherence. A formal Black Panther Program would serve both of these ends, tying our chapters together through a defined set of principles.
- Write in (part of) the program for a bonus on your roll
Establish a Dedicated Headquarters (Capital 5 required): So far, the administration of Milwaukee's BPP chapter has been split along our leaders' own domiciles, along with a small office downtown. As for our initiatives, they use whatever community spaces are available, defaulting to churches and neighborhood centers. By building a dedicated HQ, equipped with various offices and large gathering spaces, we can transcend the improvised nature of these efforts, and grow them in both scope and efficiency. (Two successes required)
Regional Mutual Aid: While most of Wisconsin's Black community resides within Milwaukee County, many of our brothers and sisters also live in the counties adjoining the city, areas which the BPP has so far neglected. If we expand our mutual aid work into this part of the state, we could begin to make up for that, and grow our organization in the process.
Queer Nation
Size: 2 (60%)Capital: 3 (30%)
Initiative: 1
Organization: 1
Responsiveness: 2
Temporary Bonuses: -2 to self-defense actions, +2 to organizing with similar orgs
Assets and Activities:
- Bash Back Bunch (self-defense group)
Queer History Project: A big component of marginalization is the cultivation of ignorance, to make it seem like 'your kind' is a historical abnormality, or an abomination to nature. Radical education can be the antidote to this, at least among the marginalized themselves. By working towards the preservation and promotion of queer history, we will make sure that our dear predecessors are not forgotten.
Queer Health Project: The AIDS crisis has been cutting through the queer community ever since the Reagan years, and it doesn't look like much change is on the political horizon. As usual, we'll have to take care of ourselves, and by attending to the diverse health needs of our community–from mental support to emergency care–we can literally keep our people alive.
Attend the Gay Games: The biggest LGBT-focused sports event in the world is coming to NYC this year! Besides cheering on our favorite athletes, we should use this opportunity to propagandize, to be so unavoidably queer that the straights will have to acknowledge us somehow. Plus, if the municipal government sees how much good publicity these games bring to the city, maybe they'll throw some money towards similar events.
Bash Back Bolder: Even after our recent rebound, the queer self-defense effort still falls short of where we want it to be, feeling more like a rear-guard maneuver than anything else. If we act up more (pun intended), we can turn the tables on those homophobes who would keep us out of 'normal' public spaces, and take our rightful place at the center of NYC's cultural life.
Transgender Outreach: The founding of a group like the Transexual Menace shows that there is a distinct need for trans-specific queer organizing. Since Queer Nation is supposed to serve the needs of our entire community, we should see what sort of support could help them to develop their own activist repertoire.
Queer Health Project: The AIDS crisis has been cutting through the queer community ever since the Reagan years, and it doesn't look like much change is on the political horizon. As usual, we'll have to take care of ourselves, and by attending to the diverse health needs of our community–from mental support to emergency care–we can literally keep our people alive.
Attend the Gay Games: The biggest LGBT-focused sports event in the world is coming to NYC this year! Besides cheering on our favorite athletes, we should use this opportunity to propagandize, to be so unavoidably queer that the straights will have to acknowledge us somehow. Plus, if the municipal government sees how much good publicity these games bring to the city, maybe they'll throw some money towards similar events.
Bash Back Bolder: Even after our recent rebound, the queer self-defense effort still falls short of where we want it to be, feeling more like a rear-guard maneuver than anything else. If we act up more (pun intended), we can turn the tables on those homophobes who would keep us out of 'normal' public spaces, and take our rightful place at the center of NYC's cultural life.
Transgender Outreach: The founding of a group like the Transexual Menace shows that there is a distinct need for trans-specific queer organizing. Since Queer Nation is supposed to serve the needs of our entire community, we should see what sort of support could help them to develop their own activist repertoire.
The Institute for Social Ecology
Size: 2 (40%)Capital: 4 (20%)
Initiative: 2(+1 Bookchin Die)
Organization: 2
Responsiveness: 1
Temporary Bonus: +2 on Bookchin Die
Assets and Activities:
- Summer School
- Social Ecology
- Labor History
- Society and Nature (Journal)
- Murray Bookchin
- Website (basic)
- Affiliations
- Knights of the Lambda Calculus (Rudimentary)
- Organizing Life (Zine) (Will depreciate in 1996)
Develop the Website: Much like our own institution, the World Wide Web is a place of constant innovation, attracting all kinds of creative and academically oriented folks. By expanding our online footprint further, we can continue to tap into this energy, and maybe deepen our existing engagement with the cyborgs of Boston's KLC.
Attend the Greens Conference: The American Green movement contains a wide variety of activists, from moderate electoral environmentalists to die-hard primitivists. One of its constituent organizations, the Greens/Green Party USA, is set to hold a conference in Idaho this year, and we've been invited there by one Howie Hawkins, who recently published an article in our own journal. Overall, this would be a great opportunity to mingle with the rest of the ecological crowd, and make some useful connections.
Expand the educational effort further: There is always more to teach, and more people to teach it too. Even as our new summer courses on labor history are building, there are already several ideas on how we might expand our offerings. We may even add more courses outside of the summer break, presuming that people will actually turn out for that.
Attend the Greens Conference: The American Green movement contains a wide variety of activists, from moderate electoral environmentalists to die-hard primitivists. One of its constituent organizations, the Greens/Green Party USA, is set to hold a conference in Idaho this year, and we've been invited there by one Howie Hawkins, who recently published an article in our own journal. Overall, this would be a great opportunity to mingle with the rest of the ecological crowd, and make some useful connections.
Expand the educational effort further: There is always more to teach, and more people to teach it too. Even as our new summer courses on labor history are building, there are already several ideas on how we might expand our offerings. We may even add more courses outside of the summer break, presuming that people will actually turn out for that.
- Ecosophy Course:
- Optional: describe the nature of your expansion
- Write in what Bookchin's history of the Spanish anarchists should focus on
The Labor Party Advocates
Size: 1Capital: 4
Initiative: 2
Organization: 2
Responsiveness: 0
Temporary Bonus: One free Debate action, two free Association actions
Assets and Activities:
- Anthony Mazzocchi
- Strategic Approach
- Fusion Balloting (Minor Progressive Parties Only)
- Minimal Polling Threshold (20%)
Promote the LPA in Labor Notes: Labor Notes is a staple of the labor activist milieu, setting down the lessons of union organizing in its monthly magazine for over a decade now. By promoting the potential of an independent political party among this crowd, we can secure a steady stream of support, as well as a general enthusiasm about our organization.
Recruit Labor Activists: While many great organizers have already joined our ranks, we're going to need far more of them to reach the kind of size we're aiming for. Likely, Tony and the others have plenty of contacts to capitalize on, and these contacts have contacts in turn.
Recruit Union Affiliates: The point of this hypothetical Labor Party is to serve the interests of workers as workers. In this effort, it is vital that we gain the support of America's union, the organs of worker power. Though some great radical associations have already signed, we need some of the big names to work with us if we're to get anywhere.
Debate the Radical Question: The country is replete with various small leftist squadrons, each more sectarian than the last. That said, there are some decent organizers in some of these organizations, and many of them would be amenable to working with us. But should we welcome them in wholeheartedly? That's something we should discuss first.
Coordinate Union Endorsements: Although we're not a formal party yet, or even a simple pressure group, our motley crew of union activists is tied into a countrywide network of organized labor. If we turn its attention towards a particular political campaign, like those of our third party pals, we could do the tiniest bit of good in the upcoming elections.
Recruit Labor Activists: While many great organizers have already joined our ranks, we're going to need far more of them to reach the kind of size we're aiming for. Likely, Tony and the others have plenty of contacts to capitalize on, and these contacts have contacts in turn.
Recruit Union Affiliates: The point of this hypothetical Labor Party is to serve the interests of workers as workers. In this effort, it is vital that we gain the support of America's union, the organs of worker power. Though some great radical associations have already signed, we need some of the big names to work with us if we're to get anywhere.
Debate the Radical Question: The country is replete with various small leftist squadrons, each more sectarian than the last. That said, there are some decent organizers in some of these organizations, and many of them would be amenable to working with us. But should we welcome them in wholeheartedly? That's something we should discuss first.
Coordinate Union Endorsements: Although we're not a formal party yet, or even a simple pressure group, our motley crew of union activists is tied into a countrywide network of organized labor. If we turn its attention towards a particular political campaign, like those of our third party pals, we could do the tiniest bit of good in the upcoming elections.
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