[pp.int.general] American Pirate Party

[Ray Jenson]

Apologies for the length and negative content. This is a rather
harshly-worded opinion [read as: rant] and it's longer than some
magazine articles I've written. It was one I wrote, and one I stand by.
It is extremely negative, and with the intent of being negative. It's
because I'm really very disillusioned with the people of the US, and my
faith in any of the Pirate Parties here has been all but shattered.

For the past 16 months, I've been homeless. I have no income, no
stipend, no money coming into my possession at all. I live in a house
which is paid for through government stimulus grants, utility bills
which are paid for by charities, and a disability case which is stalling
because I can't afford medical coverage (doctors don't like it when they
can't get paid their exorbitant fees, which are largely necessary
because everyone sues them). As a person on the streets, I get to see
what the "ground level" of America is like. I see the ugliness, and the
beauty. I see the pain of loss and the suffering of pain. I see
middle-class citizens going to and from work every day. I speak to a
fair number of them about things that concern them. The answers I get
vary from the "party line" that Obama isn't working fast enough, or is
changing too much... it's all focused on him. People don't care what
happens in Congress, even though that's where the most amount of things
that impact them personally occurs.

This week, I saw someone raided by police. An actual raid. They thought
he was selling drugs. He was not, in fact, even using drugs (never mind
selling them). But what they did do was to put him in jail for a civil
crime--something that should be illegal here. They confiscated some 200
DVD's full of films (according to his mother, that's what he told her
they told him). Today, he was released (in fact, about an hour before I
finished this). All criminal charges dropped, he's now awaiting the DMCA
notice which informs him of his copyright infringement. He intents to
fight it, though I have to wonder. He's asked that I not use his name,
and so I won't. But it did happen.

As one of the people who tried to help get the US Pirate Party going in
2007, and the primary registered agent in early 2008 (with a significant
amount of paperwork issues which simply could not be cleared up because
I was removed from office due to health issues, in the midst of trying
to clear them up), I will say this: I worked very hard for 2 years
without pay, suffered health effects from the amount of effort I was
putting in, and ultimately had 2 out of 3 of the people who signed my
petition in Utah jump off onto the Libertarian bandwagon when it came
through.

The Libertarians aren't really addressing the same issues--and though I
can support the issues they promote, they simply aren't placing enough
emphasis on the ethic that got them going--instead focusing on things
like healthcare reform, anti-corporatism, and promoting wholesale
deregulation which I believe would completely destabilize the entire
world politically and economically (and is therefore the most dangerous
political party in existence).

I worked hard on that. I was out almost daily, pushing myself harder
than I had ever pushed anything before. And I failed because people
think it's someone else's job.

I began a fundraiser which I laid all of the groundwork for, and the two
people who were in a position to do something about it didn't. They
feared the negative answer as much as they feared the positive one. And
then it was discovered that he was merely using his position to pass a
class in college, and dropped out of the party completely soon after
that requirement had been met.

When I began to press people for results, I was told that it was more
efficient to have inaction, and to demand justification for movement.
And then I became homeless, unable to be online with any regularity
(which is still the case most of the time), and so any effectiveness
that I could have brought to the party was at an end. People wanted the
Pirate Party to do something, but nobody was willing to do one bloody
thing that might have actually gotten us going, short of the people who
were actively in the administration of the party.

I wrote the entire original Constitution, only to be told I didn't know
what I was talking about until we started dealing with things like
registration and bank accounts--and then most of what I'd originally
written (more or less) was put back in. It took my working for 10 hours
a day for 2 weeks straight to write a document that simply wasn't good
enough, and which someone outright accused me of trying to use to
control the party (thus my refrain from involvement completely).

I've done one hell of a lot, and had nothing in the way of results. The
reason for this is that most Americans squabble over petty differences
and aren't willing to pay attention to the laws which specifically limit
certain kinds of action, or they pay too much attention to the laws that
other political parties (yes, you Republicans, I'm talking about you, if
your ears are burning) randomly ignore.

In finally getting the point across that we needed candidates, there had
been at least four attempts to splinter the group, and yet nobody "in
charge" of the actual political party which I had registered myself was
willing or able to compromise. There was no negotiation that I could see
from the IRC chat logs, only demands by one side which were largely
ignored by the other. That's not a political party: it's a social club
(not that this is a bad thing, but it's not a political party and I
can't vote for "thin air").

In short, anyone who can motivate the lazy US political ethic out of its
 current slovenly state enough to get people motivated to accomplish
something, I'm all for. The issue isn't which party is "most valid" or
even which one is "better suited". They are ALL the Pirate Party, and
all of them should have my vote. If it comes to a choice between the
parties (and I can't speak for anyone but myself on this), I will simply
abstain from voting altogether.

I've had it with political bull.

If the Pirate Party in the USA can't get its act together and start
acting as a political party here should, in promoting the issues through
a candidate (even if it's a sure bet that the candidate won't win, or if
the candidate is with a different political party--thus, "pirating" the
candidates of others if they're good enough), then it's not a political
party at all.

And I think that the real issue is the same with a lot of people. The
name "Pirate" in English carries a connotation of play and fun, or of
menacing and bloodthirsty brigands. We don't have a "Cops and Robbers"
party, either. People need to be able to take a political party just a
little more seriously. The best way, IMO, is to have some fun with the
name, promote silly things like "Three-Corner Hat Day" on the day of the
elections, and get on with getting someone, somewhere, somehow into office.

The only way into US politics is through the back door. That back door
is the municipal level. I tried to bring this up before, and I got told
that we simply didn't have candidates... but there really wasn't a press
to get them either.

The way I see it, the folks in the US just aren't serious enough about
this issue yet, because until they see the FBI raiding their own homes,
and those of their neighbors, over what their children downloaded on
their own computer systems, they just aren't going to get out of their
habit of apathy. President Obama spoke well, made some promises, and has
actually managed to keep a few of them. But the opposition he faces is a
direct result of the apathy that American citizens wallow in like pigs.

Fascism was given birth in Italy in the 1920's, where it didn't work. So
now the seed of it has been planted in the fertile soil of apathy--the
very stuff it needs in order to grow. Corporate monopolies won a major
victory in the US Supreme Court this week, and now have unfettered reign
over Washington.

The only thing I can do now is to start stockpiling water and food, and
pray that any revolution, civil war, or whatever the result is, is brief
and far away. Because that's what I see this coming down to. Perhaps
it's the only way, and in that it's necessary. But until we get someone
who's serious enough to do what's necessary to organize the parties in
the US, there just isn't a glimmer of hope that this will be resolved,
and I refuse to vote in favor of any political party that can't resolve
these differences without resorting to petty squabbling.

To summmarize: though I believe in the aims of the Pirate Party
internationally, and I believe that there should ultimately be a Pirate
Party in the USA, I simply cannot support any group that hasn't got
enough of an idea about what they're doing and why they're doing it to
really make a difference.

To this end, I am not yet in good enough health to run for office. And
until someone is willing to run for office, there is simply no means for
any political party to get a foothold where it needs to be: Congress.
And until there's a state-level party (as others in this thread have
written), there is no means for anyone to even get onto a ballot.

Therefore, the winner here is the one who is established at the state
level. If you can't get something going at the state level in at least 1
state, you can't expect to have a functional party.

One needs registration in 3 states to get a Presidential candidate of
their own.

I tried Utah. That doesn't mean nobody else can--it just means someone
else had a better sales pitch that election. In fact, anyone who's
registering in Utah, I have about 4 addresses I can give you (one of
which is my own) of people who are staunch supporters.

But in the meantime, my own health requires my being sedentary (much to
my dismay... I miss running!). I have read a significant amount of BS
coming from the US parties, most of which is aimed at division instead
of compromise. Politics is about compromise, and knowing how and when
to. And it's about knowing when not to. There are too many good people
who want the same things for this not to be possible--it just means
putting your name onto a ballot and accepting the label which Hollywood
intended as an epithet, and turning into a badge of honor.

Until all of this happens, the party in the US simply is not viable
because of the lack of cohesion.

There shouldn't be three: there should be one, with enough votes and
enough fairness, and enough bravery to be able to come to terms with the
fact that not everyone can agree to everything.

I'm willing to help all three parties come together, but they have to be
willing to talk. I made this offer before when there was a debate--and I
was only able to hear one side. And when people asked me which side I
was choosing, I refused to choose--the squabble over the voting process
which started the whole splintering process was pointless, meaningless,
and divisive. Until all sides are talking enough, or one of the parties
manages to get a foothold somewhere, I will continue to help any way I
can, though none of them will have my vote until some sort of resolution
occurs.

No amount of begging or pleading or buying will obtain my vote until
there is a unified party. And I'm sure that I'm not the only one who
feels this way.