[extropy-chat] Politics: Extropian party

[Acy James Stapp]

I have had a few thoughts on extropianism as a political
movement. 

Firstly I will state that I am strongly in support of an 
extropian party. I don't have a lot of time to compose and
edit a super response, but I will put some of my thoughts
out for you guys to take a gander at. I'll also say that
I've never run for political office nor have I read much
contemporary political thought, so much of this is just
theoretical ideation and observation.

Candidates:
Most third-party candidates are hopeless. In order to compete
politically our candidates need to be professional politicians.
They need the affect, the appearance, and the attitude to be
elected. In short, they need to be 'electable'.

Issues:
Most people are one-issue voters. If there are no advertised
and promoted issues that deeply affect a particular individual
they will either not vote or vote along party lines. However,
most people use issues to decide whom not to vote for, in my
experience. We need to decide which issues are most salient for
extropian values and then be as centrist as possible on all
other issues. I know, you all have your pet issues that you
just have to espouse but if these aren't key planks you need 
to suck it up, take one for the party, and present a united,
centrist face to the electorate.

Accepting Change:
Many people have an ego attachment to their political party and
political beliefs and will not change unless their social 
situation changes radically or they are gently and invisibly
guided to change.

Social Stratification:
People will vote for the party that improves their situation
the most. This results in party boundaries along social class
lines. We need to convince people of all socioeconomic back-
grounds that extropianism will improve their life and their
situation mroe than any of the other parties.

Advertising and Promotion:
It's hard to outspend the major parties. Grassroots, creative
advertising is becoming more possible using the internet but
we need a national means of coordinating it.

Strategy:
All of this is just idle speculation, and an experienced
political strategist would probably put me to shame. We need
someone with experience winning elections to give us advice.

Lobbying, bribes, and graft:
We have to convince big business to give us money. Everyone
knows it is happening and it's an integral part of the modern
political process. Pretending it doesn't exist is stupid, and
ideological objections to it will ensure that we never achieve
high office. Pragmatism is the way to go.

Disentrenchment:
We need to use our efforts not only to promote the extropian
party, but the ideals of a true multi-party system. Easing
ballot access is a big one. Our best bet may be to take over
an existing political party and let the entrenchment of the
two-party system work in our favor.

Yours,
Acy