Do you have conservative friends on Facebook? Perhaps a misguided Ron Paul supporter or two? As he was rising in popularity, I had a conversation with one friend who celebrated her contribution to Herman Cain and was look forward to receiving his campaign materials. I've had conversations on Twitter with conservatives that landed me on a couple of their lists (one respectful and one less so).
These conversations inspired me to work to expand my political dialogue with people in my circles who do not follow news as closely as I do, or who don't spend time in the liberal blogosphere. This led last week to the creation of a Facebook page: Let's Talk Politics.
Here's the page description:
Democracy at it's best is a participatory endeavor that works to improve our social contract. It works best when interested parties work together in good faith to address mutually identified problems. It works best when a responsible fourth estate acts as a watchdog toward those in power to maintain a well-informed, accurately informed citizenry.
For a number of years, as a society, we have struggled to maintain democracy at it's best. Media has neglected its watchdog role in favor of attempting to ingratiate itself with power brokers or to sell a particular narrative and point of view. Political players have grown more polarized in a zero-sum game where opponents are treated as enemies, especially (though not exclusively) by the conservative side of the spectrum. Instead of working to improve our social contract, there has been an unfortunate trend to scream about smaller government, lower taxes, and reduced government services. "Keep your government hands out of my Medicare!"
Here is an opportunity to take things out of that frame and have a passionate discussion of the issues of the day to keep ourselves informed and get back to improving the state of our social contract.
Let's talk politics!
The goal is to promote progressive ideas and values outside of a strictly progressive echo chamber. The hope is to create more informed and engaged citizens, though they might not ever be progressive activists. I'd be honored to have other Kossacks join the effort by liking the page, contributing to the dialogue, and sharing with your friends.
I also want to give a shout-out to novenator for the series Progressives Guide to Social Media. I especially recommend Progressives Guide to Social Media 6: Facebook, and today's offering Progressives Guide to Social Media 7: Google+. While I don't think novenator's goals and mine are identical, I think they are complimentary.